Akbar Cuisine of India

The food really is good. But the delivery is SO unreliable I can’t even take it. It can take 90mins-​2 hrs, even early on a weeknight. We used to order all the time, but took a break because we were frustrated. Just ordered again for the first time in a year, and the order is over 30 mins late. We have had it.

This place is good. I wish for them they they get more busy. They would benefit a lot by lowering their prices though. The food is really expensive and priced fairly.
First off, Shabaz, my server was outstanding. He is the kindest person I think I’ve ever met. No joke. So accommodating and helpful. This restaurant is luckily to have him.
I had a cucumber salad, chicken and garlic naan, which cost $ 30 altogether (without tip). That’s pretty steep. The food was good, but not for that price. Pics below.

Dined in. After the food was served, my guest and myself heard animalistic noises coming from the ceiling vents. The friendly waiter claimed a «bird» problem but we had our suspicions. We took our meals to go and ate at home without any additional dinner «guests». The restaurant comped our meals but they need to fix their critter problem. Friendly service, food is good.

I’d driven by so many times and wish I’d stopped before, but now Akbar is one of my favorites! They’re open later which was perfect to avoid crowds and traffic, the restaurant is clean and very tastefully designed, and located close to the beach. The food and the service were impeccable! The staff was so friendly and made us feel like we’d been going there for years, and came out to sing happy birthday at the end. The food was amazing and I can;t wait to go back. I ordered the Mint Chicken Tandoor which was so good, I just now finished what I thought I’d save for tomorrow! And the mango cheesecake is delicious! Thank Akbar, you made a great b-​day dinner and closed a perfect day!

This place is a joke and has no idea what customer service means. I ordered for delivery and after 1 hour I called to see where the food was. First of all they didn’t answer the phone until the 5^th call. Then they finally answered and the guy said it was on it’s way. Another 45 minutes later, no food. I then tried to call back to see what was going on. after 5 calls I finally gave up because again there was no answer. After 2 hours we decided to go get some food somewhere else. 2 hours was way too much time to be sitting around, hungry, and ruining my night’s «dinner and a movie» plans. We were very frustrated and hungry at this point. As we are driving into my garage with the food from the other restaurant the delivery guy calls me and says the food is here and he’s sitting in his car. I asked him to take that food back to the restaurant and cancel the order. There is no way in hell I’m paying for this food and ever patronizing this POS restaurant again. Not once did the restaurant call to apologize for the delay, or tell me there was a 2 hour delay, just ridiculous business and awful concern for their customers. Never in hell will I ever call this place or tell anyone to ever go there. Garbage employees! And still waiting for my refund!

Just loved the food. I tried the Chicken Akbari with spice level 4. Delicious times a million. Wait staff was incredibly friendly. Can’t wait to go back.

Great food and service on the level of cruise ships dining rooms
Best rice pudding I have ever eaten.
Jack H
Playa Vista

We had dinner tonight using a $ 30 Groupon. We had our usual crab curry, shrimp biryani, and garlic naan. The crab curry was especially good tonight. I’ve had better shrimp biryani, but it paired well with the curry. The garlic naan was OK.
We had a very friendly waiter serving us. I asked him if he was new, and he said he started a month ago. He was one of the reasons I’ve giving this restaurant 4 stars tonight. I hope they keep him because he was so nice.

We came here with a Groupon of $ 30. I guess we didn’t have our hopes too high as the restaurant is situated in a pretty Caucasian part of town. But, since we already had the Groupon, we decided to visit.
The service was the one redeeming quality of this place. Our waiter was chirpy and very polite. The music was really lame 1980’s pre-​Indian Bollywood revolution. But, then I guess they are catering to a different kind of patron than normally haunts authentic Indian restaurants.
The prices are definitely on the high end. Two dishes ran about the whole Groupon. We had the Chicken Amras for one of the dishes, Amras literally means mango juice. The idea was novel but the execution left me wanting more. Spicy eaters beware, I’ve have spicier foods at an ice cream shop. However when we asked for chilies, they did give spicy green chilies on the side.
The second dish was an unfortunate lack luster attempt at being unique and standing out in the Biriyani department. They used bad quality rice and over did everything by putting lamb, chicken, and shrimp in the same dish. That threw of the flavor. Made it a frankenflavor that tasted just as blah.
I’m going to have the leftovers now. I know I’ll be disappointed unless Kochi can do some magic.

Keeping this short and sweet… After driving past Akbar for 2 years I finally stopped in for dinner tonight. I was sat at my table and forgotten about. I sat ignored for 16 minutes and every employee including the «manager» continued to walk past, serve other people, and even sat and took the order of a couple next to me. When I tried to get a server he looked at me and continued walking to the kitchen. I felt completely unappreciated. The manager was looking at me from the front bar area and just turned his head. At 20 minutes of not even being spoken to I got up, told the guy I had been waiting and no one had even approached me and that I was leaving… He smile, turned his head and said «goodbye…»
Absolutely ridiculous.
This place only gets the one star because of the rating requirement.

My favorites here are the eggplant bharta, tandoori chicken and the akbari kofta. Their naan is okay and certainly does the job wof scooping up the delicious sauces in the entrees but I have had better. They offer a few different rice options. I recommend sticking with the basics and just getting the basmati. The other offerings are expensive and not worth it.
Service can be slow so I usually get my orders to go.

