Kabab Bistro

This place is for food lovers! Both of my parents are chefs and i love eating. Everything on the menu is beyond good. Your palette will be happy. I order something different each time and haven’t been disappointed.
As far as another review I read, this place doesn’t need frills. If u want frills go elsewhere. If you want good food, come here. The naan is made in front of you. So gooood! And so worth it!
I agree that the samosas are the best. But try the biriyani. It’s my favorite. That is if you can handle it.

Holy crap! I haven’t been inspired to write a review for quite some time, but I just can’t help myself on this one. I work in the neighborhood and have been wanting something other than sandwiches, pizza, salad, etc. So I decide to try the lunch special. I ordered the Tandori Chicken and Veggie Curry combo. I was expecting at least a few pieces of boneless chicken and a curry with vegetables (thought it would be your typical yellow looking curry with potatoes and such). Nope!
I got a boat load of rice, some naan, a barely cooked chicken leg and one other small piece of… either… a ¼ of a thigh or maybe the neck or something. And the veggie curry looked like it came out of some baby’s butt. If the picture is still up you can check it out for yourself. Talk about getting back to work, starving, excited to eat and I open the box to find that mess! I wanted to head back immediately and tell them to eat it themselves. I wouldn’t charge $ 2 for that garbage.
I haven’t tried any of their other items and maybe they’re decent, but this combo thing… talk about a rip off, a disappointment and a straight up mugging!
It was so bad, I ran back out to get a Wendy’s burger, but the line was too long, so I settled for a York Peppermint Patty from the office’s candy depot.
Owners seem nice though. If you like getting robbed with a smile.

This place offers authentic Indian flavors. Trust me, as an Indian and somebody who cooks all the time, this is one of the few Indian restaurants in LA that offer good food with no frills. Both veggie and meat are equally good. Big portions too. I am definitely going there again.

Good value… lunch special has all the basics — all chicken (breast and thigh), no beef
I usually do not like all you can eat lunch places. I have yet to eat from the regular menu
Nice people working there as well
Halal food

Non-​authentic Indian food, poor presentation and absent-​minded employees who continuously ask you what you ordered. Not to mention it’s pricey. This is a zero spot that should be avoided.
…AND as of 11÷13÷12, Kabob Bistro has a «B» rating card from LA County Department of Public Health (which they display out of sight of patrons at the bottom of their storefront window). I looked up their listing on LA County «Food Facility Rating List» and found numerous violations including «RODENTS — ACTIVE INFESTATION (MAJOR)».

We were actually attempting to go to Libra when we came across this place because LIbra was already closed for lunch. We were starving and saw that they had a lunch buffet deal for an extremely reasonable price, and we were sold!
Although I’m usually not much for lunch buffets, their curries and seasoned chicken looked decent enough. There were around 8 different varieties to choose from, and that was enough for me since we wanted something relatively quick and simple. Nothing stood out as particularly fantastic, but I was filled and it was pretty tasty, and that’s all I expected from an Indian lunch buffet.
I couldn’t exactly tell whether it is an Indian food buffet or Pakistani food, but maybe it is a fusion. It was definitely less elaborate than most Indian food buffets I’ve been to, but also a tiny bit cheaper.
Service is minimal and you basically serve yourself and choose where to sit. The staff is not exactly friendly, but enough to get themselves through the day.
I may come here if times get desperate and I’m craving a filling curry!

Here is the bipolar review: 4 stars for the food and 1 star (or less) for the service. Overall I’d say 2.5 starts but rounding down because the service really is that bad.
I’ve been here several times for lunch with groups from work, and have tried a couple different things from the menu. The chicken tikka boti rolls are roundly praised as being delicious, but the ground beef dish I ended up getting once had the texture of sandpaper. Not sure if it was supposed to be like that, but I don’t really care. For the food I’d keep going back…
…except for the service! Ok, so they have a sign at the cash that clearly states patience is a virtue and the food is being freshly made. Cool. So when it comes to a kebab roll and naan, I expect that means 10 minutes or so. Maybe 15 if they’re completely slammed with customers and things get backed up. I find it inexcusable that during lunch hours it can take as long as 45 minutes (no joke!) to get a curry or roll. It’s even more infuriating when you can clearly see 2 or 3 people standing around the kitchen doing absolutely nothing while you’re twiddling your thumbs waiting for your food. Fresh is best, but maybe somebody needs to take a logistics seminar. It just seems that nobody in that place knows what they’re doing w.r.t. running a restaurant — although they definitely know their stuff when it comes to recipes and tasty food.
Case in point: we had to watch somebody stumble around for 2 minutes simply to take a samosa from the warming tray and get it into a small paper bag. Why this should take any more than 15 seconds is beyond me, but it involved 3 round trips to different parts of the kitchen to solve this problem. While nobody else was even in the place.
If these guys can push out lunchtime food reliably in 10 – 12 minutes they will be the best lunch spot on the block! As it is, I’m not sure how long people’s patience will last.

