Current BEST in Artesia Little India?

[CookieEater]

My friend is moving back to France in 2 weeks and we still haven't tried Artesia's Little India so we only have time for ONE meal there. We're in SGV area, I have never been to that neighborhood, and I don't know Indian food well at all. She's also Muslim so any meat is out, but seafood is ok.

Where should we go??? And what dishes should we order???

I have done searches on the board, but most of the info is older and I'm not sure which place is supposed to be just the BEST.

[aventinus]

South Indian and North Indian are apples and oranges, and Artesia offers even more than that simplistic dichotomy. But I've really become a fan of Shan's lunch buffet. It's just delicious. The naan is far better than ordinary naan. Ordinarily I consider naan filler, and prefer rice, but at Shan I love using the thick naan to scoop up the dishes. Every dish on the buffet is refined and superb. I love that they have delicious Hyderabadi biryani every day, instead of just plain basmati rice. Their chicken makhani is outrageously good. Normally Indian buffets seem to offer more quantity than quality, but I'm very impressed with Shan's buffet. Have not tried Shahnawaz or Rajdhani, but have tried every other place listed above, most of which I think are very good.

[writerinla]

Udupi Palace is great and is all vegetarian.

[boogiebaby]

I've been hearing great things about Rajdhani from my fellow Indian friends, which is an all you can eat thali restaurant. It's vegetarian from what I understand. Planning on trying it in the next couple weeks.They say the good is great and it's authentic.

[Nicole]

Any suggestions that aren't strictly vegetarian? My husband refuses to go if there isn't chicken tikka masala involved.

[sel]

Most of my Little India favorites are veg restaurants but I tried the lunch buffet at The India Restaurant once and it was really good. They even had wonderful Lamb Shanks that day, on an all you can eat buffet!

Also I like the somewhat new location of Ambla Dhaba, good food and better decor than their previous location which has become their 'fast food' outlet.

The India Restaurant
17824 Pioneer Bl.
Artesia, CA 90701
562 860 5621
www.theindiarestaurant.com

http://www.presstelegram.com/dining/c...

[MaryT]

The India Restaurant owner also runs Kamal Palace in Marina Pacifica. His was one of the only businesses that returned to the newer lifestyle mall when they ripped out the old "marina" concept outdoor mall in the early 90s. We were really happy to learn they were coming back (we called the Marina Pacifica management and learned about the other restaurant and the return plans). Anyway, it ended up making us experiment more over in Little India (I wonder if I blanked on Woodlands Artesia spot) so it's all good.

The menus used to be identical, but I have not been to either a couple years. Now I'm on a mission to get back down there.

[CookieEater]

sel, What are the veg places you like?

[sel]

I like all of the places listed below, not all in the area of Little India. Tirupathi Bhimas doesn't get much mention on the L.A. board but it's very good! I have not tried Rajdhani yet, J. Gold and some on this board like it which is enough to get me there soon.

Tirupathi Bhimas
18792 Pioneer Bl.
Artesia, CA 90701
562 809 3806
also:
Tirupathi Bhimas
1208 S. Able St.
Milpitas, CA 95035
408 945 1010
www.TirupathiBhimas.com

Surati Farsan Mart
11814 E. 186th St.
Artesia, CA 90701
562 860 2310
www.suratifarsan.com

Woodlands
11833 Artesia Bl.
Artesia, CA 90701
562 860 6500
also:
Woodlands
9840 Topanga Cyn. Bl. Unit A,
Chatsworth, CA 91311
818 998 3031

Rasraj
18511 S. Pioneer Blvd.
Artesia, CA 90701
877 4 RASRAJ
www.rasraj.com

Samosa House
11510 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90066
310 398 0755
7 days 11am-9pm

Rajdhani
http://www.laweekly.com/eat+drink/cou...

[glutton]

Surati Farsan is great. However, it's always really crowded, so I usually go to lunch elsewhere and then come back to Surati Farsan for dessert. Never disappoints...

