mayura restaurant

mayura restaurant
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

with a recommendation from jonathan gold, we had to try mayura. it's one of those modest hole in the wall mom & pop places that are easily missed jammed into a little strip mall in the lesser polished part of culver city. it was exactly what we were looking for, inexpensive and flavorful food!

we started with the vegetable samosa, which was pretty standard. it had a good crunchy exterior and was filled with potatos, peas and subtle peppery spices. i really enjoyed the two main dishes we ordered. the kerala special avial, a vegetarian dish consisting of what appeared to be potatoes, carrots, and green beans cooked in coconut sauce, stood out. i wasn't sure about some green stalks in the dish which seemed too hard to chew and didn't impart any flavor as far as i could tell, otherwise, it was quite tasty, with turmeric and coconut flavors and mildly spicy. one of the sides that came with it--some kind of super tart and fragrant pickled red fruit had an intense flavor.

we also had the paneer bhurji dosa, which is a crepe stuffed with indian cheese, onions and spices--also quite good. an excellent place for vegetarians and vegans. they cook their meats separately from the veggie dishes. the service was attentive and friendly. they seem to have a lot of pride in their food. i'm looking forward to trying more of it.