Manas Indian Restaurant

This is a cozy, clean and very welcoming restaurant. The food is wonderful. Glad that it is in the neighborhood! A must try. more

This place is amazing! I just can't get enough of it:)\r I have a really sensitive stomach so I can't eat most indian food, even though it's my favorite cuisine:(\r But whenever I eat at Manas it's all goood. I thought I would never be able to eat indian food again! But thanks to manas, I am now an official cult follower! Everything I eat at this place agrees with my tummy!\r It's very fresh and flavorful. Every time I bring a friend here, they are always so impressed! Try the Cheese stuffed Naan and the Samosas, they are both really yummy! The place is family owned, so they are always so welcoming! They also have a cute little Indian Market right next door. So much good stuff! Pros: Everything! Cons: I don't live close enough to go every day! more

I have been here so many times, but have never had a time to remember. Food is ok, doesn't taste great or horrible. It is edible. But I think the price that we pay for that kinda food is expensive. The service is fine, but the lady there sometimes tries to clean your table while you are eating. Anyways, she is friendly and a lot of students seem to be at home there. The kind of music/movies they play is pathetic. I haven't seen any sane person watching those movies or listening to that music. I think they have a collection of ONLY the bad songs. The quality of food is pathetic too. Every time I eat there, I am sure to have a stomach upset, same with my friends....but as I said, I go here only when I don't have a choice! I recommend India's Clay Oven for those who wish to shell more money. The ambiance is great and food and service are decent too!\r \r Best dishes: Spinach Onion Pakora, Kheer sometimes(if they have nuts, which doesn't happen these days), NEVER try chicken biryani, u will be deeply disappointed!\r Suggestion: Never shop at JH Bazaar!! There were worms in the rice we took there(and we were tricked into buying six rice bags at once since the lady there told us that sona masoori was being banned, and it wasn't banned then!!) and the bournvita we bought there. I suggest you only buy stuff that is dated(which is rare!) or stuff that u get only in indian stores. They have home delivery service which is one major reason why we shop there in the first place! Pros: Good for students from USC Cons: Quality of food and ambience. JH Bazaar!!! more

Fantastic little hide away near USC and downtown. The restaurant offers fresh and authentic Indian cuisine at a great price. The staff are always friendly and accommodating and the quality will humble many ""high-end"" Indian restaurants. The only thing I can pick is sometimes when you order take out, they tend to ""short change"" you in portion - but hey no one's perfect ;) Pros: Fresh authentic food at a great price - perfect for a recession :) Cons: tend to ""short changed"" the portion on takeout orders more

I visited Manas last weekend and the food is pretty good. The service was fast and attentive. Their portions are pretty huge and ended up taking half home. I came to know of this restaurant after they catered our office party in downtown. Their samosas, palak paneer ,chicken tikka masala and naan are top notch. I enjoyed their bollywood songs that were playing in the tv. After conversing with the waiters I came to know that the restaurant was started by a former USC student, and really appreciate their effort in setting up this restaurant near USC. I will definetly be back with my friends next time. Pros: good food more

Manas is one of my favourite Indian restaurant. I go there and also order togo almost every week. I am an Indian student at USC, and this place definitely satisfies my craving for Indian food. I also go to their buffet(all you can eat) in the weekend which is definitely a bargain for $10. Drink and naan is free with buffet. Service is friendly. I feel I am back home everytime I am here and that feeling is priceless. Pros: affordable and close to USC more

My gf and I happened to visit this place last week since we had read some rave reviews on this site, and my gf wanted to taste Indian food. We entered around 7pm, and the place was literally empty. There was no one to welcome us or seat us down. The woman at the cash register (who I later realized was the owner's wife) didn't even acknowledge us. After having sat down, not having been attended to for 5 min, I went to the woman to ask her if they were open as yet. She looks up, gives me a disgusted look and asks me ""What do you want?"". I draw her attention to my gf and I, and ask her if we could be offered a menu. She hands me a menu and disappears into the back room. A waiter shows up at our table a good 5 minutes later, and places two glasses with water. No, he didn't ask us what we would prefer to drink. The glasses were greasy and the entire affair so far had been pretty non-appetizing. We ordered the a chicken dish, a lentil soup kinda dish, and some Indian bread. It took a good half an hour to see them at our table. Meanwhile, a couple and a group of 5 entered. They were met with a similar kinda service, and the couple left 10 min after they entered without ordering anything. Our food was cold, tasteless and I suspected the soup to be stale. I told the owner's wife about it being stale, and she goes ""Oh, you people never understand Indian cooking"" instead of apologizing. She refused to serve us better food all the while insisting there was nothing wrong with it. I lost it at that point. We asked her for our receipt and immediately left, and paid no tips for their horrible service. We were once again met with some disgusting looks from that woman for not having tipped them. We have conveyed our bad experience to all our friends, and I am considering reporting this to the Beter Busines Bureau. Guys, please don't waste your money and time here. There are a million other excellent Indian restaurants in LA. This one is a joke! Cons: Read comments more

Delicious and spice level is customizable. We always get the Manas Special Curry (Vegetarian) and the Chicken Tikka Masala and share. The naan bread (garlic and regular) cannot be passed up, either. For a sweet treat the Peshawari Naan (stuffed with coconut and cherries) is delicious. more

It reminded me of the food I had in Botswana. Differently spiced but similar. I enjoyed it very much! more

