RESTAURANT REVIEW : Old Favorite Holds Its Own in Pasadena

Mezbaan Indian Cuisine on Fair Oaks Avenue has been around for such a long time, it predates what is now called Old Pasadena. Over the years, other eating and drinking establishments have come and gone on that very block. A store specializing in all things brass has turned into a high-end dress shop; spaces once crammed with antiques and bric-a-brac now specialize in teddy bears, folk art, angel paraphernalia.

Through all these transitions, Mezbaan has held fast in its less-than-obvious location to dish up savory specialties to a steady stream of fans. Passing by recently, I became curious: To what could such staying power be attributed?

Upon entering, there is a formal and luminous look to the dining room. The tables are set with goblets, cleverly fanned napkins, silk flowers. The luminosity comes from a wall of pink plastic ogee arches illuminated from within. The color scheme, pale pink and green, seems a little sweet, fussy. Sitar music drifts sinuously from the sound system and tries, unsuccessfully, to block the roar and hubbub from the sports bar next door.

*

On Saturday night, the crowd is casual and comfortable, a group you might see in a college town: young adults on movie dates, professorial types, assorted others who have ducked Old Pasadena’s trendiness for moderately priced, exotic food.

It has been seven or eight years since my last meal at Mezbaan. I remember I thought the kitchen was especially clever with meat.

This time I am definitely not impressed with the appetizers. Squat, oily samosas are filled with dull mashed potatoes. Vegetable pakoras, although fried to a rich dark brown, hold pockets of uncooked batter.

The meal begins to improve with a bowl of spicy chicken soup, a clear broth flecked with meat and cilantro and brought to life with ginger and a whiff of clove. It’s just delicious, and I’ll keep it in mind next time I need a cold cure.

Chicken tandoori comes to the table, lipstick-red and resting on a bed of sputtering onions. It’s every bit as good as it looks: Tender, moist meat with a deep, subtle marinated-in spiciness and a bracing smokiness from the hot oven, it just could be the best tandoor-cooked chicken I’ve ever eaten. Huge, sweet prawns steeped in mouth-warming spices are tender, fragrant, excellent.

Lamb tikka, also marinated and submitted to the tandoor’s notoriously high temperatures, swims in a velvety tumeric-gold masala enriched with cream, and proves, unequivocally, that the kitchen is clever with meat.

Over the course of several visits, I discover each curry has its own distinctive emphasis or virtue. Stewed lentils, or dal, glorify coriander and ghee. Bengan Bharta, rich roasted eggplant and warmed tomatoes, is like a chile-spiked ratatouille. I am especially fond of the palak: chicken, lamb, prawns or cheese cooked in a smooth, gently spiced spinach.

*

Unless you specify otherwise, the heat level is mild. Well, fairly mild. As the meal proceeds, a faint warmth seems to accumulate until the dinner companion with the Kleenex becomes the most popular person at the table. Thank goodness, too, for terrific raita, yogurt with cilantro and grated cucumber, which can put out any fire.

Not everything sings. Naan and roti tend to be heavy and greasy. And the pickle tray, which consists of a mango chutney and a sodden, uninspired lemon pickle, looks and tastes as if it has been on duty for too many consecutive weeks--I’m sorry we paid extra for it. Finally, while the service starts out attentive, it dwindles off toward neglect: We experience long waits to order dessert, to pay the bill.

But you’ll leave Mezbaan happy, if you have dessert. The rice pudding, ice-cold, judiciously sweet and topped with crunchy, fresh pistachios, is wonderful. And cubes of kulfi, an ice milk with ground almonds and perfumed by cardamom, says again why, through all these changing times, Mezbaan perseveres: It’s just plain good.

* Mezbaan, 80 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, (818) 405-9060. Open for lunch Monday through Friday. Open for dinner seven days. Open for brunch on Sunday. Beer and wine served. All major credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $27-$45.