The Lamb Vindaloo was so savory and delicious. The Chicken Tikka Saag was tender and very yummy. We also ordered the Cheese Naan and Garlic Naan which were amazing. The Samosas were huge and scrumptious — I was seriously considering getting 10 more just to take home for later. We went on a Tuesday night dinner date and that is such a cozy and intimate time to go. This is a legit local Hermosa Beach and South Bay Indian restaurant that is reliable and accommodating to your needs. The waiter was super friendly and on point! Thank you Akbar!

Took my mom and our neighbor friend to dinner here and it was delicious! The service was outstanding, kite is very kind and loves to practice his Spanish. :) we will definitely return. My favorite naan is the cheese naan. The chicken tikka masala is good as well as the lamb tikka masala.

First of all, been going Akbar maybe over 20 years? Has it been that long? Back In the day, Akbar has been one of my favorite buffets. Its not a huge restaurant, it doesnt have a ton of items on its buffet. But what it had, has always been good and to me better tasting then other indian buffets in the area.
Fast forward to 2015, Came for a pre xmas lunch with coworkers and havent been for a few years as i moved to a new work location. Gone is the buffet. So i ordered what i usually eat most of. Chicken tikka masala plate lunch with rice cucumber salad and dal (lentil beans). Naan was a dollar more but they gave us plenty. The chicken tikka masala was amazing! Chicken breast with rich freshly made sauce with authentic spices and it was a good serving size. Then tried the rice pudding. Not your standard white vanilla rice pudding. This was rich custard yellow like with fruits and pistachio nits with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Drink refills were fast. Everything was Excellent! It’s really very good here, will be back to try other lunch specials.

Akbar is a place we used to frequent at least once a month — but then we found several other Indian options and haven’t been back since. It was time to give it a try again. Decent Indian cuisine and not overly crowded (wasn’t crowded at all actually — we were the 2^nd party to arrive and only 2 others after us). Service is friendly but wasn’t fantastic, we had to flag our server a couple times. Our first wine selection wasn’t available so we opted for what the server offered; it was a good choice — unfortunately I don’t remember the vintner but it was a Gewurtztraminer which in my option pairs perfectly with Indian food.
There were no pre-​dinner papadums or chutneys offered, so we shared an order of samosas filled with peas and potatoes. They were delicious and were served with 3 choices of chutney and all were tasty.
For dinner we shared a chicken tikka masala and lamb vindaloo as well as the Akbari Biriyani. Can’t say that anything bowled me over, but all tasted good, nicely spiced (we asked for a spiciness of 7 out of 10, I’d say both dishes were about a 5.) Again we had to flag our server for take home boxes and a check.
Overall the experience was okay — we would go back if say our other favorite Indian restaurants weren’t available. Parking is plenty and the food is decent.

I don’t know how I’ve never reviewed this place! This is my husband and I’s favorite place for filling and affordable Indian food. We’ve been coming here for years and always keep our eyes out for groupon deals which they post frequently. We usually start with samosas and the papri chat which is the perfect blend of sweet and hot for me!
Our favorite meals have been the Chicken Akbari, Gobi Aloo, Lamb Vindaloo, and we always get extra naan!
They have a decent beer and wine list and if that’s not for you then go for their mango lassi!
Service is always friendly and we’ve never had to wait more than 20 minutes for our food!

7÷23÷15, Thursday was the second time we ordered from Akbar through Eat24. It took close to an hour for the food to arrive. Chicken tandoori and chicken tikka masala and naan for $ 27, not including tip.
The chicken was dry. Food was luke warm/​cold. I liked the flavor of both dishes.

Never ordering from them. Don’t waste your time your food will not arrive… over 1−½hrs after ordering. Called to check on it, and they told us it’s on it’s way. They LIED!
When I called to say this is ridiculous it’s almost 2hrs, the girl said «I don’t know where my driver went?» That is the most unhelpful answer.
They are the WORST! Don’t bother.

Love it! Great food and service. Definitely coming back. We had the eggplant starter, chicken tikka masala, and really hot prawns. Delicious!

— Locale Destination —
It’s on Aviation Blvd and Prospect Ave in Hermosa Beach.
I did order for delivery — so I don’t know about the location at all.
*** For online delivery order ***
— It takes «one hour» for delivery (even it from Hermosa Beach)
— $ 19 minimum before tax
— Only from 1130 pm — 2pm, 5pm — 10pm
— Currently not available for «order in advance» (why not?!).
Keep that in mind!
*** What’s the differences on «Entrée» and «Dinner»?? ***
«Entrée»: a dish only — no side dish
«Dinner»: it comes with sautéed vegetables, Dal of the day, rice and Naan. $ 5 more for «Dinner» than «entrée». $ 1 for substitution.
*** What’s «Dal»? ***
«Dal» is a dried pulse (lentil, pea or various type of bean) which has been split. It is also known as «pappu» or «paripu». The outer hull is usually stripped off; dal that has not been hulled is described as chilka, e.g. chilka urad dal, mung dal chilka.
— Gluttony Expedition —
Chicken tikka: Tandoor grilled chicken was a little dry, but tasted alright. All the sides for «dinner» were alright. Chutney and dal weren’t bad. Meh.
Bengan Aloo: Basically French fries and sautéed eggplant with some sort of indian seasonings/​herbs. I thought it was a curry, but it wasn’t. French fries were the thick «country» style cut, which was not bad. The sauteed «strips» of eggplant (see my picture) didn’t give any justice to the dish. It was alright for French fries lover like me.
— Conqueror’s Deduction —
It’s ok. Nothing wow about this place. For the price point, I’d expect a lot more than that. I think the price is way too expensive for what it is. At least they deliver the food — that’s the only plus…