Tumbi Craft Indian Kitchen

A must place to visit whenever we are in downtown Santa Monica. The cheese dosa was good, although my husband expected it to have paneer (as it said on the menu) but he still liked it. I love palak paneer and glad that there was a side dish of it. It tasted really good, fresh and not super creamy.

The Masala dosa was decent and the chicken malai tikka was tasteful. The stars are less because of the waiter staff, they are rude or perhaps not know how to deal with customers (they come out as unpolished). Otherwise, a cute place and decently expensive food!

Hands-down the best Indian food in LA for me! Appetizers: Panipuris were crisp, fresh and the pani was just the right amount of tangy! The wada pav was soft, crunchy and the idle fries are a stroke of genius. The avocado bhelpuri are pretty dope! Never knew avocados would go that well with that spice palette. Main course: The butter chicken is so good and so rich! We ordered it twice! The laccha parattha and the garlic naan compliment the dishes really well! Dessert: Kulfi: they have malai, pistachio and mango flavors! So smooth, so rich and a good portion size The deconstructed carrot halwa: probably haven?t had dessert that good in a while. They serve it with ice cream and granola which gels so well with the halwa! 10/10- would come again ?

I discovered this place in the Michelin guide and thought I would try this Indian that wasn?t run of the mill. Wow ! It?s been a couple years since my tastebuds exploded with so much joy for Indian food. Flavors are strong but are not overpowering, every dish could stand on its own and complemented each other. Even the dessert had that creative audacity that closed the diner on a high note?

We went to dinner on Friday night. The food was delicious, especially the classic dosa. The Spicing for Sambal and Chutney was very good. When we arrived, the service was a little frosty, once sitting, the service was good and the staff friendly. Hopefully back soon.