Overall rating: 2.5.
Parking: Free 90 minute parking at the lot on Fair Oaks. Short walk from there. Never used their validation so can't comment on that.
Environment: On a Monday night during dinner hour, we were the third table present. Only staff present were two cooks and a lady (possibly the owner?) working as the hostess and waitress. Place looked clean; ambiance was okay. Restroom was clean but heads up - the light switch is OUTSIDE the restroom.
Food/Pricing: Food is good - meat is juicy and tender and the spices are just right. However, for the price, I'd expect more. Each dish is overpriced by at least $4. Plain rice for $5.50 and Naan for $3.45 (though the menu stated it's $2.95)? Not cool. Also, when we tried to order a combination plate (priced at $21), the lady told us it was not enough for two people because each combination plate only comes with ONE of each item listed. ONE. For a $20+ combination plate with four different items, I'd expect at the very least two pieces of each. But no; just one.
Service: Food came out pretty slow for having two cooks and only three tables present (with one table already eating when we arrived). The lady was friendly enough but seemed slightly annoyed with us for being frugal (we had a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> certificate but it wasn't valid with the dinner for $30 special, though it wasn't stated).
Payment: Like another user stated, this place likes to round UP when calculating the bill. Our tax was rounded up to the nearest dollar and so was the overall total of the bill. It wasn't much but still, it seems shady and dishonest.
Overall, the food is good but definitely not worth the price paid. Most likely will not be back.
Good Indian Food..
I've only eaten there during lunch and the buffet is fair... Waiters are always on point with the refills. A quit relaxing place to eat & chill. Very little disturbance. The owner comes out to help to make sure all is good.
I'm getting use to the tastes. Some of the dishes i don't care for. Yellow rice & spicy chicken with bones still lodged in the chicken? Flower tortilla with honey on it or something is bland pre filler. The buffet is aways the same... Thats why i stop going. Â $8.59 unles the prince went up.
This is a nice Indian restaurant. Â Hadn't had Indian food in a while, so was looking forward to it. Â Parking can be a little fun, but fortunately there was a little 10 spot lot across the street so we kinda lucked out I guess. Â All of the street parking was taken.
Fairly big place, with one side plenty of tables for different sized groups.  Off to the left is a bar area it looked like, but we didn't go in there.  The girl that sat us down and who is also a server apparently  was very nice, very talkative.  And talkative.  And talkative.  She was very nice and talkative and talkative and talkative to all the tables.  We wanted to get a drink, but we could never get her back over.  Finally another girl wondered by and we asked her if we could order something.  They were out of some of the beers, but managed to get something I had never had before.  Wasn't too bad.
Ordered a samosas as an appetizer. Â Also ordered the Chicken Tiki Masala and the Spinach chicken saag along with some a couple of different naans. Â We got the food pretty quickly, but no samosas. Â They apparently had forgotten them. Â They offered to comp them to us since they forgot which was nice. Â Kinda glad because for the price of what they were, it wasn't worth it for two small samosas. Â
Anyway, food was good. Â I don't know if it's the best ever, but we enjoyed it. Â Also had a Yelp coupon for 25% off I think, which was nice because it was around $60 for what we got which seems a little high.
The place is a little dark and moody, but seemed clean and overall the staff was nice and helpful. Â Would probably go back since it's close and the food wasn't bad but will definitely make sure someone has a Yelp discount to use.
Once there was a time when one would saunter into Mezbaan and be greeted with live musicians, a packed room full of charmed customers, doting on perfectly spiced fare, with luxuriously rich gravies. To find a good Northern Indian establishment in LA is like trying to find a penny in the fog and once, I loved Mezbaan, but sorrowfully I admit that my love has grown cold and maybe even a little scornful. Â
Mezbaan had a renovation a few years ago and went from being reasonably priced, to silly expensive. Along with the renovation, it has lost all its good vibes and mojo.
