The Indian List

Before our addiction to spicy soup we made a calculated assault on Los Angeles' Indian restaurant list. Gate of India was first, followed by (not in this order) Anarkali, Bollywood Cafe, Bombay Cafe, Clay Pit, Curry Palace, Dhaba, East India Grill, Electric Karma, Electric Lotus, Flavor of India, India's Oven, Parus, Surya and Tandoori Nights.
Many places were very similar, with points for Paru's vegetarian menu and Bollywood Cafe's extremely spicy dishes. Electric Lotus was hands-down the worst (bad food coupled with extreme over-hype)- It's an example of location clouding people's tastebuds. Most restaurants fell in the middle with either overpriced, under-portioned dishes, or lackluster decor, food and service.
In the end we kept going back to Gate of India, not only because it was close, but because they had the best food for the price.
Not unlike past instances with divey ethnic restaurants, we had a problem at Gate of India. It's been a long time since this happened (and it seems that they changed management/owners many times since) but we found a rubber band in the sauce (the sauce found on the table at most Indian restaurants). We immediately pointed it out to the embarrassed server and left. He apologized, but we couldn't bring ourselves to eat there anymore. It was a small green rubber band, which easily could have held produce together. It also could have been holding a cook's ponytail.
None of the aforementioned restaurants are in Artesia or the surrounding Indian-populated communities. So this list is not nearly complete. This won't be the last Indian food post.