Akbar Cuisine of India

We dream of returning to Pasadena to partake of the delicious gourmet Indian cuisine served at Akbar (formerly known to us as Akbar Café). Coco Lamb, a delicacy, is our favorite. The place was known to us as a dive, located on the edge of the renovated shopping district, as we crammed into tightly spaced tables and awaited our food and beverage. It’s a nice atmosphere, where we get exactly what we expect.

Made reservation at 7pm. They had a table available so I ask if we can sit there, I was told that was for «special guest.» I informed them that the «special guest» were not present and we were. They refuse to sit us and gave it to «special guest» that also had a 7pm reservation but were late 20 minutes. Two other tables open up, but, since our group of four were not large enough they needed the tables for larger groups that were not even there. We had to wait 40 minutes before being seated in a back corner table. They comped us appetizers chicken kita wraps and samosas which I must admit was delicious. The rest of the food was just ok. I’m not complaining about the waiting, it just was not nice to be at the wrong end of preferential treatment.

The best Indian food I ever had! The food is outstanding, not your typical Indian fare. Chef Avi takes you to a rare wonderful world of culinary heaven. :)

This has been my all time favorite Indian food restaurant for 15+ years. The food is excellent. I am very picky when it comes to the little things that might not bother other people, like my husband. No gristle please. I love that I can order the Chicken Tikka Masala in all that wonderful sauce and know I will be eating pure white meat chicken, no fat, no gristle. They’re Balsamic watermelon salad can sub as a yummy desert if you’re counting calories. I think I’ve tried everything on the menu over the years and in my humble opinion the food is all very, very good. I really enjoy everything they serve. The only downside is it’s a small restaurant and gets really crowded on the weekends. If you’re up for sitting very close to strangers in the front and and not up for a wait, make reservations. It’s a little more private in the back. You can also order to go, park on Union in the garage directly next door. If you’re timing is right you might get one of several spots that is specifically marked for 30 minutes or less and if not, they validate parking.

The food is delicious and the waitresses are hot and I’m listening to their music right now it isn’t just some boring Hindi crap it’s actually extremely legit badass Hindi beats. We always get the chicken masala, okra, both herb and cheese naan, and they like the coconut eggplant. It’s always good every time. Go here.

I’m in between a 3 – 4 star on this one. I’ve only came here once so far, and there were very distinct pros and cons.
The restaurant has a small, dimly lit, cozy atmosphere. I’m sure when it gets busy, it would be uncomfortably cramped and difficult to move around in! They have a very large bar area… a little too large of a bar for the size of the restaurant.
Upside: The service was prompt and friendly and the food was delicious! We ordered the chicken tikka masala and the curry was tasty and NOT watered down, compared to another Indian restaurant I frequent. Those sauces on the side that they give you were so BOMB my friend had to request a side of it with her food to-​go! They can be spicy though but lucky for me, I’m a spice lover. ;)
Downside: The only two issues we really had was a forgotten order (but not big deal since I was pretty stuffed) and a dirty wine glass was given to us (another customer’s lipstick was still on there. It was pretty hard to miss, but could be an easy mistake). Also, you had to make a separate order of naan bread with your food. I don’t think it came with any dinner entrees. $$
I will be back when my craving for Indian food kicks in again!

We’ve been to Akbar a few times now and have mixed experiences. Sometimes the food has been great and service spot on for 4 stars, and sometimes the food and service was less than stellar for 2 stars. So we are rounding it out to a 2.5.
Overall the quality has seem to decline with each visit. Both the food and service. First of all entrees are 10 – 15 each. That does not include rice or naan. Which by the way, the Naan is fresh as can be and delicious. But getting it to come out with your dinner seems to be an issue. Which leads to our next problem of cold food…
We’ve had some dishes come out perfect and some dishes come out at room temp, slightly limp from obviously sitting out for several minutes before being delivered to our table. We’re just not willing to spend $ 25 – 30 a person for maybe a really great meal.
I don’t know if they are understaffed or if we’ve hit the kitchen on off nights, but doubt we’ll be back anytime soon.

Delicious!!! Try the chicken tikka masala of course, garlic naan, mixed green salad, and crab cakes. It’s our go to order now.

Had dinner here last week. I LOVE Indian food. Love it! This place was good. I enjoyed the samosas and my chicken tikka masala (was not on the menu – but I asked for it and they obliged). I tried their onion naan, and because I am an onion lover too… it definitely worked for me (if you get the onion naan be prepared for «A LOT» of onions in every bite). I would recommend this restaurant.