I opted to eat their food from the comfort of my own vibey-good-mojo-y home and then they cancelled my Grubhub order because they decided to change their $25 minimum to a $35 minimum, 30 minutes after I placed my order. That's bad business and not to mention a totally weird and passive aggressive way to treat a loyal customer now on the way to being a non-existent customer.
Mezbaan was once the only good Northern Indian restaurant in all of East LA and unfortunately like a unicorn in the mist, good Northern Indian food on the east side is now purely fictional.
You broke my heart Mezbaan.
Sincerely,
MLC
Love, love, love. Hands down the best Indian food in all of greater Los Angeles. I drive from West L.A. just to eat here at least once a month. The restaurant is modernly decorated and has a nice lounge on the side with the friendliest waitresses. Â I love the chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, onion kulcha, and basically everything else I've tried. If you're looking for authentic Indian food, look no further!
Review Source:yes , indian food lunch buffet ...
i wanted to go to the afghan place but i walked in there & it was empty (i shoulda stayed anyway, i know i know)
but thank god i came here instead!!!!!!
i LOVE indian food & if i could bathe in the tikka sauce i would
they had this mango baby food puree dessert thing on the buffett that is the best thing ive had in a very very long time- very long time!
the garbanzo dish was delish, the tikka chicken was as well, & the garlic naan was also.
i will return asap
$9 i believe ?
oh, & clean bathroom!
Seeing that this place has been around for 30 or so years and that there are some pretty good reviews, I bought a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> certificate. We came on a Saturday night and there were only two other parties. Â We ordered one of the combinations and their lamb curry. The dishes in the combination lacked flavor and did not seem fresh. It seemed like the dishes were leftovers from the day before or something. The free soup might've came from a can. The lamb curry came in a small bowl and the meat was tough-not sure if it was really lamb meat. The waitress asked if we wanted rice with the curry and we said yes without realizing their rice will cost over 5 bucks. I guess they decided to combine his order of rice with my rice that comes with the combo because I never received mine. Basically, his curry and rice was about $20 and my combo about $21. I don't mind paying more for good food, but the food we had was definitely not worth it. Even with the "discount", it was still not worth it. On the other hand, service was nice so I guess it was okay that they automatically charged 18% gratuity since we used <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a>.
Review Source:Came here for happy hour, looking to get some drinks and $3 tequila shots (as we were looking to make some terrible decisions that night). The girl said the bartender had just left but she could serve us $3 beers on tap instead. Yes, please. We got a handful of beers and were on our way. Please has a cool vibe, they gave us water in cups that looked they were straight from Game of Thrones.
Review Source:I LOVE this place. It's the best Indian place in Pasadena, in my opinion. I've had many, many disappointing Indian meals in Pasadena and Mezbaan is the only place I always come back to. Always delicious and always consistent, whether we eat in or get a take-away. I've loved everything I've tried from there. The service is good, and the family who owns it is always so sweet. Haven't been there for the lunch buffet yet, but I can't wait to try it!
Review Source:This is my favorite Indian restaurant in Pasadena! I'm surprised it's not more crowded and popular but it's nice not having to wait for a table.
The service is excellent - everyone that works there is friendly and helpful.
The food is also excellent! I've liked everything I've tried there...aloo gobi, samosas, chicken tikka masala, chicken tandoori, lamb, and all of the biryani varieties. Â
The restaurant itself is also decorated nice and is spacious, unlike the other Indian restaurant right down the street. which is crowded and very hot inside.
We must have come on a bad night, but we were literally almost the only customers there. It was just a tad spooky to sit alone in the dark and empty room, which was quite huge, btw. We had to ask them to turn on the music, cuz otherwise the staff could hear our conversation echoing down the room. They had some crazy promotions going on (like buy one entree, get one free, and $2 margaritas) but this is probably because they desperately needed customers. The food was all right, nothing spectacular at all - quite delayed and cold...