[sel]

I often do the same thing but I tried their Samosas recently which were really spectacular!

[DiveFan]

Chicken Tikka Masala only? Oh dear!
Nicole, you are an exceptionally tolerant female CH, bless you.

I second the call for India Restaurant, they even have CTM.

Shan Restaurant is at 18621 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia.
Tirupathi Bhimas is south Indian: http://www.chow.com/places/4950

Rajdhani - http://www.chow.com/places/8746
Jay Bharat - http://www.chow.com/places/8322

For an extensive list of options, see this topic: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/320964

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Woodlands Indian Cuisine
11833 Artesia Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701

[CookieEater]

But I don't want extensive, I only want one or two of the best. So far Woodlands is in the lead.

[Nicole]

Thanks for replies to my spin-off non-vegetarian question! We are going to try India Restaurant this coming weekend.

[Mando]

I always go to The India Restaurant. To me its the best i've had out there.

[arifa]

Muslims can eat meat except for pork and usually don't eat that much seafood. Thankfully, due to the many vegetarian Hindus in India, you can find vegetarian Indian food in any Indian restaurant quite easily.

I like Jay Bharat for their Roti Shak (sp?) lunches. Their roti is great!

[boogiebaby]

Some muslims only eat halal meat, which may be the case here.

[CookieEater]

yes, that is the case here! And she also eats lots of seafood.

I read on this board about Shan, a place that serves halal meat. Is it still really good?

[condiment]

Shan is decent, but I'd go to Shahnawaz, a wonderful halal Pakistani place about a mile away from Little India. the food is much sharper.

As far as vegetarian restaurants on Pioneer, I'm a huge fan of the bottomless Gujarat thali at Rajdhani, which is always great and very fun.

[glutton]

I'm a fan of Woodlands.

[MaryT]

Is there now a Woodlands in Artesia? I've only been to the one in SFV.

[sel]

The Woodlands in Artesia was around long before the Chatsworth location. Both are very good, especially good on Dosa Nights where you get unlimited dosas AND buffet!

[CookieEater]

When is Dosa Night?

[metaphora]

Their website says Wednesday and Friday nights, from 6:30-9:30.

[CookieEater]

I think we're sold on the all-you-can-eat Dosa night. In general, do these places do reservations, or are they like the Chinese places in MPk that don't take reservations? There will be just 3 or 4 of us.

[metaphora]

I went for the first time last night and it was pretty empty. You probably will not need reservations. Now they charge a flat $10 for all you can eat dosa and buffet. There is no longer the dosa-only option for less $.

The dosas were smaller than I'm used to, which was great because it leaves you more room to try different types. I had the masala dosa, an onion dosa and the paneer dosa.

The paneer dosa was the best. I've never had anything like it! It was stuffed with potatoes, onions, cilantro, raw chile peppers, an orange chutney and grated paneer that looked and tasted just like mozzarella. Incredibly yummy. My only complaint was the dosa itself was very soggy.

The masala dosa was decent, if maybe a little skimpy on the potatoes. It was the crispiest dosa, which is the texture I prefer. The onion one was the blandest and that particular dosa came out a little undercooked.

All in all they were decent dosas, but I don't know if I'd return. Just to provide a frame of reference, I'm used to the dosas at Udupi Palace in Chicago: crispy, huge, and BUTTERY. I'm ok with small, not-so-crispy dosas, but the ones at Woodlands lacked flavor (I'm referring to the dosa itself, apart from the filling).

The chutneys were all on the buffet table, so you get to grab your preferred chutney to go with your dosa. They were decent. I've had better, I've had plenty worse.

I only tried a few items off the buffet. The mushroom curry was good, as was the spinach. They also had Carrot Halwah (sp?), which was new to me, and very tasty. Biggest disappointment was the lemon rice, which was distractingly crunchy.