Hands down my favorite Indian restaurant… they have some of the best option for Nan (bread), and the best rice I have ever tasted… they have a kitchen where if you sit at the bar or towards the front of the restaurant you can see them cook… the staff is very friendly and Sharon who has been there for years is Awesome!!! I could eat at this restaurant every day and be happy

I was meeting up some co-​workers for lunch, and we decided on this place. We’ve walked by this place many times before, but apparently they close between lunch and dinner time. Luckily for us, it was open since it was around lunch time.
There weren’t that many people inside, so we were seated immediately. The place is kinda small, but is conveniently located close to Colorado Ave, the main hub in Pasadena. The staff was friendly all around, and the chef was busy cooking up perfection at 100 miles an hour.
I ordered my favorite Indian dish: chicken tiki masala. I ordered it extra spicy, and munched on some nan while I waited for my food. After about 10 minutes, I had my food in front of me, and chowed down.
The chicken was very spicy, as ordered. It came with white rice, lentils, and a salad. Every bit of this plate was delicious, and I over ate. I left the place comatose and happy.
I will be back here to try their dinner menu, as the waiter indicated that they have a more expansive menu for evening time.

WORST. NON AUTHENTIC. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT INDIAN FOOD. They have done fusion. Mango sauce instead of tamarind sauce? No way. Daal was horrible. Fried okra tasteless.
If You want authentic Indian food, AVOID THIS. Pioneer BLVD ARTESIA is your place to go.
Never going again.

I have gone to many Indian restaurants, but this one stole my heart. The flavors in the Chicken Tikka Masala dish are mouthgasmic. I always order it at a number 2, though I have tried it at numbers 1, 3, and 4. I like it spicy, but not so much. The flavors this dish provides has made me a customer for life. I came here for the first time 7 years ago with my husband. Back then we were dating and I was truly impressed. I love trying new food, and knew after leaving here one Sunday afternoon, I would be returning very often.
The service here is always perfect. They are so attentive and helpful, and have had the pleasure in getting to know some of the staff. They are so friendly and a joy to speak with.
The restaurant is pretty small and right across from The Container Store. Don’t miss this gem of a place in the heart of Old Town Pasadena, and order the Chicken Tikka Masala. I guarantee, you won’t be disappointed.

Wonderful service. The place is cozy and the food is great. One of my favorite places for sure.

I love this place so much, I each here once a week for lunch. The lunch menu allows you to choose one main item, choosing how spicy you want it from 1 – 6 (mild to very spicy) and includes one slice of naan, unlimited chutney (coconut, mint and an addictive spicy veggie one), basmati rice, katchumber salad and the lentil dish of the day. It’s very inexpensive and each order is made from scratch. The naan dough is rolled out and put in the tandoori oven and is piping hot when it comes to your table.
What’s notable about this place is that the sauces are thick and not watery and the chutneys are savory and spicy. I’ve had the samosas and the different breads, but my favorite is the lamb vindaloo. All of the veggie dishes are amazing. I could seriously be a vegetarian if all I ate came from this place. One tip: if the owner is the chef when you’re there, you’ll have to minus one point of spiciness or your mouth will be on fire! But even then, the cucumber raita will fix everything.
They have a selection of excellent Indian lagers, some of which are seasonal. In the end, if you enjoy spicy, filling and savory food, this is the place to go.

Excellent pairing of chicken Marsala and secret lamb (you must ask for it not on the menu), comes highly recommended.
I’m doing this review because I’m coming for a return mission!

Based on initial impressions, Akbar looked like a promising place to have lunch in Pasadena. I opened their front door with intention to just pick up a menu, but after observing that the restaurant met two criteria which is almost impossible to find in the area (no lunch buffet available, food is prepared in an open kitchen), I decided to give Akbar a chance and ordered some takeout. The lunch specials here are cooked to order instead of self-​served from steam trays, and the entire cooking process is transparent with just a counter separating customers and the kitchen burners, so the food is guaranteed to be fresh.
Unfortunately, my lunch special left a lot to be desired. I ordered the baingan ka salan, a famous dish eaten in Hyderabad. Although the food temperature was perfect and the food is apparently served straight from a wok, the execution was pretty awful. I’m not convinced that the chef understood the small details of Indian food. From my experience eating baingan salan, it tastes nutty with a hint of coconut flavor. The gravy for this dish has typically been spicy and flavorful. To me, a balance of these three flavors is critical in a good baingan salan dish. I was very disappointed with Akbar’s recipe because it was one dimensional — creamy, cloying, and sickening sweet. The coconut flavor in the paste was too rich, overpowering, and unpleasant to eat with plain eggplant. The entire dish reminded me of a Thai curry. This result was no surprise, after I watched the chef add components to the wok from several squeeze bottles.
The complementing sides to the lunch special were nothing special. Boiled lentils begging for more seasoning, fresh kachumber with no dressing. The naan was the standard restaurant-​type, cooked in a tandoor, very thick and chewy. The rice was a little clumpy but edible. Remind me to not eat Indian food in Pasadena ever again.

