Akbar Cuisine of India

Akbar Cuisine of India: A very tasty, rather inexpensive (for lunch) Indian restaurant on Wilshire near 26th. We tried the Chicket Kati Rolls, Palak Paneer, Lamb Vindaloo, and Chicken Tikka Masala, plus raita, roti, dal, onion/cucumber chutney, etc. All of it was quite good, with a wide range of spice heat levels. The paneer seemed homemade and was delicious. We sat at a table with a view of the chefs making roti and naan and working over skillets and pans, which was pretty cool. The raita (very thick) and vegetable chutney stole the show, but there wasn't a downside to the whole meal. I would certainly go again and take all my friends.

Novel Cafe, Damon & Pythias, Diddy Reise, K-Zo, N'Ice Cream

Novel Cafe: We've been to the Novel Cafe two or three times. The burgers have been excellent. The club sandwich was ok, but not special. The coffee has similarly been ok.

Damon & Pythias: We were in the area because of the mystery bookstore across the street, and stopped in here because it had pretty good ratings. Turned out to be a typical college town eatery. Nothing fancy, pretty good food, not too pricey. I had a cheesesteak. Pretty good, but I wouldn't drive over to UCLA just to go here.

Diddy Reise: The line was out the door, but the ice cream was pretty good. Their ice cream sandwiches are cheap. I don't think I need to go again, but it wasn't bad.

K-Zo: This is the second time we've been here. It's not the highest rated sushi restaurant in LA by a long shot, but the food is wonderful, fresh, tasty, and the staff are very nice/polite/efficient. This time the blue crab sushi stole the day, last time the fried calamari wowed us...and the raw scallops were quite nice. Oh, and I like their loose leaf teas (buckwheat today).

N'Ice Cream: On the lookout for ice cream and hunted down this gelato joint. The salted caramel was quite tasty, though chocolate orange was declared the winner. Vanilla was quite poor. Cherry mint didn't taste like cherry. Next time I think I'll just go next door to the Pinkberry.

Tandoor India and Cafe Tazzina

Tandoor India is a nearby Indian restaurant with lunch buffet. The only somewhat exceptional note is that they have whole wheat naan (roti), but you have to buy it separate from the buffet. Had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch here and will go back anytime I'm looking for a serviceable Indian meal.

Cafe Tazzina is a small little cafe on Wilshire. Stopped in to kill about half an hour. My chai (I chose black tea instead of green) was delicious. The chocolate croissant was filling, but a bit heavy and not as flavorful as some others I've had in the past few months. Most likely it would be great fresh, or even warmed up. As I sat, it seemed like the cafe rapidly filled with customers, each stopping to chat with the older couple at the next table over. Felt very friendly and I suspect it's a good place for community vibe.

Bud's Famous Deli and Desserts and Ocean Park Pizza

Bud's Famous Deli and Desserts: The sign in front says they were picked as best ice cream in LA once, so we had to stop in. No hours posted, so it took a try or two before we caught them open on a Saturday. They have frozen yogurt on the menu, but didn't have it available, so we got a scoop of the chocolate flake strawberry which turned out to be not too bad. It's somewhat creamy and didn't taste artificial, but if it's the best ice cream in LA then one may as well just go to the supermarket. We also got a roast beef sandwich, notable for the rather tasty tomato slices, and a meatball sub. The sub won the day easily with large flavorful meatballs covered in tasty tomato sauce and mozzarella, but it wasn't made in house. Instead it came from somewhere nearby, we assumed that place was the nearest pizza joint...

Ocean Park Pizza: A little hole in the wall that delivers. I grabbed a 14" of their special Ocean Park something with red/yellow peppers, mushrooms, sausage, and pepperoni (as best I recall). Thin crust, but not super thin or crunchy/crackly. It was about $20 which is a much better food-to-price ratio than the close by Pizza Fusion, though the ingredients are standard pizza fare instead of the excellent quality at Pizza Fusion. I'd definitely eat here again.