I was disappointed. The Chicken Samosas were bland, and the Chicken Korma was heavy on the spice but had no real flavor. Even the Garlic Nan left something to be desired. The Chicken Korma portion was small, more like a lunch size. The food arrived on time, but it was room temperature. Truly, I've had better Indian food from the frozen section of Trader Joe's. more

This is the second time we've been here.. we've not gone for the ""buffet"" because we are not typically buffet kind of folks..but we will try that one of these days.. it is hard to find a indian style restaurant where curries are not gloppy and tasteless.. for me, every single item we've tried stands on its own.. however simple, they are executed perfectly. I find that certain types of indian, ethopian, etc tend to have too similar items and tastes on their menus.. everything ends up tasting exactly the same.. but here, that was not the case. the breads are fresh and sooo good too! We've had the shrimp and chicken tandori(s) the kormas .. the lady they mention, is very helpful (I think) without being pushy or too talkative, she's just trying to tell you about the menus.. part of dining out is learning and appreciating what different cultures offer right?? Plus, there is a great food store attached to this restaurant!! Pros: great tasting food, this is not your typical indian food... more

Being a grad student at USC, I found myself frequenting Manas since it opened during the summer of 2006... Come Fall '06, I found that the quality of food and service at Manas dropped significantly... Consequently, my visits to the restaurant dwindled until I stayed away from it for nearly a year. Today, (Apr, 12 '08), I decided to drop by and try out their lunch buffet. I must admit that I was very satisfied with almost all the dishes. The selection of dishes was large, almost all of them were prepared very well (the Tandoori chicken was an exception)...\r \r I think this restaurant has improved enough to deserve a good rating. I may change this rating to a 5-star if the quality stays up through more visits... But for now, if you're looking for a decent Indian restaurant when you're around downtown... This one certainly beats any other place I know! Pros: Prices, Service, Good food Cons: locality, not 4 fast-food more

Service is nice, there is a friendly Indian lady who tries to make small talk about food et al. But food is not that great. Soup was very bad when I ordered it once. \r On another occassion when I tried the lunch buffet, I discovered that the menu is(was) not completely authentic Indian, many dishes are more of Indian-Chinese cuisine. Even though it is a buffet, the Indian bread(nan/roti) is provided in limited supply.\r Pricing is reasonable, but I was shocked when I noticed a 50 cents extra added to the tip I specified when it was shown in my bank account. I did not take it up as an issue as I am not sure if they misread my tip amount on the receipt. But I have resolved to travel a few extra miles and go to another restaurant if my Indian taste buds start to water again.\r Like somebody already pointed out, many Indian USC grad students do not like the place and bad-mouth its quality. That being said, at any time I have been there (3 times) I have found a few Indians eating there. It is the closest Indian food destination for the vast indian population at USC. much much much more authentic compared to Taste of India at University Village near USC.\r \r more

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I would highly recommend this restaurant. My brother, my son and I had been to their weekend lunch buffet. Each and every item was exceptional. That level of perfection is definitely hard to achieve in a buffet.\r The ambience is also good Pros: good food , good service and good ambience more

I have scoured Los Angeles for good Indian restaurants (India's Oven, India Sweets and Spices, et al.) most of my adult life and I have to say this could be the best one yet. Seriously. the chicken tikka tasted like it has been marinating in fragrent spices and yogurt for days. It was other-worldly. The okra was just as amazing. Raita never tasted so good.\r \r My only two complaints are they don't have beer (which apparently will change soon) and the food was a bit slow to arrive. Other than that the service was very friendly. more

Just one word to describe my experience at this place - abysmal! I happened to visit this restaurant for the first time during its first week. In spite of there not being any crowd, it took them 10 minutes just to give us the menu book! I ordered for Masala Dosa, and what I got was a cold dosa thinner than paper with no taste whatsoever, sambhar direct from the freezer, and stale chutney!! Service was very bad, and when I complained about the food, they told me that it was their first week....so much for the first impression being a lasting one! That was the last time I stepped into Manas. Though I am a grad student at USC, I prefer to drive to Venice or Artesia to taste some authentic Indian food. I am actually surprised to find some good comments on this place. All the Indians I know simply hate this place. And, as for this guy's travel agency (since somebody mentioned it here), don't go to him if you ever intend on having a smooth holiday (ask any USC Indian student)...but that's a different story altogether...AJ more

I am a vegeterian and it is tough to get any decent vegeterian food around USC. Manas has an excellent chef and the food is of very good quality. The atmosphere is very friendly and the portions are large. I would definitely recommend this place for Indian food Pros: Food, friendly staff, great service more

This is a very good restaurant. Friendly and helpful staff, and they play movies from India. It has a festive feel, and the food is very tasty. It's good also if you have any friends who haven't tried Indian food yet, because the buffet has everything! more

If you want a delicious and nutritious meal, go here. The lunch buffet is one of the best I've ever had. For the price, it beats everybody- 7.99 on the weekdays, 8.99 on the weekends- and they keep bringing you as much mango lassi as you can drink, which is delicious by the way. If you won't be satisfied here you won't be satisfied anywhere. It used to be all vegetarian, but they've began including a bit of chicken in their buffet for you carnivores out there. And finally you can drink some chai that tastes how it does in India. There is also an indian grocery adjacent which is owned by the same guy, who also operates a travel agency called JH Travel. Pros: Great food, inexpensive more