A Bollywood Break for Lunch at Royal Kabob in Hawthorne

Every once in a while, Joel and I find a need to head over to Fry's Electronics in El Segundo during lunchtime. Being proper tech geeks, we have gadgets that need replacing, fixing and upgrading on a fairly regular basis, and Fry's is one of the best places around for techie instant gratification. Now on these little field trips, the fellas have gotta eat. We've tried a lot of the places that line Rosecrans from the 405 freeway to Sepulveda, and our favorite stop is a little Indian restaurant right next to the freeway called Royal Kabob.

Royal Kabob is tucked into a compact strip mall literally about 50 feet west of the 405 on the north side of Rosecrans, right next to a liquor joint that specializes in providing kegs of beer. 20 years ago, the keg shop would have probably been my stop of choice in that strip mall, but that's another story... Royal Kabob is a narrow restaurant that has tables and seating along the right side of the place while the kitchen takes up the left. Above the kitchen, up on the wall are two flat-screen TV's that are always playing either musical scenes from Bollywood flicks or Indian music videos. It's a casual place that offers only a few dishes over $10, but it's decorated very nicely, the food is yummy and watching the Indian dance routines with all the bright colors and scenery while waiting for your food is bound to make you happy.

There are two things that I simply have to order whenever I eat in an Indian restaurant...mango lassi and garlic naan. Lassi is a cool yogurt drink, and I'm 100% stuck on the mango version of the drink. Naan is a classic Indian flatbread that's baked in a tandoori oven, so garlic naan is sort of like the garlic bread that I used to scarf down like a maniac whenever my parents took me out for spaghetti as a kid. 

I usually order one of the kabob platters whenever Joel and I stop in for lunch.  On this particular afternoon I went with the seekh kabob platter, which included both ground chicken and ground beef kabobs, basmati rice, aloo palak (potatoes cooked with spinach, tomato, cream and spices), dall (a delicious lentil side dish), kachumber (cucumber salad) and raita (yogurt with either grated or chopped cucumber...sort of an Indian version of Mexican pico de gallo).  Now I realize that you might be looking at the picture of the seekh kabobs above and thinking to yourself, "uhh...they kinda look like poop", but trust me.  They're delicious.  Think of them as spiced up hamburgers in the shape of hot dogs, and you'll be fine.

Royal Kabob is located at 5245 West Rosecrans Avenue in Hawthorne and can be found on the web at http://www.kabobtogo.com/.