FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Akbar has opened a new...

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Akbar has opened a new branch in Encino (17049 Ventura Blvd., (818) 905-5129), serving an entirely different kind of Indian food.

Unlike the vegetarian south Indian food of Dasaprakash, this northern Indian Moghlai cuisine features a great deal of meat and cream and butter; the overall impression is one of extraordinary richness. The house specialty, chicken akbari, for instance, has a sauce of cream and nuts. The saag lamb, cooked with spices, creamed spinach and butter is so rich, the flavor so full, you’d swear it was filled with porcini mushrooms. (It’s not.)

Bhartha, baked eggplant, is creamy and unctuous, and the very hot chili dish, mirchi ka salan, offers the pungent peppers in a creamy sauce. There are even rich drinks made of nuts and spices.

Those who want to eat more simply can order food from the tandoori oven. Chicken comes snapping and sizzling to the table; ginger kebab is fresh and fragrant, and there are a few dishes labeled “slimmer’s diet.” The one incongruous note in all of this is having this very authentic Indian food served up by a Valley boy with golden hair.