As much as I would like to give this place a second chance (management was very welcoming and friendly) I doubt it I'll be back. I hear this place gets really busy during lunch buffet, and maybe this is the time to go, but I will stick to Akbar next door...
While heading home from Old Town one night, my friend and I saw a sign that advertised a $30 special which included an appetizer, 2 dishes, rice and naan outside this restaurant, and we quickly returned about a week later to experience it ourselves.
We came in around 6:30 pm on a Monday evening and we were the only customers in the restaurant. Â We ordered the vegetable samosas, a chicken tikka masala, and a saag aloo. Â Our meals came with rice and we requested to have garlic naan (which they charged us $1 extra for). Â The vegetable samosas were very good. Â I would probably have to say they are my favorite so far from all the other Indian restaurants I've eaten at -- probably because they were not dry and nicely flavored. Â When our entrees came, I was quite surprised at their small portions. Â However, I was later amazed at how full we've become, while still having about half of each dish left !! Â The chicken tikka masala was very delicious. Â It was slightly more creamy than I'd like and a bit salty for my taste, but nonetheless great. Â The chicken was not too dry either. Â It was my first time trying the saag aloo which is spinach with potatoes and other spices. Â I usually order the saag paneer, but if you're not feeling cheese, go with the saag aloo -- it's more of a pure spinach taste!
Our total was around $45, definitely not bad for all the food we ordered, including a coke and a mango lassi. Â I forgot to use my Yelp check-in deal, but it's okay next time! Â They also made sure to give us coupons to use for our future visit. Â It felt a little weird eating in that big restaurant by ourselves, but thankfully near the end, another party walked in. Â Maybe because it's kind of farther away from Colorado and coming up the street, you'll see Akbar first (which I have yet to try!). Â But there's a good chance we'll be back for the $30 deal or with one of the coupons or even for their lunch buffet.
Came here on Saturday night armed with a $50 for $30 yelp coupon. Â Don't believe other reviews with less than 3 stars (they're just grumpy yelp douchers). Â This family-owned space is quite large and well decorated with two main rooms and a big beautiful bar with draught beers and drink specials nightly. Â The service was very friendly, attentive and had a nice personal touch as well. Â The food was delicious and served in a proper progression. Â We had the lamb samosas, mixed tandoori grill, and chili masala. Â All were excellent! Â No complaints whatsoever, had an excellent experience where we felt like dinner guests in a family home and will be returning again soon. Special thanks to Jaz and all the folks at Mezbaan!
Review Source:Okay so to be perfectly honest, I'm not a fan of Indian food, but my cousin was treating me and I felt as if I needed to be adventurous.
We got there, and I was overwhelmed by the scents they were really powerful. Â I thought it was bizarre that we were the only people in the entire restaurant, but didn't mean extra special service. Â At least the naan was baller, and I got nearly full off that by itself. Â Next time I stick with what I know and love, Mexican food!
We used a Yelp deal here recently ($30 for $50 worth of food). We were worried we wouldn't get our monies' worth out of it, but the prices are pretty steep for Indian food, so that concern was allayed pretty quickly. Let me start by saying the place was deserted at 6 on a Saturday evening. Pasadena itself was bustling with shoppers and diners, so that was worrisome too, but that is one of the risks with pre-purchased deals.
Our worries were for naught. The food was really tasty and the service friendly.
Our party of three adults and two kids tried a lot of stuff. Good advice from the server for the kids: chicken tikka and basmati chicken rice were perfectly flavored for them, tasty but not too spicy.
Verdicts on other dishes we sampled hit the spot for the adults: aloo gohbi = nicely done. Baingan barhta eggplant = very good. Daal = flavorful. Akbar dream combo incl chicken vindaloo, lamb korma, and curries veggies were cooked perfectly and came with great lentil soup. We over did it on the naan, and that's really our only complaint that they served naan really late in the meal and a heads up would have been nice that it was delayed so we could have stopped ordering it. But when it did arrive, was very fresh and flavorful, with the exception of the keema naan, which was somewhat greasy and cold.
