AR Cucina — Restaurant in Culver City

Definitely one of the best places in LA to find Indian food, and this is coming from an Indian.

Came in on a Sunday evening and were told it would be a 45 min wait. UNLESS we sat at the chef's counter. Honestly, sit at the chef's counter. Not only will you see first hand the popular dishes (to get an idea of what to order), but you'll also notice how they are prepared from scratch (exhibit - turmeric naan) AND will prepare your taste buds from the front-facing sights and smells of the kitchen.

The Sevpuri Chaat was a great start to the meal. The avocado is a brilliant Californian twist on classic sev and chaat. The dishes just get exponentially better through the dinner.

This restaurant is not the most authentic, but I think it stays the roots of Indian cooking while adding a modern (possibly American) twist to the dishes. The Mississippi Masala wings were a great example - they were spicy and smoky, but also had a southern maple sweetness to it that complemented the spice. The chutneys that came with the wings were also phenomenal, very classic, and worked with all the flavors.

The chicken xacuti was not especially spicy, but its bold flavor more than makes up for it. Seriously, the Indian flavors are far more important than the spicy, so it's good to know that they still care about classic Indian cooking.

Beyond the dishes, I want to talk about the drinks. I love that some of the drinks (Malabar Coast, Last Train to Goa) come in very typical stainless steel cups, reminds me of home. Anyways, the drinks are rather strong but definitely delicious. I recommend Under the Mango Tree, but I'm quite biased towards anything and everything mango. Malabar Coast is a little less than inspiring but the Last Train to Goa is sweet with a little tart. Also, the Bollywood Star...

1st Visit - Loved it, but cant remember much about it. 2nd Visit - What the heck happened?

We sat down and immediately picked out 4-5 things on the menu we wanted and would order, seemed like the perfect setup for our appetite. The waiter then notified us that 4 of our choices were out, and literally struggled to suggest anything further instead, just dead pan 'uhhhh'. I get it, end of the day, probably completely wiped, but out of 4 dishes?? Those were just the ones we picked, i imagine there were others out that we didn't pick.

The suggested red was also very flat on flavor, very mild even though it was described as full bodied. The two salads we got; the beet&avocado seemed like they ran out of ingredients, maybe a half avocado worth ($15), and the Arugula was terrible, we left most of it on the plate - who puts giant raw mushrooms and fava beans with arugula and no dressing ($12)? You could walk down the street and get the best salads in Los Angeles at sweetgreen for that price.

Bread options are really good, the chicken meatballs were pretty good.

All in all, $100 meal, left completely disappointed, might not...

​AR Cucina is an Italian place in culver, with more upscale decor. There’s indoor and covered outdoor seating, and bar seating that faces the kitchen/pizza oven. Service was alright, sitting at that pizza bar area. The clientele seems to middle aged coming after work, at least on a Thursday.

The menu is not too big, it’s mainly pizzas, salads, and pastas. The price point is higher than average, but this is viewed as a fancier Italian place. Cocktails are expensive, there’s no complementary bread, but you can order it, it being pizza crust essentially.

I ordered the butternut squash pasta and a margherita pizza. I must say the pasta was very good...it was soft, fresh, with a browned butter sauce that covered the entirely-too-big plate. The pizza was good as well, sufficient sauce and cheese. However, i think the portion sizes are about 25% too small for the price.

Aside from that, it’s a good try if you have the...