Vegetarian Indian on the Westside?
I love Indian food, but lately I've been sticking with mostly meat dishes when I go out, but next week I have a friend (from SF) who is vegetarian and also loves Indian coming to visit, and I was hoping for some good recs on the Westside (is this possible?) for good vegetarian dishes (doesn't have to be South Indian). I'm a constant reader of the boards, so I know about Samosa House (decent) and Bawarchi (haven't been, but heard is similar to SH). I haven't been to Annapurna in Venice either, but I went to Annapurna in what I think was Lawndale or Hawthorne and wasn't impressed at all.
Dishes that I (and she) like: saag (paneer), bhengan bharta, malai kofta, mattar paneer, dal makhni, bhindi masala, etc...
Any places on the Westside (I live in WLA, and she will be working during the day, so evenings are our option) that have good-to-great versions of these (or others)?
As a disclaimer, I generally hold off on my Indian fix until I get a chance to go to Artesia, because I am generally disappointed with most Indian on the Westside, although I would say my favorites are Ambala Dhaba and Agra.
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Ambala Dhaba
17631 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701
Samosa House
11510 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA
By mdpilam
on Aug 1, 2010 11:22 AM
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Do you generally think of good vegetarian Indian food as South Indian? I think of Gujarati food being better vegetarian Indian food. Gujarat has the greatest concentration of vegetarians in India, not that it would necessarily make it better for cuisine--but I find it better than South Indian cuisine in general. There are few dishes--like dosas that I like a lot. However, the reliance on rice in South Indian cuisine makes a lot of dishes that I don't like. I don't like dishes like idli.
Annapurna on Venice is good and is South Indian. To be honest, why not just go to Artesia? It is better than the westside for Indian food. There is another place on Pico east of La Cienega which is good--I don't think that really counts as Westside--India Sweet House. I think they are good. http://www.isweethouse.com/ It's just a cafe though.
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Annapurna Cuisine
10200 Venice Blvd Ste 101, Culver City, CA 90232
India Sweet House
5992 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035
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I like Gujarati better too, but I couldn't really think of a place on the Westside for it.
The reason for not going to Artesia (in this specific instance - I plan on taking a different friend out there next weekend) is traffic. I pretty much do not drive on weekday nights, especially outside the Westside. This also is why I don't go to Al Noor (actually, I think I prefer Al Watan) - though, honestly, she lives blocks away from Pakwan and Lahore in SF, which are way better than the aforementioned.
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Al Watan
13619 Inglewood Ave, Hawthorne, CA 90250
Al Noor
15112 Inglewood Ave, Lawndale, CA 90260
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You should try Al Noor in Lawndale. Much closer than Artesia and much better North Indian/Pakistani food (e.g., saag paneer) than that on the Westside.
I don't think Annapurna is as good as Artesia restaurants like Udupi Palace.
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Al Noor
15112 Inglewood Ave, Lawndale, CA 90260
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