My Office recently took me here for my birthday, it was a great gesture, but the food, sorry but it was not so good. :(
The service was nice, the servers were soo sweet. But the food was horrible. I think the owner was there and he stood there like a snob. Very sad :(
If you want real indian food, I mean real indian food, vegetarian with some taste GO to Indian sweets and spices in Canoga park (Topanga and Sherman way) the ambiance is not as wonderful, but the food is a hundreds times better. If you want real indian non veg food go to BOMBAY TO BEJING, its a little hole in the wall, but the biryani is to die for…
Sorry, but the food is not good and its not authentic. They actually made the mali Kofta with potatoes, who does this??? Disgusting… :(

The chicken saag and chicken masala were really good! I think I preferred the chicken masala a little more over the saag, probably because of its sauce – both tasted great with the rice. The food is a bit overpriced in my opinion, the dishes are good to share between 2 – 3 people but not good to share amongst larger groups. And even if you do share, remember to get various dishes to share since portions are quite small. We had the garlic naan and that came out last, a bit late into the meal, but the server was kind and took that off our bill – a very nice gesture. The garlic naan was delicious – there were parts of it however that were burnt. The service was kind and the rest of our meal came out at a reasonable time. Overall, if you want indian food in Old Town Pasadena, it’s a pretty decent place to check out, but otherwise, you might want to try elsewhere for dinner.

Zowie! Such spice!
This is one of the really flavorful Indian restaurant I’ve been to. If you like things subtle, this may be too bold for you (then again, I haven’t tried a wide selection yet) If you like Indian food and are not intimidated by spices, this is the place to go.
I had the Chicken Tikka I believe. My friends had different kinds of lamb. My chicken had a nice, swift kick in the spiciness department, although not as noticeable at first as it starts off kind of sweet. They give you naan at the beginning, and a good generous amount, too. Nice!
This is a nice cozy restaurant in downtown Pasadena, friendly service. Interior is small to medium-​sized. A group of 4 – 6 should fit fine. Interior is decorated with a low-​lit, traditional flavor.

I grew to love Indian food after living in Berkeley for 4 years, so when my coworkers raved about this place, I had some high expectations. I think I was sadly disappointed but it more of a preference than any sort of cooking issue. The chicken tikka masala seems to have more tomato than cream in it. I like my chicken tikka masala to be creamy so this was a bit disappointing. Also be warned that they don’t mess around with the spice level. A 3 was my upper limit of the amount of spicy I could take, and I consider myself to be able to handle about medium spicyness.
On the other hand, the samosas here are excellent and a must-​have!
Overall, I wouldn’t mind coming back but I might take my chances at finding a different go-​to Indian restaurant

I have never been a huge fan of Indian food, but I love Akbar. I will admit that the Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey branches have far superior food than the Pasadena branch (where meal quality can vary greatly on any given day from good to excellent/​spicy to bland). However, I still find their meals to be the best I’ve had so far in L.A. It appeals to my palate.
I love their coco lamb, the chicken madras, the shrimp madras, the chicken tikka masala. And the appetizers are fantastic. The Chicken 65, the garlic spicy shrimp, the kati roll, the samosas, and most of the others are great. Their nan and paraatha breads are awesome.
Only complaint is the cost. They are overpriced. And for some reason I find the Pasadena portions smaller than the West Side branches.

Confession: I am not a huge fan of Indian fare.
I have walked passed this restaurant hundreds of times. Literally.
Finally gave it a try for lunch with some co-​workers. Small sit down restaurant with an open kitchen. You will smell all the fragrant spices as soon as you enter. My co-​worker recommended the Coco Lamb, his regular dish. It was so good. No lie, the portion was huge and I ate it all. I was in food coma heaven but it was addictive. The naan was fresh and hot. All the chutneys were delicious and spicy.
I will definitely be back!