India Sweets and Spices has been making the case for vegetarian Indian cuisine in Burbank since 2001, and the case has only gotten stronger.
The Patel family's restaurant is rooted in the Gujarati and Mumbaikar traditions that produce some of India's most vibrant street food and home cooking. The chaat counter is the first draw: pani puri, bhel puri, sev puri — the great Indian street food tradition of crispy fried vessels, tamarind, yogurt, and chutney colliding in a single bite. It is the kind of food that makes you understand why Indian street food has a global following.
The dal makhani is the restaurant's most persuasive dish for those who arrive skeptical of vegetarian food's capacity for depth. Black lentils cooked overnight with butter, cream, and spices develop a richness that is genuinely filling and deeply satisfying — the kind of dish that makes protein feel optional.
The masala dosa — a proper South Indian crispy fermented rice crepe filled with spiced potato — arrives with sambar and coconut chutney. The paneer tikka, cooked in a real tandoor, has the char marks to prove it.
Prices at India Sweets and Spices are uniformly modest — most dishes are under $16, and the portions are generous. The desserts include excellent gulab jamun and a rotating selection of sweets from the front counter display.
This is the vegetarian Indian restaurant that makes you reconsider every assumption you might have had about vegetarian food's limitations.
