Akbar
1101 Aviation Blvd
Hermosa Beach
310-937-3800
Akbar is suppose to be the top rated Indian restaurant in the South Bay. I always question when a restaurant makes that type of claim. It is like being the tallest midget. Yes, you're the tallest, but you're still a midget. The South Bay could have a bad selection of Indian restaurants.
But I was glad to find that Akbar was indeed very good. I went with a group of ten people. We got the Vegetarian Akbari, $9.95, Chicken Tikka Masala, $12.95, Tandoori Salmon, $14.95.
I loved the vegetarian akbari, a variety of vegetables prepared in mild sauce flavored with mace and cardamom. There were peas and other veggies in this dish. But the seasonings and flavors just worked so well. I didn't even mind it didn't have any meat. A wonderful savory dish.
The chicken tikka masala, tandoor grilled chicken in a tomato sauce, was pretty good but a bit salty. There were large pieces of tender flavorful chicken. The spices were full of flavor but just too salty.
The Tandoori salmon, wild salmon marinated in spices, garlic ginger, tandoor grilled, was very good. The salmon was moist, flavorful and cooked just right. There wasn't much of an Indian flavor, this dish could be served in most other restaurants and people wouldn't have guessed it was Indian. But a good dish.
Service started off slow. They didn't give us a wine list. They didn't take our drink orders for a long time. But after that we didn't lack for anything. Our drinks were refilled. Our food came out quickly.
Akbar has four locations and I would go back to Akbar anytime.
