Restaurant: Akbar Cuisine of India – Pasadena
Location: 400 S Arroyo Pkwy, Pasadena, CA 91105
Date: March 20, 2023
Cuisine: Indian
Rating: Far, but still one of my favorites
We’ve been friends with the Akbar owners forever — hell I’ve been eating their food since 1996 or 97. So I trekked out to the new Pasadena location (and it is a trek for me).
Bright colors.
Huge gang bang table.
Chutneys. I particularly love the spicy veggie mix on the right.
Mango Habanero Sauce. This is a new concoction that Chev Avi whipped up. Leathally hot and super delicious. When used sparingly, quite awesome.
Naan. I avoided the regular naan just for calorie/carb reasons. Later I succumbed to the cheese version. sigh.
French Fries. The kitchen isn’t really geared for our 25+ person party so these came out to sop up some appetite. I skipped, however, because of the obvious carbs.
Shrimp Bhuna. Really delicious and quite spicy. Succulent shrimp and TONS of flavor.
You can see all those tasty onions. Which given that the first couple of these landed at the other side of the table is all I got for a while. Eventually more came and I loaded up on shrimp.
Tandoori Chicken. Succulent and flavorful as always.
Gobi Manchurian. Really tasty with that sweet and spicy flavor. However, small containers for 25+ people and the cauliflower itself was toasted instantly.
Chicken Tikka Masala. One of my two classic flavors at Akbar and still the best CTM around.
Basmati Rice.
Garlic Naan. Stepping up in the naan world. Freshly baked and covered in garlic.
Goat Curry. Very nice, classic “brown curry” with tons of flavor. I do really like the goat meat, although there are a lot of (sometimes sharp) bones.
Bhindi Masala. One of my favorite veggies and nicely salted. I ate about a whole plate of this with the curry sauce.
Lamb Sliders. I haven’t actually had these before. They have a mint chutney and some greens on them lending them a flavor like classic Indian lamb kabobs.
Cheese Naan. Now these made me break my carb diet — wow I love these cheese stuffed naan. So cheesy good.
Saag (sans paneer). I think it was supposed to be Saag Paneer, but someone forgot the cheese. Still, spinach never had so much flavor (and a whole lotta fat) mixed in.
Oxtail Masala. This was the sleeper hit of the evening. Tons of bone you had to chew around, and oddly, while we constantly got new plates someone had taken everything but our spoons, so I was using two spoons to try to pry the meat out. Still, the masala sauce was to die for and it was an incredible dish.
Salty Pistachio Gelato – Pistachio di Bronte DOGC produces an intense pistachio base to which I added just a touch of salt — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #pistachio #sicily #nuts #salt
Cannoli and Baklava’s Evil American Lovechild — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Base crafted from Galbani Whole Milk Ricotta and Sicilian Toasted Noto Romano Almond Paste with a touch of the sugar subbed out for Sicilian Honey. Mixed in is Malibu Honey, California Pistachios, and house-made Gluten Free Honey Graham Crackers (almond flour and so good you can’t tell them from the wheat flour version)! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #dessertgasm #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #ricotta #almond #RicottaCheese #cheese #Sicily #honey #GrahamCracker #pistachio
Overall, food was great as always. For me personally, given that it’s pretty much the same as the Marina branch, and that’s like 10x closer, I’ll go there. But if you live east side there isn’t any better Indian food!
