Thursday, December 18, 2008

New adventure of Pakistani cuisine @ Al Noor (Lawndale)


Not too long ago, I used to be situated down in South Bay where I was working at for awhile. I have heard a lot of great recommendations for Indian or Pakistani restaurants that is supposedly rival Little India in city of Artesia.

For many months I had been dying to come here since I found out about this tiny little restaurant that served Pakistani food that was very close to my old job. To be quite honest, I also used to live within walking steps to Little India in Artesia, but never really explored the area's Indian & Pakistani food. That was one of my big regrets back then, even a dread that my old job's was surrounded by some great Japanese and Middle Eastern places. Now I'm just dying to try a Pakistani place some of my friends had been raving about.

Coming over here wasn't much of a problem as the place was easy to find facing Inglewood Ave. The little strip plaza was so low key, I was a bit surprised that a tumbleweed didn't' blow over the parking lot. Yes, nobody mentioned it, but it is really very dead around this part of the town.

The restaurant wasn't much to look at and it is in many ways a hole in the wall. The low maintenance value on the decor reflect on the fact there's no ambiance to speak of, as you can still see the wall need a fresh coat of paint. In essence, the food will have to be the masterpiece of the whole entire place as if it was hinging on it.

We started it off our meal with a garlic naan which has plenty of garlic for flavorful taste and a great compliments to our dishes.


Garlic Naan

Shortly after that, some of our dishes had started to arrive. One of the first dishes to arrive was the chicken tikka malasa . The sauce feel like a medium spicy, but one of our dining companion had remarked in that it can get spicier in many other times before. Luckily for us, we didn't get any burning sensation in our tongue as the chicken tikka malasa's spiciness level was just right. It brings out the flavor without been overpowering.


Chicken Tikka Malasa

The most spiciest stuff we got for our meal was this beef dish (Alaoo Qeema). Wow, the pepper really stood out in this dish. Although it was really spicy, the sauce never masked the flavor of the dish and the beef was wonderfully taste when you savored it in your tongue. The potatoes that accompanies it gave it some balance like it would it do on a curry dish. Very nicely done I thought.


Alaoo Qeema

The lamb was the controversial dish as it was somewhat of a miss in our table. I couldn't tell in that was a lamb. Maybe I originally thought it was a pork all along until someone pointed the weird taste. We tried to conjure up what the dish might be until we realized we had ordered a lamb dish to go along with the Chicken Tikka Malasa. I guess we can put a little saffron rice to compliment that dish, but it still would feel like we were a little bit off.


Lamb

All and all, our dish average out around $6 and with about 6 people ordering with a sweet mango lassi (nice little smoothie shake), it average out about $12 among each of us with tips included. Not too much of a back breaker and a good meal overall.

The service and the food comes out much faster than I anticipated. Plus with the way how the place looked, I thought for sure it's cash only place, but they do take credit cards. It show never to judge the book by its cover.


Saffron Rice

I was skeptical looking at this place, but I did have a wonderful meal at this place. I probably would not suggest bringing a large group as the tables were not that many in a small restaurant. Luckily, we came on a slow weekend day as it was not a problem.

Al Noor
15112 Inglewood Ave
Lawndale, CA 90260
(310) 675-4700

Grade:

Al-Noor on Urbanspoon

Al Noor in Los Angeles

3 comments:

Exile Kiss said...

Hi Pepsi Monster,

I've been meaning to try Al Noor (the other much talked about Pakistani place) but I keep getting sidetracked with other eateries. If you've never been to Al-Watan, it's definitely worth a visit (some great dishes).

I'll have to visit Al Noor soon. :)

Right Way to Eat said...

Hi Exile Kiss,

I have heard about Al-Watan. One time I believe Pleasure Palate and her group went there, but I couldn't go on that night. I'll definitely give it a go if I can find others to go with me. Indian and Pakistani are awesome food, but you'll be surprise on tentative people are when I mentioned about those two cuisines.

Wholesale Food Suppliers said...

I avoid Pakistani food because I have listened that their recipes are too much spicy but after reading your post , I have decided to try some Pakistani restaurant also. Mango Lassi, it seems quite delicious.