Gold Dig #42

Mayura, as you can see on the sign, is an Indian restaurant that specializes in Kerala cuisine. Kerala is a South Indian state. You can also see from the banner that Mayura has repeatedly made Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list.

Located in something of a dumpy looking strip mall in Culver City, it has a deceptively small front window and entry through which you discover a surprisingly spacious and newly appointed interior filled with booths and tables. There’s a buffet area on one side, but you want to order food off the menu.

The Dish

Mayura specializes in South Indian food, though they do offer the tandoori chicken and naan typical of the North Indian food that’s more commonly found in Indian restaurants in the US. I loved the Kerala flavors and textures that felt so different from what you can get at most Indian restaurants. They also cook out of separate vegetarian and non-vegetarian kitchens, so both the vegetarians and meat eaters in your party can happily dine here.

Mayura Special Cheese and Veggie Uthappam

Uthappam is a fermented rice pancake. They have a whole section of the menu with various toppings options for what they label the “Indian Version of Pizza”. We got the special cheese and veggie uthappam, which is especially like pizza. It came with two sauces – the darker one was a curry which seemed to come with almost every dish; I really enjoyed the lighter sauce on the uthappam though I never did figure out what it was.

Kerala Special Avial

Avial is a mixed vegetable dish cooked in coconut and spices. It came with really good raita that I ended up just spooning straight into my face. The avial was nice on the rice, especially while also crunching on the pappadam, which is sort of a big Indian chip that I can eat baskets and baskets of. I think avial is often eaten as a main dish, though it felt like more of a veggie side for me.

Venpongal

Venpongal is rice with lentils, cashews, cumin seeds and pepper in melted butter. It is some seriously buttery rich goodness. We ended up calling it the Indian risotto. I’m accustomed to the basmati rice where every grain is dry and separate, but I’d never had creamy Indian rice like this. I loved it.

Kerala Special Appam with Fish Curry

Appam is a gluten-free rice pancake. It’s soft and spongy, perfect for soaking up the incredible curry sauce which is subtly sweet and spicy and leaves the tips of your fingers stained a bright yellow. This was my favorite dish. The fish was mild and flaky, and there was plenty of the curry sauce for dipping the appam into and for spooning onto the venpongal. I don’t know if mixing the curry and venpongal was a total faux pas, but I could have eaten three more bowls full.

Mayura Special Shrimp Biryani

You’ve probably noticed we got a lot of the Mayura and Kerala Special dishes. It’s my theory that dishes they name after the restaurant tend to be good, and that held true here. The biryani had lots of flavor and a generous amount of shrimp. It was like the Indian version of shrimp fried rice. And of course it was great with more pappadam.