Ideally I could give 3 1/2 stars if only for the pricing being on the high side, but the food was good enough to go back for even without the deal. Â We just need to be smarter about sharing.
I can't stand it when a restaurant is empty and I am not allowed to sit where I want. Â I visited once an hour before closing and wanted a table with a booth. Â The lady asked "Am I expecting more people?" to which I retorted "Are you?". Â
Despite that annoyance, this place has good food. Â The chicken tandoori is excellent, cooked right each time. Â The daal lentils can be made extremely spicy just to my liking. Â If only for the wait staff...
Our office come here for special events - birthdays, new employees, celebrations. Â Usually it's a pleasant experience. Â For the price, I feel it's quite worth it. Â Good naan, good tandoori chicken, pleasant atmosphere.
Today was such a bad experience, it necessitated a lowering of stars. Â They had run out of salad and my co-workers and I watched as the manager/supervisor (whoever looked like they were in charge) scanned each item to see what needed to be refilled. Â My co-workers was gathering the last bits of salad and the manager reached over and bumped into my co-workers hand and gave her a look. Â That was odd.
Then when they later ran out of tandoori chicken, I almost knocked the lid over trying to see if there was any left and the manager sighed, gave me a look, and then came over to put it back on.
Later, the waitress was clearing the table and said "Some more naan will be out for you in just a bit." Â We waited 10 minutes and then asked her again if they were coming and she said "Oh you want more naan?" Â
The final straw was when we received our bill. Â Here's the breakdown:
$72 Â ($9 x 8 people)
$7 tax (it's actually $6.30 but they rounded up!!!)
$14.22 gratuity (they added an18% gratuity on both the meals AND the tax!!!)
Total: Â $93.25 (they rounded up the total again!)
I think this is quite shady the way they added everything up. Â We were one of the last groups for lunch and as we were leaving the manager didn't even look up to say goodbye and thank you to us. Â
I'm not sure what was going on today, whether there's a change in management, or whether it's a new supervisor or he was having a bad day. Â It was such a different experience from what we're used to.
I forgot that I had come to this restaurant before a long long time ago. I guess this is how memorable this restaurant was to me. I wanted to eat a significant amount of food today so I opted for the all you can eat lunch buffet for $8.99 plus tax. It has all your traditional Indian fare including a side of Naan that was awesome.
The food was okay.....although to be honest with you, I do not know the names of all the items I tried, but I managed to sample everything like a true buffet warrior.
On their website, it says that they validate parking at the One Colorado Blvd parking structure on the corner of Union and Fair Oaks. Unfortunately, their one validation was only good for 30 minutes so I had to pay a dollar. Make sure they give you TWO validation slips because each one is worth a dollar and it is two dollars for an hour during lunchtime.
We were not impressed. They gouge prices here and it is not worth it.
When we walked in the host was a smug indian kid with a tribal tattoo on his arm & a microfiber t-shirt. He was texting when we walked in and took a minute to acknowledge us. Must've been a pretty important conversation he was having via text.
It was lunchtime and there was a buffet but we opted to not buffet but rather order from the menu. Our chicken tikka masala was dark meat and not very quality (we questioned if they just pulled it from the buffet instead of making it fresh). There were a few pieces of grisly chicken that were inedible and for the price that is just unacceptable.
I asked for the mint chutney & indian pickles trio thing that you usually get since it was not given to us at the table with the papadums like at most indian restaurants. The host ( I don't know what our server was doing) brought it to our table about 15 minutes after we had started eating. I asked him if he thought it was a little late to be bringing it, I don't think he got what I was saying because he just walked off. Must've needed to get back to his text convo.
