The best Indian and South Asian restaurants in Los Angeles

Elaborate platters of Gujarati cuisine are the reason why Rajdhani, of all the restaurants and sweet shops in Artesia’s Little India stretch, stands out from all the rest. Despite being situated by the sea, the western Indian state is known for its vegetarian—not seafood—dishes, and Rajdhani is no exception. Servers bring dishes tableside (there’s no buffet here), so you can get up close and personal with Rajdhani’s ever-changing thali—a selection of daal, chapati, okra stew and more, with vegan, gluten-free and Jain (allium-free) options abound. End the meal with the restaurant’s excellent desserts, like rose ice cream topped with basil seeds or fragrant, plush pieces of gulab jamun (saffron syrup-soaked balls of deep-fried dough).

Flavorful contemporary dishes make this newer Culver City restaurant stand out within L.A.’s South Asian dining scene, from chicken wings drenched in an Old Monk marinade (India’s iconic dark rum) to a lobster moilee, a rich coconut milk curry from the southern state of Kerala traditionally made with shrimp. Modestly priced classics like pav bhaji—vegetable curry sliders—and chicken tikka kebab come loaded with spices, and everything pairs well with Arth’s playful desi-inspired cocktails. I particularly enjoyed the jal-jeera mojito, which pairs the popular cumin-based north Indian drink with chili-infused white rum and a touch of peach liqueur. At the bar, a robust weekday happy hour (3–5pm) offers $7 well drinks and shaves $2 off cocktails and half off on small plates like “sexier” curry fries and a crunchy, refreshing masala papad chaat.

Taking over from the Happy Foot/Sad Foot clinic, this Indian pizza parlor in Silver Lake is a razor-sharp distillation of everything great about dining in Los Angeles: fun, not too expensive and, best of all, gloriously unfussy. It’s also one of the city’s best restaurants in my book, though it’s probably not what most people are looking for when they’re in search of Indian cuisine. Billed as a sports bar (you can’t miss the giant flatscreen TVs), Pijja Palace’s destination-worthy appeal lies in its playful, delicious menu of South Asian-inspired pizza, pasta, wings and cocktails. Rich in spice though not necessarily spicy, each simple-but-complex dish tastes fresh and exciting, from the dosa onion rings dipped in mango chutney to vodka sauce-like malai rigatoni. Top the green chutney pijja (Hindi slang for “pizza”) with a shake of masala spice for extra kick, and don’t miss the cookies-and-cardamom soft serve.

Specializing in South Indian cuisine, with an eye to vegan and health-conscious options, this award-winning Culver City strip mall gem has stood the test of time and won over the likes of the late Jonathan Gold and former Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi. Dishes rich with cumin, coriander and turmeric predominate, as well as creamy stews that sway more sour than sweet. On its massive menu spanning halal and vegetarian options you’ll also find excellent versions of regional specialties like uthappam—a pizza-like pancake that features various toppings cooked into fluffy dosa batter—and unique Kerala-style fish curry with pieces of bubbly, ultra-light appam. The giant, conical ghee roast dosa is also a must order for every table.

For years, this family-run Pakistani eatery has cooked up delicious portions of halal food, including a standout Karachi-style chicken biryani, ultra-fiery chandan kebabs and a decadent Delhi-style nihari (beef stew). Originally based in Culver City, you can now find Zam Zam Foods in Hawthorne, where a new set of owners has maintained the consistency and quality that has made the restaurant’s fiery chicken biryani beloved across the Southland. On the weekends, be sure to order the halwa puri platter with sweet, carrot-based halwa (a type of crumbly, sugary confection), chickpea curry and a deep-fried, handrolled puri. Other menu highlights include the milder, fragrant lamb pulao and the milky-sweet, steaming hot cups of chai.

Tucked along Melrose’s dispensaries, tattoo parlors and streetwear shops, Roots Indian Bistro serves a noteworthy, thoughtfully executed mix of traditional and fusion Indian cuisine. On any given evening, you’ll see a diverse mix of neighborhood locals, including plenty of South Asian families, enjoying familiar dishes like chicken tandoori and saag paneer. For pairs, family-style combos offer samosas, naan and your choice of curry at reasonable prices. Where I’d rather steer you towards, however, are the more creative items, including vindaloo soup dumplings, kashmiri chili-spiced tomato cream pasta and a playful chana (curried chickpea) chalupa inspired by owner Anmoldeep Singh’s childhood visits to Taco Bell. With a stylish interior and delicious cuisine, Roots strikes the perfect balance between contemporary and classic—and at a time when Pijja Palace and Badmaash have become household names among in-the-know L.A. diners, I'm surprised more people haven’t caught onto what’s going on in the kitchen at Roots.

