Culinary Culver City: Akasha creates American/Indian comfort food

When walking into Akasha on Culver Boulevard, it’s not necessarily clear as to what kind of food they serve. There’s a wine bar vibe to the restaurant, with a casual coffee shop tagged on the side – swanky but not pretentious. The staff is polite and prim, but also very warm and welcoming. They’re also very forthcoming with the information regarding the dishes, and that makes things much easier to pick from the attractive menu.

The food is, in fact, very interesting.

Many of the dishes are American bar favorites, with an East Indian twist. The tandoori spiced chicken wings, for example, are exactly that – giant wings that are cooked so beautifully that the meat inside is tender and juicy, while the skin is golden and has a “perfect crunch” with every bite. The tandoori spice is delicious and spicy without being hot. If there are better wings in Culver City, we haven’t tried them.

The wings are served with mint relish and a tamarind-date chutney, and both offer a wonderful alternative to the traditional barbeque and ranch sauces.

The stone fruit salad is way more delicious than it should be. The greens are decorated with radish, peaches, and the creamy goat’s cheese creates a delicious combination. Maybe the contrast between peaches and goat’s cheese is normal to many, but it was unexpected to us and yet it works beautifully. The whole salad felt like something decadent – a treat. It’s alive in the mouth too, a vibrant mix of flavors that must have been calculated in a lab, so comfortable are they together.

The main dish, Punjabi mung beans and rice, is tasty and hearty, but is probably better suited to colder weather. It’s a thick stew of beans and rice, with charred vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower) on top and, while the spices are such that blandness is the furthest thing from your mind, it’s also a touch stodgy on a summer’s day in California. That said, the char to the veg leaves a wonderful grill-like aftertaste, the pitta on the side is soft and warm.

We’re also served the house-made onion rings, which look like onion rings. But in fact, the snap on the bite is delightful, and they’re not particularly greasy.

Overall, the food at Akasha is wonderful, an unexpected twist on the expected American faves. The light and airy vibe of the place is particularly inviting at lunchtime, but there’s never going to be a bad time.

Akasha is located at 9543 Culver Blvd., Culver City; 310-845-1700. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.