They play really crummy indian techno on full blast and I think we got the pleasure of sitting right under the speaker. There was one other couple in the restaurant, I just didn't see the need to have it on that loud. It was really annoying for 2 pm.
They charge almost 5 bucks for plain white basmati rice. REALLY? That is unheard of.
The raita was the only thing that was good but way too pricey.
Overrated. Won't be back.
Just left this establishment a few hours ago.
The nitty gritty:
Meat- I could tell the quality was not up to par. Chicken was very dry (might have been overcooked) and the lamb was definitely not fresh. The lamb was a mouthful and not the good kind of you know what I mean. ;) It was too chewy and lacked tenderness.
We asked for a medium spiciness level, but it was barely mild.
The winner of the dinner was the baingan bharta. It was seasoned very well with the tomatoes and onions. Boy oh boy. I love this mushy, ambrosial concoction!
But like the 2 star rating, I have definitely experienced much better. And for cheaper too.
Hmm...
So, here's the deal.
Food = ok (though not spectacular)
Ambiance = expectantly tacky yet attempting to not be
Service = very friendly, but extremely inattentive.
We ordered Chicken Tikka Masala & Shrimp Vindaloo, with Naan, Pea Pilau rice, and chai tea.
The Tikka Marsala tasted smokey... as in the sauce seemed burnt.
The Shrimp Vindaloo... was... vindaloo (by definition alone)
The Naan - some of the best fried bread I've eaten.
The rice - neither spectacular nor bad.
The chai - remarkably less-than-average.
So WHY 2 stars?
This place is WAY over priced for what you get. Â We bought a coupon on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurants.com&s=8b83bf0ff8b716aae84527dc95577a310f201b166dcca25c8ca3824b15703869" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurants.com</a> and we still walked out felling like we spent too much, especially considering the quality of food and service.
The service - albeit friendly, wasn't attentive at all. You'd think that an Indian restaurant would know to keep the water coming, right? Nope!
At one point, a waitress even came by and asked if I wanted some water... we never saw her again. Â Oddly enough, this wasn't busy. It was a Friday night, there were other tables there, the place was not full by any stretch of the imagination. Â
We should have known going in... the place seemed near vacant compared to other restaurants in the area. There is another Indian restaurant not 20 yds away, and that place was packed!
We're not going to go back, simply because regardless of the kind service, food quality and price doesn't merit further patronage.
Here's a simple summary:
"Mezbaan is favorite Indian restaurant."
I've been going here for years, even before they remodeled the interior (which looks great now).
I've tried just about every Indian restaurant from Pasadena to Riverside and I still compare them all to Mezbaan. There's just something about the food that puts it above the rest. The Chicken Tikka Masala is by far the best I've ever had so when you go, make sure to get that.
The service is great and the prices are fair. So before you waste your money eating bland indian food at Akbar, go a block north and experience awesome cuisine at Mezbaan.
I had a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> giftcard and came here because Mezbaan is in downtown Pasadena and I wanted to have dinner and shop around.
The bf and I were not expecting the best of Indian food but even with low expectations we were still let down.
We were seated in the lounge area and ordered the champagne mojito, Paneer Karahi, Roghan Josh, and Basmati Boiled Rice.
It took us 30 minutes to get our food - the restaurant wasn't packed, there were about less than 8 tables filed. On top of that, it was sweltering in the restaurant even though they had turned on overhead fans. We kept drinking the champagne mojito and cold water to cool down but it wasn't working. I don't know if the AC wasn't working or if they didn't want to turn it on at all, but when it's 85 degrees at night it gets stuffy inside.
When we did get out food the Paneer Karahi was good - the paneer had a great consistency that I usually don't taste anywhere else. The Roghan Josh however wasn't good. The lamb was tough, so tough that we didn't finish eating the meat because it was so hard to chew. At $15 it's not really acceptable at all.
The basmati rice was pretty pricey - I usually don't pay $5+ for a plate of just rice.
