Sometime in the past decade, developers in the Southwest built small retail islets onto their larger shopping plazas' parking lots in an attempt to squeeze as much money as possible out of their properties, damn the aesthetics. There was no aspiration to providing good, local shopping options to residents—the chain-ier the tenants, the better. Then came the Great Recession, emptying plazas in the Inland Empire and OC. And those tenants who remain are either the biggest chains (Subway, Chase Bank), nail salons or crappy restaurants that last a year before being replaced by an even-crappier restaurant in a vicious, suburban self-fulfilling prophecy.
India Grill seeks to stop that downward spiral. It opened this past spring in the parking lot of a Costco, replacing a Baja Fresh. The dining room dramatically rises above its bland neighbors, offering a motif of elephant paintings and sculptures, gorgeous photographs, and a Bollywood-lite soundtrack complete with the requisite “Jai Ho.” Accompanying your menu is an impressive beer-and-wine list, perfect for the middle-aged Cypress, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos residents who make up the restaurant's core clientele. And instead of complimentary naan, you're provided with dainty papadum (the tostadas of the subcontinent) along with ramekins of tamarind and mint chutney.
The place never seems to have crowds, which is odd given its proximity to Artesia, center of Indian and Pakistani dining in Southern California. But the owners offer a menu suited for the mainstream eater and desi alike. So alongside the tried-and-true tandooris, kormas and biryanis are rarities: chunks of tofu masala'd to ghost pepper territory, plus an entire list of chau chau, noodles from the Himalayan region of the country. The malai kofta is fluffy and beautifully cheesy; the rice pudding isn't too sweet, staying truer to how Indians prefer it. Regardless of entrée choice, everything is served in portions large enough to keep bachelors fed for a week.
And a special shout-out to the samosas, by far the biggest I've seen in OC: as big as a baseball, they are served in twos, though they fill you up with just one.
