Makkah Halal Tandoori
Category: Indian/Pakistani [Edit]
Neighborhood: Koreatown401 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90189 (213) 383-9976
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street, Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
14 reviews
Neighborhood: Studio CIty
"First let me say that I love Indian food and probably eat entirely too much of it. I also like it HOT which can be a challenge for a new…" read more »
13 Reviews for Makkah Halal Tandoori
Wow, I am so full I can hardly type! This is hands down the best-tasting Indian restaurant I've ever been to. Maybe not the nicest decorated place(faux wood paneling guys? ugh!), but who cares when your taste buds are in heaven?
Forgo the iceberg lettuce salad that starts off the dinner and dig your way through creamy, flavorful saag paneer, warm naan, and delicious rice. Top it all off with some rice pudding and chai tea and you can be happily stuffed too!
Dude! The people below me are seriously on crack. I have had pahhhhlenty of Indian food throughout my oh lets say 23 years of life and this place is def. GREAT! The only 2 reasons why it has 4 instead of 5 stars is because it 1) has real crappy and depressing interior and 2) can only get a few dishes solely with chicken breast.
I've had their:
samosas - excellent
chicken tikka masala (all white meat) - excellent
chana masala - excellent
lamb with veggies - very good and i dont even like lamb
chicken with veggies - excellent
tandoori chicken - excellent
palaw (w/raisins) - alright but thats bc i've had real palaw, i.e. made by Afghans.
So if you like Indian food you need to check this place out! It's a little pricey in comparison to other Indian places but I think that might be bc they use halal (similar to kosher) meat. And if I were you I'd just do carry out or delivery.
It's the best Indian restaurant in Koreatown. Granted, it's the only Indian restaurant. Although surrounded completely by Korean businesses next to and above, it doesn't try hard to stand out; it is what it is. You may pass by it, you may notice it, but it never invites you with big flashing lights and odd American translations. It's small and so hole-in-the-wall-it's-kitschy-chic and hidden in what may seem like a foreign territory---it's charming. I'm just glad there is one in my section of the hood.
Can Koreans and Indians get along? Sure. We both own convenient stores/liquor stores, we're all in the same trade essentially, hating on anyone who believes our cultures are a delicacy. Both our countries have a long history of colonization and subserviency of licking the dirt off the toes of the Western culture, and now we're steadily rising up the global ladder to be taken seriously as anything but "oriental." They mass-produce more films than Hollywood itself, and we make fuel efficient cars---What I'm trying to say is...we hate white people. Kidding, of course. No, really though, both communities are becoming fierce competitors in the local economy that's always been dominated by the labor force of minority groups.
With the socio-eco-political crap out of the way, my thoughts on the restaurant:
My martyr of a brother came up one Saturday evening just to feed me, and I chose this restaurant because I haven't had Indian in a while. Geographically speaking, living in Ktown, you kind of forget that you're actually in California and not Seoul. You have to push your way through all those happy yellow faces to realize that there are more to life than kalbi and kimchi. But I digress. So my brother and I tried their fixed dinner for two, the Mixed Tandoori Dinner for Two, $32.95. The feast includes:
Starters: Soup, salad or samosa
Main course: Onion Pakora, Chicken Tandoori, Chicken Tikka, Lamb Tikka, Seekh Kabob. Also, one vegetable dish included, of your choice.
Rice and naan of your choice.
Dessert. (We got rice pudding.)
It was a lush affair. Savory, salty, spicy, fragrant, the four essential flavors of Indian cuisine, similar to Thai cooking. Maybe time has passed quite a bit since I last had Indian food and I had forgotten what real curry tastes like, but I think the food was actually good, and I'm not favorably substituting remissness in place of a discriminating palate. I must say, my only real complaint is that the lamb was slightly tough, but at most Indian restaurants, it seems you don't see the redness of the meat. My brother likes giving his teeth a good work out, so completely cooked meat is never a cause for criticism; I, however, like my meat bloody as hell. Well, that costs them a star! But like the sky is going to come crashing down because of that.
At first I was afraid, I was petrified of stepping into the restaurant, as it was a barren when my brother and I went. At least the owners were welcoming. Well, not initially. I hope they didn't think some Korean punks were up to no good. Throughout our meal the restaurant was rather quiet, we were just one other customers. But I noticed their lunch buffet cart, so I figured this was their lulling period, when they can breathe a sigh of relief after exhausting their resources. (Noticing my mom's own place, all restaurants have heavy traffic at certain times of the day.)
So if no one is dining when you get here, don't be fooled by that silly idea that empty restaurants equate to bad food/service. I've been to a brickload of busy restaurants that specialize in both substandard service and food AND weak sociability (i.e. a lot of Korean restaurants). And consider the neigbhborhood of its location. I don't see Koreans and Hispanics running to an Indian restaurant, such as this one, with a fervent and ravenous appetite for curry anytime soon.
But you should.
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This is hands down the best place for Indian food in K-Town! Amazing and original, both in the flavor and the vibe. Where else can you find such an eclectic crowd than here? Koreans, Latinos, Middle Eastern, Indians, and the rest of us who drown into this delicious fresh Indian food, does not matter where we're from. There is on the menu a lot to choose from, and trust me, no matter what you choose, you will not be disappointed. And for the vegetarian lovers, this is simply HEAVEN! The gentle soft basmanti rice with any vegetable combination is to die for! I am not kidding. I want more and I want it now!
Too bad that I can never go there for lunch special during weekdays, cause I would be there everyday! I only have nights and weekends left. I can live with it. The owner is extremely nice and makes you feel like at home, even if you don't know what kind of tandoori, masala you want. He will make sure you get the one you need! And dont forget about chai and mango yogurt!