Good food… nothing to write home about but if you live/​work/​hang around Culver City, then this place is probably your best bet for quality Pakistani/​Indian food. Good variety too.
…and to Paul S.:
Kababs are a big part of Indian and Pakistani cuisine as well as Middle Eastern/​Mediterranean cuisine, so the name is *not at all* «misleading», you fucking moron.
And your cultural stereotyping («dot», «unibrow») is derogatory (and *not* funny), even though I’m sure you gave yourself a nice pat on the back for being so «witty» after posting your shitty review.

Solid flavors but a bit on the pricey side. Authentic spices, but authentic grease as well.
Nehari and haleem are some of the best in SoCal. Not a huge fan of the wraps, and would stay away from them.
Food is made to order, so call ahead or be prepared to wait about 20 minutes.

This place is OK. My friend and I came here on our lunch break expecting a Mediterranean place. But as other reviews have noted, it’s Indian! No problem, we like Indian, so we stuck around.
Right off the bat, we were the only people in line but were kept waiting for a good 10 minutes, as the guy behind the counter was putting together a couple orders. Now, I understand that this guy was busting his *ss, but there were about 2 or 3 people milling around in the back kitchen… They couldn’t help a brother out? For any one else who has a very limited amount of time to grab lunch, you might understand how frustrating this was to watch.
Anyways, they do have lunch specials, but it is limited to the basic curries in the warmer. If you have something more «authentic,» you’ll have to get a lunch bowl or full plate, which can get a little pricier.
My friend and I split a chicken tikka masala bowl and saag paneer bowl. As I mentioned, these were just OK. The masala was very runny, not too creamy at all. Both were on the spicier side, which is OK by me, but just surprising that they wouldn’t ask. The naan was a little thick and doughy. And my mango lassi came with ice (? I’m not Indian, but I don’t think that’s right).
All in all, an OK experience. Probably wouldn’t come back. There are plenty of other places to try.

Well-​spiced, good meat, a tad pricey for the small portions. Naan = wonderful.
Name is misleading; when one hears «Kabab», he (or she) thinks Turkish/​Middle Eastern/​Mediterranean/​unibrow. Food here is Indian. So a dot where that unibrow would be.

Too pricey for what it is and what you get. For $ 7.99 + tax, my chicken boti tikka didn’t even come with a salad; and I had to choose between rice and naan.
I’m not gonna deny that it was delicious. But a bit pricey compared to other similar joints.

Notes from a curry addict:
This is Pakistani/​Indian food for people who don’t know anything about Pakistani/​Indian food. If you are into dry meat, undercooked rice, and watered down lassie, this is the place for you. If you are the sort of person who says, «give me spicy but not really,» again knock yourself out on this place. If you want naan baked in a beautiful stainless steel oven instead of an old school clay oven, yeah you got it you found your dream Pakistani/​Indian joint. Enjoy. Me, I’m going to Jasmine Market, Samosa house, Tara’s Himalayan, & Annapurna to get my curry fix.
Reason for two stars instead of none, the staff were super nice.

Great little Indian fast food joint. Food is made fresh when order is placed. They have a great lunch special combo for under $ 10. Friendly service. My chicken tikka wrap was tasty and delicious. Chicken was juicy and tender. Fantastic flavors, and they where not heavy handed on the spices. Located in downtown Culver City a few shop away from Melrose Mac.
Bravo, I am a fan!

