Kabob Curry feeds downtown

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Kabob Curry might as well have been carved out of a cave. The new downtown restaurant lets in plenty of light, but it dissipates the deeper you go, replaced by the coral glow of over a dozen Himalayan salt lamps. Together they dominate an entire wall, a cluster of [...]

If you happen to harbor some uncertainty when it comes to Udupi Palace’s menu, simplify things by ordering a thali, a combination plate that pairs up most of the restaurant’s regional standards. Take the South Indian thali, for example, which includes rasam (a varying South Indian soup based on everything from tamarind to tomato), sambar [...]

Pledging allegiance to Udupi Palace

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Pioneer Boulevard stutters to a stop only a block or two past South Street, the Sunday traffic tangled together in a clog of cars so dense it’s impossible to angle your way out. On Artesia’s side streets, more cars spill from parking structures meant for only the most [...]

Inside! Free million-dollar Indian breakfast idea!

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
My Indian friend M brought me to Kamal Palace on a spectacular July weekday, noon sun slanting through the restaurant’s nearly floor-to-ceiling windows, boats like a SoCal still-life in the adjacent Marina Pacifica, waiters in actual ties drifting silently up to the table with just mounds of [...]

Breakfast at Natraj
Most Sundays it’s eggs Florentine and coffee—Bloody Mary, too, if you’re living on the edge—but sometimes having breakfast for breakfast just doesn’t sound so good, especially if brekkie gets rolling around 1 in the afternoon. So. What to eat—pizza? Burgers? Soup? How about tandoori chicken with a side of champagne? It’s certainly not [...]

Surati Farsan points its menu primarily toward the seaside state of Gujarat, one of India’s many culinary epicenters. Gujarati food is regarded as being remarkably clean and simple, with predominantly vegetarian dishes that work wonders with only a few flavors. And that’s what Surati Farsan specializes in. There’s pani puri, fried wheat shells puffed up [...]

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
The best Indian food is always a slow burn, stubbornly spicy and resistant to any water, juice or tea that drenches it. What can beat that heat, though, is a lassi—a yogurt-based drink that blankets the burn with a smooth and cool flood. A good lassi strikes the balance between sweet and [...]