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I've been to many indian restaurants and this is not one of my favorites. Ate their lunch buffet and was not impressed. The naan was not fresh. I won't come back. Onward to the next restaurant...
We live in the neighborhood and despite seeing a couple of south asians walking along 3rd, never thought that there would be a great halal Indian restaurant right in the middle of Korea-ville. It was dead empty and we had a little debate outside, wondering if we should risk it. But luckily, we did.
We had vegetable samosas -- crispy, hot and delicious! saag paneer with garlic naan and chicken tandoori. Everything was fresh and the service was excellent (which it should have been, given that we were the only people in there). Yes, it is a little ghetto-looking inside (the indian version of pho siam down the street), but as the sign says, it is the best halal indian food in the city!
In a very unassuming strip mall on Vermont & 4th (kitty-corner to an old-skool bowling alley, no less), lies my all time favorite Indian food eatery! My faves:
Chicken Tikka Masala - Lunch 7.95 or A La Cart 11.95
Sag Paneer - Lunch 6.95 or A La Cart 8.95
Get these with rice and it's a complete meal for 2 (w/ leftovers)!
If you're super hungry, get the yummy samosas too.
Staff is super friendly and always willing to help you order. It seems like they pride themselves on their delivery. The scope is pretty wide around the area: Silverlake, Hollywood, etc. I've both eaten at the restaurant and gotten delivery.
For first timers, I recommend the Lunch Buffet for only $9.95 so you can try a bunch of different dishes (including tandoori chicken ... yum!).
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If you moved to Los Angeles from the east coast and are always whining about how the food is better in New York blah blah blah, I say go back. I was going to recommend you try this place but I changed my mind. Go back! Back to your superior chinese food and pizzas and bialys.
Glad I got that off my chest. Anyhoo, yum! My limey husband can handle it spicier than me so he recommends the chicken jalfrezi. I'm a delicate flower so I recommend the tikka masala dishes, sag paneer etc.
Everything we've ever gotten has been really good. It's decor is early mini-mall, but who cares. There are some perceptively-challenged landscapes to take you to far away places while you await your Indian victuals.
After your invigorating meal, why not stroll over to Shatto 39 for some family fun when you're done?
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This is only one of two Indian places I eat at. I would drive to Artesia again for an Indian food adventure but I do not want to hop on the 5 Fwy. Some day.
As mentioned before the $9.95 lunch buffet is a bargain but I don't find the buffet offerings to be spicy enough for my taste. I try to get there early if I am having the buffet lunch because with all buffets, you don't want to have food that's been sitting around on chafing dishes. Naan is not part of the buffet.
The food is made according to halal guidelines.
I would recommend the lamb tikka masala, lamb vindaloo, or shrimp vindaloo, aloo gobi, and dal tarka. You are charged for individual condiments such as the chutney and raita. It can take a while for your order so if you're going to pick up dinner on the way home, give your self some extra time.
The parking lot is a tight squeeze so try to park on the street.
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I have never been to Makkah Halal Tandoori.
But since they deliver for free, I could never leave my house again, if I was so inclined. I could eat their food for days, weeks, subsisting solely on tasty, spicy, dreamy dishes until my fingers are dyed yellow with curry and my perspiration smells of fennel. Is that gross?
Probably.
Moving on.
Nine times out of ten I get the same thing and I am always happy: Fluffy veggi samosas with that awesome weird spicy green sauce, hot and full flavored shimp bhuna, creamy and addictive veggi korma, perfect naan, saffron rice and a side of cool cucumbery raita to soothe the palate (cuz they do not fuck around when you ask for spicy, no, not at all).
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i wouldn't normally do negative reviews, but given the misleading 4-star rating, i just have to say something. this place is awful. i tried it twice just to make sure it wasn't an off night. their ingredients taste super-low quality and the cooking is crude at best. the paneer has this strange orange glow to it. i'm not kidding. don't go here unless you don't care for quality of any kind.
This Bangladesh eatery, has a $9.95 lunch buffet everyday. That's what I aimed for and was pleasantly satisfied.
Filled my plate with rice, tandoori chicken, salad, mixed vegetable curry, channa saag (chickpea spinach curry), chicken tikka masala (my favorite!) and a side dish of raita (cucumber/carrot yogurt salad). They also had naan & a lamb dish, which I left for trying another time. also, their sweet lassi = yummy. Finished off with slightly over done gulabjaman (doughnut-like balls covered with a light rose honey syrup).
It's somewhat difficult to find non-Korean owned food establishments in Korea Town, perhaps with the exception of the numerous Latino foods so prevalent. Like Korean, just can't have it every day! This is a welcome additional option.
Namaste.
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Do you like Indian food?
I do.
I never seem to find anything authentic or delicious nearby- until I found this place. Vishnu has smiled upon my weary head in search of chicken vindaloo hot enough to incite a core meltdown. Their sag paneer is very different but delicious, you'll know when you see it. It looks more yellow than usual and it's very highly fragrant; ultra-spiced. Dal Tarka (lentils) are so scrumptious that you don't want to taint it with rice...but it's good with it too. The highlight was the samosa- flaky crusted, curried filling with a slight runny mint chutney (I tend to like it more chunky.)
Best of all: THEY DELIVER!!! Yes, curb your munchies with healthy, delicious and gourmet Indian food without leaving the comforts of your own home.
They also feature a lunch buffet everyday, $9.95 everyday. Man, I can't wait to get stoned and get the munchies so I can go check it out.
Gluttony is IN!
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