One of my favorite Indian restaurants in the South Bay is Addi’s Tandoor. When I discovered Addi’s Tandoor a couple of years ago it quickly became my go to spot for delicious Indian cuisine.  One of my most memorable birthday parties was even held there.  Their saag paneer and chicken tikka masala are tops in my book and a forever favorite.

It was thus with much excitement for me to hear that the owner of Addi’s Tandoor, Addi Decosta along with Urvi Radia have opened up new restaurant again here in the South Bay via Bollywood Zaika.

Just recently I got to check out Bollywood Zaika. Just like Addi’s Tandoor Bollywood Zaika is truly special.  The name itself is a wonderful and different.  Bollywood is Indian cinema and Zaika is “flavor.” As their website states,  this restaurant is about bringing customers “sizzling Indian food packed with “Zaika” (flavor) straight from the heartland of Indian Cinema “Bollywood” to Hollywood.”

The Bollywood theme can be seen in their simple and classic decor. I loved seeing the movie reels hanging on their restaurant wall.

The “Zaika” or flavor is all over their different food offerings. They’ve got an amazing line up of Indian cusine that I will be sharing with you in this blog post.

My meal here started off with trying their Samosa-Pav

The samosa-pav consists of a deep-fried spicy potato and peas filled samosa sandwiched between pav buns and flavored with  sweet and spicy chutneys. I really enjoyed the crisp outer crust of the samosa. The sweet chutney also brought a nice flavor to the pav buns.

The samosa- pav is one of five of their small plate offerings. The other offerings are vada-pav, samosa chaat, spicy chicken wings and calamari pakora.

After the small plate, it was time to try the entrees. Here at Bollywood Zaika, there are four different styles for customers to enjoy their main meal. They can choose to do a bun-eat, a wrap-eat, a bowl eat or a plate-eat. With each style, customers then have the choice of choosing between different entrees, pilaf rice or brown rice and quinoa, various sides and condiments.

There is something for every one here at Bollywood Zaika. They have vegetarian, chicken and seafood entrees.

One of the chicken entrees I enjoyed was their chicken kebabs. Their version consists of grilled chicken breasts marinated with yogurt, garlic, ginger and spices. The chicken kebabs were very tender and went well with the pilaf rice and the raita, cilantro-yogurt condiment.

As for the vegetarian entrees, I tried their palak paneer. The palak paneer had spinach and cottage cheese cooked with garlic, fenugreek and mild spices. I loved the smooth creaminess of the palak paneer.

Each entree was wonderful and to add more to the flavorful meal was the various sides. For the sides, Bollywood Zaika has dal, chana masala and jeera aloo.

The dal side is lentils cooked with ginger, garlic and spices. Flavored with aromatics and spice, this was one very nice side.

Equal in deliciousness was the chana masala. The garbanzo beans cooked with tomatoes and aromatic spices was packed with zesty, pleasing taste.

Perhaps my favorite side of all was the jeera aloo. The potatoes sautéed with cumin seeds and mild spices were so soft and delicious.

Along side with the savory entrees, I enjoyed a refreshing cup of mango lassi.

This yogurt based mango drink was a great way to beat the heat of this summer day and it was the perfect match for the main dishes.

From savory to sweet, we ended our meal here with a wonderful dessert of kheer or Indian rice pudding.

The rice pudding was rich, creamy and delightful. This dessert was a perfect way to wrap up meal here at Bollywood Zaika.

Every thing I tried here at Bollywood Zaika was packed with flavor. The “Zaika” in their name is so appropriate. Addi Decosta has been in the restaurant business for over 25 years and has been offering up delicious Indian cuisine in the South Bay for over 13 years. I am sure that his and Urvi’s new venture in Bollywood Zaika will also enjoy much success in Redondo Beach. I was full of smiles at my first visit here and I am sure to come back to try more of their flavorful Indian cuisine.

For more smiles, please check out my recent Yelp review on Bollywood Zaika.