With elegant Bollywood-inspired cocktails and an elevated approach to South Asian cooking, this New York City import has already upset L.A.’s Indian restaurant status quo. Led by international chef Sujan Sarkar, who also operates restaurants in Chicago, San Francisco and New Delhi, Baar Baar showcases a newer, more modern side of subcontinental cuisine in an airy Downtown dining room (previously occupied by Faith & Flower). Vibrant chaats and fusion-style items like a duck birria taco deftly mix the familiar and novel for an upscale dining experience you likely won’t forget. On my visit, I especially enjoyed the unusually nuanced butter chicken, made with red pepper and fenugreek. I’ve heard reports from recent diners of occasional inconsistencies in the kitchen and less-than-stellar cooking, but as one of the only upscale South Asian restaurants in town, Baar Baar is an obvious choice if you’re looking for a centrally located Indian spot with a special-occasion feel.

Tucked between an international grocery store and a hot chicken joint, this unassuming eatery along Venice Boulevard is a citywide standout even in the context of Culver City’s competitive Indian dining scene. The fully halal restaurant specializes in tandoori-style grilled meats and offers an excellent menu across the board, but where Abhiruchi Grill truly distinguishes itself is with a few hard-to-find Indo-Chinese specialities, including the gobi (cauliflower) Manchurian and chili chicken. The weekday buffet, available Tuesday through Friday, makes the restaurant an obvious choice for an affordable Westside lunch, and there’s plenty of lighter, vegetable-forward options like pigeon pea dal and the vegetable chettinadu, a delicate, slightly peppery mixed vegetarian stew that pairs wonderfully with rice and a side of naan.

You’re spoiled for choice whenever you visit Artesia’s Little India, but I also love this full-service South Indian restaurant whenever I'm craving a huge, crispy dosa and chutneys that don’t skimp on spice. Open daily for lunch and dinner (plus breakfast on the weekends), the restaurant also executes the other half of its name equally well—you’ll find over a dozen different kinds of podis, a powdered condiment made of lentils, seeds and spices to accompany your dosas or idli (streamed rice cakes). Other dishes, like the chicken biryani and gobi Manchurian are equally delicious, though first-timers should know that the wait for food here can be quite long. Also note that Podi Dosa becomes quite busy on the weekends, though you’ll likely have the place to yourself during weekday lunch.

Since 1988, Artesia’s Jay Bharat has specialized in a mix of high-quality Indian sweets and everyday vegetarian Gujarati cuisine. The always-busy Little India restaurant offers thali platters for dine-in, takeout and delivery, plus a diverse collection of sweets available for shipping nationwide. Order sticky swirls of jalebi, milky white squares of kaju katli and other hard-to-find sweets, or visit in person for an excellent selection of chaat—street food snacks that range from filled, deep-fried puris to khasta kachori, a type of crispy, flaky pastry stuffed with lentils and mung beans.

A modern Indian restaurant marrying Toronto-style swagger and South Asian spice, Badmaash offers a delicious, carefully thought-out menu of Indian classics and more playful dishes, like a chicken tikka poutine and chili cheese naan. Run by the Mahendro brother-and-father trio, this isn’t your average Indian takeout-style fare. Take their double-fried chicken: Dusted with paprika masala, each piece is craggy, crunchy and out-of-this-world good when dipped into their side of serrano-cream sauce. No meal would be complete, however, without one of their poutines, which can be also topped with vegetarian-friendly channa masala. Time Out tip: Order the vegan-friendly oat milk chai, available by the bottle for takeout purchase as well.

Open mostly during daylight hours, Tarzana’s Apey Kade is one of the only restaurants serving Sri Lankan cuisine in all of Los Angeles. Luckily, it’s also extremely delicious. Run by husband-and-wife team Niza Hashim and Lalith Rodrigo, the no-frills strip mall joint offers a detailed bird’s eye view of the South Asian island country’s staple dishes, from string hoppers (rice flour noodle discs) to lamprais (a portable banana leaf packet of rice, meat, sambal and curried vegetables). Most items let you choose your own protein, including an option for vegetarians, and there’s a hot case of  pastries if you’re interested in trying Sri Lankan-style patties, including one stuffed with curried fish, that bear more than a passing similarity in taste and texture to the varieties made across the Caribbean.

