8222 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Whenever I go back home to Los Angeles, one of the few things that I really crave is some good Indian food. It’s just one of those foods that’s very easy to like—gooey, rich, creamy, spicy, and zesty all at the same time, with lots of starches. As an Armenian, I’m kind of obligated  to like any cuisine that centers around rice and stew, after all. Unfortunately, you just can’t find quality Indian food in most places across the world and even within the nation. That’s why I really made a push to find a good go-to Indian place upon coming home from my time abroad in Argentina, where there is virtually no Indian food and no Indian population (In fact, the only Indian person I saw in the whole country was a friend who was studying abroad with me). One of the places I ended up at was Electric Karma, where I’ve had a couple pretty good experiences in the past and which typically gets great reviews, if for nothing else than the hip vibe.

Electric Karma is really an Indian restaurant done right, at least in terms of atmosphere. While it retains the traditional Indian vibe, it really expands upon it to make the experience friendly enough for a family and intimate enough for a date. Perhaps the most noticeable feature is the fact that there’s a full-on Bollywood movie playing the background, projected straight onto the wall for everyone in the main dining room to see. While I’m not the greatest fan of Indian movies, it really seems fitting to have something like this right in the middle of Los Angeles, right near Hollywood. So while it’s corny, it’s simultaneously kind of fun and nice. Moreover, the restaurant has some pretty nice seating arrangements. If you make a reservation in advance, you can even sit in the lounge on the floor with carpets and small sofas/pillows, if you’re interested in something new. The dining room itself is much more mainstream, but there’s still a nice glow about it from the dim candlelight, really working well with the heavy presence of reds throughout the room. There’s also enough space to feel quite comfortable. The ambience, then, might be overdone to some, but I find it a refreshing take on the traditional Indian setting.

Everything else is a little bit less impressive, though not that bad. The service is normal, but very slow. It’s not the biggest place, but you can still have problem getting the waiter’s attention, etc. As for the food, it’s not extraordinary, but most of it is just normal, decently priced, good-tasting Indian food. The stews are all creamy, rich, and flavorful, the meat is always very well-cooked. I honestly didn’t get to try too much of a range of the foods, since a couple of the dishes we ordered were very similar, but I do know that I’ve had much better in other parts of town, especially in terms of the chicken tikka masala, which is my favorite Indian dish.

And that’s the main reason I can’t recommend Electric Karma even more highly. It is an all-around great experience, especially with the setting, and the food isn’t bad, but there is nothing in terms of dishes that actually stands out as something I have to come to Electric Karma to get. In a town full of fantastic Indian restaurants, Electric Karma meets the standard but doesn’t really surpass it.

What I had (no recommendations):

1. Complementary bread and sauces: The bread is in the form of what looks like a thin taco shell and is very crispy, without dough. While good for a crunch, it’s so salty that it’s very difficult to enjoy on its own. The sauces mix okay, especially the tomato salsa-type sauce, which has a nice sweetness and freshness to it.
2. Chicken Tikka Masala (Boneless chicken prepared with curry spices in clay oven): This chicken tikka masala was quite decent. It had a very good level of creamy thickness, allowing it to mix with the rice very easily and deliciously. The chicken was tender and cooked very well, too. The one complaint was that the tomato flavor stood out more than the chicken tikka masala at just about any other place I’ve had it, to the point that you lost the flavors of some of the other spices. Not bad, but I’ve had much better at an Indian restaurant. 2.6/5.0
3. Chicken Saag (Boneless chicken and spinach cooked in turmeric and cayenne pepper): For a dish with spinach, this is one of my favorites. It’s just loaded with spinach (green all over), but it doesn’t have the harshness of spinach, since it’s been pureed and cooked in spices. Moreover, the turmeric and cayenne adds a nice, slight bit of spiciness and a slight curry tang that makes this dish stand out from other spinach dishes, like the palak paneer that we also ordered. Finally, the chicken works well in adding a bit of substance, so that it doesn’t feel too “green,” but rather balanced by the protein. I’ve had better, but this is quite good for a saag. 3.2
4. Lamb Makhni (Marinated tandoor cooked lamb in tomato saffron sauce): Oddly enough, the tomato saffron sauce tastes just like the chicken tikka masala’s sauce, and the taste of this dish is almost the same except there’s lamb instead of chicken. That’s why I have the same complaint more or less. The one thing the lamb substitution does that I think adds to the dish, though, is that it gives the dish a certain chewy gamier meatiness that I think really gives it a nice contrast. It’s really a matter of personal preference, but I preferred this to the tikka masala slightly, though others at the table had the opposite impression. 2.8
5. Palak Paneer (Pureed spinach leaves and tofu sautéed with onion, ginger, and green chilis): The palak paneer, for the most part, tastes just like the chicken saag, except it doesn’t have the meat and has less of the curry spice flavor to it, which I think really detracts from the dish and makes it much blander than the saag. The spinach is still the same great pureed spinach, but without the kick, and because it’s made with tofu, it has lumps of more tasteless protein mixed in that don’t contribute much. It’s still good for what it’s supposed to be, but I’d recommend the saag. 2.5
6. Cheese naan (Stuffed with mozzarella): This was probably the biggest disappointment. The crispy pita bread had already been disappointing, and the cheese naan continued the bread problem. While the bread was perfectly baked and fluffy, as well as served hot and fresh, the cheese was far too salty for some reason, and so much cheese was put in the bread that you really couldn’t overcome that saltiness. Mozzarella isn’t known for the salt, so I’m not sure exactly what they did, but it was far worse than most of the cheese naan I’ve had. 0.5-1.0

Ambience: 4.0/5.0. Fantastic date spot.
Service: 2.0/5.0
Taste: 2.6/5.0
Value: 3.0/5.0
Overall Score: 3.0/5.0