I'm glad I tried it because I'm not going to come back and use the rest of my <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> giftcard. It's not even worth it.
I've been a regular to the buffet and an irregular to the night time restaurant. Â I consider myself a 'friend' of this restaurant, but the last three times I went with my spouse were strike one, strike two, and regrettably strike three and Mesbaan is out.
Let me explain something. Â When I see a great restaurant get trashed by a Yelper because they had bad service 'one' night -- I want to strangle them. Â This fool probably came in peek on a Saturday night and expects miracles. Â Bad service can ruin any restaurant experience, and so bad service is irrelevant to any review unless you've experience it time and again. Â That bad service is a going concern instead of an accident.
This is what happened to me and Mezbaan. Â Basically it's a family run restaurant (yay!) but with family dysfunctional behavior. Â That is, if one of the young daughters gives you lousy service, she's not going to be fired. Â And so there's nothing stopping her from doing so. Â Nothing stopping one of the matriarchs from giving you a condescending look or comment.
I don't want to bash this family because I love what they are trying to do with this place. Â The tap beer has some inspired choices, the bar and restaurant area is a nice big room to be in, the weekend music is a treat.
But -- to put it bluntly but kindly -- outside management must be hired. Â This manager should be given free reign to hire and fire. Â To correct owner attitudes when necessary. Â The make people HUSTLE instead of drag.
Make this place work like a machine and I'll come back.
My favorite Indian restaurant... hands down. the food is served buffet style so you can try a little of everything and go back and get more of what you like best.
It's a little hidden, even though its located right on a big street. I'm pointing this out because Akbar is right down the street and they are also an Indian restaurant. Akbar is closer to Colorado so people who are searching for Indian food might miss this place. If you're looking for good Indian food, walk about a quarter block further north and you'll hit this place. Love it!
They also have Sunday brunch with bottomless champagne if that tickles your fancy. It's upon request though, so make sure you ask for it.
Leaning more towards 2.5 stars here but spending $60 on Indian for 2 people is just too steep. Â I think the prices drop multiple stars here. The food is fine but we ordered one lamb dish, one veggie dish, naan, raita, and rice and two chai teas. Bill was 60 dollars with tax and tip!! That is WAY too high for Indian food and no alcohol. You need to have prices that are inline with the experience and ingredient level. I don't mind spending a lot of money on meals where the ingredients are obviously insanely priced and the food costs are high, but cheap-o Indian food should not cost as much as a fully organic dish with some fresh caught fish.
Despite the good service and decent food, I cannot justify spending that much money on Indian. Charging almost 6 dollars for regular (dried out, left from the lunch buffet) basmati rice shows you that they just are gouging you.
Sadly, I likely will not return because I can get the same quantity and quality of food at the India Sweets and Spices buffet for about 15 dollars for two people. And there I'd get dessert!!
Old town prices are insane and this place is no exception. Paying the sucker tax, I guess.
Came here for the lunch buffet on new years eve. My friend and Iwere like the first ones there. The restaurant itself is very nice and clean, and maybe it's because we were the only ones their for awhile, but the service was SUPER efficient. When I say super, I mean SUPER. The one waiter that worked their kind of stood in the back, wating to fill our water cups once they were half empty. And when I started coughing, he came running over with more water and a napkin. Hahaha. My friend and I were laughing at the cuteness of the situation.
The food was very good too. I don't really know the name of a lot of the foods I ate, but what I did eat was bueno!
The naan baskets were nevereding, and they were great to dip into the veggie curry. The ginger chicken was really good too. They tasted very wood-roasted and flavorful. And I LOVE basmati rice. The only thing I was sad about was the lack of chicken tikka masala. Being the indian food newbie that I am, I LOVE chicken tikka masala. It's like Non-koreans loving galbi and bulgogi. It's like, the generic indian food. I think... Hahahahah.