I don’t always post reviews… but when I do… it’s because the place made an impression on me!
This place is somewhat of a hidden Culver City gem. I’ve been here twice now and have had the Tikka roll both times. It’s essentially an Indian-​styled wrap with spiced Chicken Tikka, red cabbage, red leaf lettuce, red onions, sliced cucumber, tomato, and chutney all rolled into a freshly prepared naan. The mixture of these flavors is fantastic and their chutney (provided sparingly, one minor complaint) is delicious.
It’s seriously pretty amazing. All naans and skewers are fired to order in the tandoor. The chicken always comes out perfectly spiced and juicy, not too dry. They also offer a chicken seekh kabab and a beef seekh kabab which is kind of a rarity but both look amazing.
It’s generally not very crowded in here so its easy to walk up, order, and then enjoy the scenery on their patio on main st.
The only thing keeping it from a 5 star rating for me is a lack of more lunch specials. They have a couple, but a few more competitive deals might help to drive in customers. Overall a very delicious restaurant and I plan to try the seekh kababs next time which hopefully will not disappoint!
EDIT: Upgraded to a 5 star rating. Had the chicken Seekh and it was freaking incredible. This place is just fantastic, everything is super fresh and made to order and the flavors are amazing. Definitely a hidden gem in Culver City

I’m surprised at all the 5-​star reviews; maybe everyone ordered something else. I asked what was popular and the lady told me the chicken tikka wrap. Sounds good to me. The first thing that struck me was the naan – it was cold and doughy. I’d imagine it’d be much better heated up. The second thing that struck me was the chicken tikka. It was the worst quality chicken I’ve had in a while; very gristly and I had to spit out a few inedible bits. I’m willing to give the place a second chance and will update accordingly.

Food was good, but $ 8 for a wrap means I won’t go back. It’s just too pricey for what it is.
Yes, I mostly am coming out of Unilocal-​hiding in hopes they’ll see this review and reconsider their pricing as I live in the area and the wrap I had (some sort of beef… I guess I’d describe it as a gingery, drier barbacoa) was definitely unique enough to warrant a return visit, but they need to do something different. The space is very fast food-​y with no frills: order at the counter, wait for someone to bring you your food on a plastic tray. Cans of soda in a cooler, etc. Which would be fine, if the wrap was either a) extraordinarily good (i.e. the greens in it weren’t some generic salad blend, the naan tasted homemade) or b) served with some sort of side (a samosa? a salad? or c) 25% cheaper.
Sorry, Kabab Bistro. You are good, but without some changes I think you are not long for this world.

I was going to get a sandwich at Subway tonight but as I drew nearer I decided to try something new. So I went to Kabab Bistro, which I had walked by many times. I was pleasantly greeted by the manager (and maybe owner?) Azad, which he explained means freedom. He guided me through their menu options and I decided on the chicken seekh (ground chicken) roll.
It took a little longer than expected to come out, but I wasn’t in a hurry, and I knew it would be totally fresh. The naan (which they use for the roll) and meat were superb. The naan was slightly crispy and doughy inside. The meat was nicely spiced (a little hot, how I like it) and tasted like good quality. Even the salad they put in the roll tasted better than most salad at Indian restaurants.
I highly recommend this restaurant and I will definitely come back.

We’ve been waiting for this place to open! We live near downtown Culver City, and were super excited when we saw the permit posted. The food is worth the wait!
We’ve tried the Hariyali Chicken plate and the Chicken Tikka Boti plate, which were both excellent… tender and savory. We’ve also tried the Chicken Tikka and Chicken Seekh Naan rolls and if you take out all of lettuce from the wrap, it’s awesome. All the food has been great. And the chutneys are awesome. So wonderful to have an authentic desi-​style kathi roll place.
On days that they’re busy, be prepared for a long wait. They are still going through some growing pains, but I can tell that they will work out the operations soon enough. Just call ahead and order so you don’t have to wait.
Highly recommended!

We live in Culver City and are always on the lookout for a reasonably priced, great meal.
Samosas were the best I have had in a while, very authentic. My husband and I walked in right before they closed. We ordered the Beef Seekha wrapped in Naan. Perfectly spiced and perfect amount of heat.
We will be back to try the rest of the menu.
Great amount of food for a great price, very refreshing for Culver City.