Punjabi-style stuffed and grilled flatbreads paired with housemade pickled onions, refreshing raita (yogurt sauce) and your choice of saucy entrée are the name of the game at this counter-service North Indian spot in Artesia—and while parathas are a dime a dozen in this suburban city’s first-rate Indian dining scene, you probably won’t find a version as delicious as the ones served at Paratha Grill. Choose from 13 different iterations of stuffed flatbreads, including the ever-popular aloo (potato) and gobi (cauliflower) options. Pair your choice of paratha with the smoky, subtly rich dal tadka features plenty of ghee-tempered cinnamon and cardamom or the dhaba-style chicken curry, then wash it all down with a cup of steaming hot chai, sweetened to taste.

If you know where to look, the San Fernando Valley has a handful of standout South Asian restaurants, including Sri Lankan specialists like Apey Kade and this no-frills vegetarian sweet shop and eatery in Canoga Park. On the desserts side of the equation, the gulab jamun and jalebi here are top-notch, as are the various sweets like flavored burfi (evaporated milk fudge), kaju katli and sooji halwa (a type of crumbly treat common to both South Asia and the Middle East—this one being made with jaggery sugar, raisins and almonds). For budget-friendly diners, however, the real prize is the cafeteria-style spread of delicious curries and stews; the chole bhature—a combination of a deep-fried, puffy flatbread and chickpea curry; and other chaat (street food snacks) items like pani puri (hollowed balls of dough filled with chickpeas, potato and onion and flavored with chutney and spiced water). If you order correctly and play your cards right, you can walk out of here satisfied for under $20. 

Specializing in Burmese and Indian food, this halal takeout eatery and grocery store in Culver City offers a pleasing mix of everyday-priced Southeast and South Asian cuisine. Here, dishes like tea leaf salad and panthay khow suey (the Burmese version of Thai khao soi) complement more Indian-style dishes like flattened patties of shami kabab and goat biryani. Technically, Myanmar (previously known as Burma) is in Southeast Asia, but a long legacy of immigration between the subcontinent and Myanmar has lent itself to plenty of culinary overlap—and Jasmine Market‘s menu is no exception. Beloved by locals since its opening in 2008, the family-run spot also has an excellent bright pink falooda—an ultra-sweet rosewater drink perfect in the spring and summer.

In Pasadena, Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks, this Indian grocery store and takeout joint is a locals’ one-stop shop for South Asian staple ingredients as well a rotating daily selection of affordable homestyle dishes that might include a Mysore masala dosa or bhalla papdi chaat—a crunchy afternoon snack that combines both sweet and tangy chutneys with papdi (fried crackers) and crushed peanuts. You can pick and choose to make up your own combination plate ($11–13) or order à la carte, but don’t skip out on Namaste Spiceland’s dessert selection—the gulab jamun is especially enticing.

Although Northridge’s Baja Subs and Deli might look like another strip mall deli and minimart in the Valley, owners Premil and Koshalie Jayasinghe have served a dual takeout menu of casual Mexican food and some of the best Sri Lankan cuisine in L.A. since 2016. On weekends, Baja Subs serves larger dishes, including a Sri Lankan-style biryani, which comes topped with caramelized onions, hard-boiled egg, cashews and pineapple chutney, and lamprais—a portable banana leaf packet of rice, meat, sambal and curried vegetables, though its exact components change on a weekly basis.

Open since 2011, this San Gabriel grocery store and casual sit-down restaurant offers all the usual takeout favorites like chicken tikka masala, along with a few hidden gems from the family’s recipe archives. Try the chicken pakora—deep-fried fritters perfect as an appetizer—or Bhanu’s take on bhel puri, a sauced, herbaceous mix of vegetables and crispy pieces of popped rice.

This street level takeaway spot within Westfield Culver City first gained citywide recognition as a beloved gas station shop hawking frankies, a popular Mumbai street food known more commonly in L.A. as an Indian burrito. Now, the family-run Bombay Frankie Company runs an excellent fast-casual brick-and-mortar with housemade chutneys, locally sourced produce and freshly ground spices that elevate the flavor of every foil-wrapped North Indian treat. Available for both takeout (curbside pickup included) and delivery, the Bombay Frankie Company also offers plenty of gluten-free and vegan options, including a delicious aloo gobi (curried potato and cauliflower).