I would come back to this place if I were in the area and was craving indian. Hopefully the service remain the same~
Went here for the lunch buffet. The lunch buffet is very decent for the price. Our choices were: rice, naan, a lamb dish, a few curries including aloo ghobi (cauliflower) and a masala with mushroom and lentils, yogurt dessert, samosas. Â
The taste was acceptable. After my Indian food introduction in at Berkeley's House of Curries, these curries were a little bland for my tastes. The masala was watery and the aloo ghobi was very mild. I was looking for more spice and flavor, but for the price it wasn't bad. I would definitely consider coming here again for the lunch buffet if I wanted to stuff myself on Indian, but probably not if I was looking for quality Indian for dinner.
My best friend comes here like 2-3 times a week, because they have an all you can eat Indian buffet for $8.99 or so. I decided to give these cats their day in court.
I liked it a lot. They have several curries, chicken, potato type dishes all up fro grabs.
The various curries were pretty good, and so was that chicken that looks like teriyaki or is it bbq pork? The chicken is really red, but it's the brazing that gives it that color. It was great.
After I demolished my meal it was time for dessert. They have a really bad ass pudding which is basically arroz con leche but with thinner rice. You could drink this almost.
Having lived here all my life I wonder why I never bothered to come inside. They've made a fan out of me.
P.S. They have a variation of garlic bread which is super light and tasty. That one you may have to ask for, but they prepare it hot and fresh.
I've been here quite a few times and this restaurant has made me an Indian food lover. The savory aroma! The richness and complexity of flavor! All those herbs and spices somehow magically come together into these wonderfully intricate dishes.
My favorite is the Baingan Bharta - I've discovered a new love for eggplant with this dish. It has this great smooth texture. Other favorites include Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma, and the lamb curry. They have great naan and rice. The only downside is that the prices are a little too steep for me to eat here more often.
They remodeled recently, and the new restaurant looks much better. They also added in this bar/lounge area that's quite pretty and looks like a nice place to sip a few drinks with friends or a date.
Tip: Park in the Parson's lot diagonally across the street and get your parking validated.
It's buffet only during lunch, at least during the week. Â They're fairly rude about it when you try to order off the menu (I'm wondering if you can't order from the menu, what was the point of them giving them to us?).
The buffet holds the usual uninspiring Indian fare but since it's pretty busy, there's high turn over so the food is fairly fresh.
The only thing worth mentioning was the chicken vindaloo. Â The samosas were good but the other fried things were soggy. Â And the chicken tikka were too small and bony.
I consider Mezbaan as the go- to place for AUTHENTIC Indian food- almost like soul food to me. I have Indian ancestry and had always wanted to explore it so I thought the best way to do it is through food. I must say, it's been successful and I've been hooked since.
The food at Mezbaan is incredibly delicious, flavorful and probably so damn orgasmic. Their samosas are lightly fried, filled with ohhh so yummy potatoes, peas and lots of spices. It's almost similar to having a Filipino empanada sans chicken and raisins.
I recommend going during lunch because for $8 it's all you can eat including dessert and naan!
Skip the other Indian establishments in Old Town because you'll just be disappointed  and so will your wallet.
Thank you Ericka Sparkles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Â Paul and I had such a delicious meal here on Sunday evening! Â So very good! Â I wasn't too hungry so I just got the veggie samosas and then we split two different naan's. Â The veggie samosas were delcious....crispy, spicy, flavorful, and not greasy at all. Â So very good, I was very happy! Â The Aloo Paratha naan was SO good, just the right amount of spices and potatoes and the wheat bread has a nice sweetness to it. Â WOW, it was really good. Â My one minor complaint is I had a couple bites that tasted really salty but aside from that it was delicious! Â The Kashmiri Naan was also quite good! Â I loved the almonds and raisins in it, very sweet with a nice mix of saltiness to it! Â Everything was so great! Â
Paul got chicken with mushrooms and asked them to make it extra spicy. Â He loved it and from what he said it was certainly spicy!!!!!!!! Â He was really pleased with his dinner and found it to be quite flavorful and very spicy. Â Good stuff. Â He actually mentioned to me several times after we left how much he liked everything.
Our original waiter was a snarky cranky pants though. Â He didn't bring Paul's soda, never came back to check on us, and was just a grouch. Â The other waiter was really friendly and tried to overcompensate for Oscar the Grouchy waiter. Â In fact, when we were getting up to leave and I tripped over my flip flops, almost fell over and lunged sideways he came right over to make sure I was OK. Â He was quite nice and tried to not make me feel more embarrassed than I already was. Â
Sigh....I always make such a good impression, no wonder why Paul wants to marry me! Â Anyway, really great food! Â We will be back quite soon. Â Oh, and we found street parking right away! Â
Ericka Sparkles you are my hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Â :) Â Thank you!
This review is for the lunch buffet only.
The lunch buffet is SO GOOD! Â Lots of veggie options (including usually at least one or two that appeared to be vegan, but which may contain ghee -- I've never asked). Â The buffet includes samosas and naan, so it's totally worth the $8. Â You will eat yourself silly, so be prepared and consider skipping breakfast, and possibly even dinner the night before.
This is by far my favorite Indian food place. It's a family owned place, very cozy and quaint and they know us by name now :) We go a lot. The tika masala is to die for and they have a great brunch on Sundays with champagne. I like going on Saturday nights because they have live entertainment, well a guy playing a sitar. It's very romantic and relaxed. My boyfriend and I are just sick when it comes to eating spicy food and we have eaten the tika very, very hot!! They even cautioned us not to eat it that hot but it's delish if you like heat. They are wonderful at making suggestions if you are not sure what to eat. The garlic nan is wonderful and the mixed appetizer. I am drooling at work just thinking about it. They do take out too. Yummy :)
*I know I sound biased because it's my fav place but I did my homework in Pasadena I've tried 4 other Indian places and been sadly dissapointed each time. Mezbaan is it for me, I'm a fan for life
FINALLY! I was starting to think Pasadena was just cursed with crappy Indian food, and then I found Mezbaan. *loves*
The space itself is clean and looks like your average Indian restaurant, though I thought the colonial style chairs were cool. The staff is friendly and efficient; I was seated within moments of walking in by a smiling hostess, and I had naan (fluffy and hot) on the table by the time I finished serving myself at the buffet. Water was refilled promptly, which is a big thing for me, since I can drink a gallon of water while eating Indian food.
I hate to judge a place based on one lunch, but this was much better than the average Indian lunch buffet. (Plus, I plan to come back for dinner and provide an update.)
First, there were veggie samosas, which you almost never get at a buffet. They were perfectly spiced and freaking GOOD! They reminded me of the very first time my college roommate's aunt sent her back to the dorm with homemade samosas. I was really nice to her after that, always hoping she'd bring more good food for me.
Instead of the usual chicken curry or masala, there was ginger chicken and lamb vindaloo, along with veggie pakora and vegetable korma. The korma was okay, flavorful but had a lot of onions in it, so I abandoned trying to eat it. The pakora were quite yummy, and the lamb vindaloo was decent, though not at all spicy. The ginger chicken was awesome, like a Thai bbq style chicken, but milder and more tender. Also, for dessert, the rice pudding was a big step up from the usual runny glop you find at some buffets - it was delicately spiced and had almond slivers. Tasty!
Also, they validate parking at the Parsons lot at the northwest corner of Fair Oaks and Holly. Free parking and yummy food! This is so my new favorite place.
The setting is just plain and clean, the food is great. Â I would definitely recommend this spot to any person seeking authentic food. Â I'm not the kind that is interested in buffet's with quanitity, rather the quality of spices and cooking process. The meat and vegetable dishes are all neatly prepped.
Go treat yourself to a nice meal!
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