My companion and I finally tried Akbar’s Own for dinner the 1st time. For starters, we had the mixed appetizer platter ($10): Aloo tikki, vegetable and chicken pakoras. It was served with tamarind and mint chutney and complimented nicely with potatoes and spices especially the chicken pakoras. Pakoras are similar to fritters or croquettes but these were not greasy.

Make sure to try Nann bread with your meal to enjoy the (curry) sauces. We had the Aloo Naan ($3.00) stuffed with potatoes and spices as well as Palak Paneer Naan ($3.00) stuffed with spinach and cottage cheese. They were fine but my companion felt he had better; they could have been more generous with the paneer. If you never had nann, it’s like a pita bread. I enjoyed the leftover again at home with my own stuffing.

For our entree, we tried the lamb rogan josh ($13) and fish goa curry ($15). My companion enjoyed most of the lamb while I was quite taken by the fish curry. It had a wonderful tangy taste and coconut curry flavor which simply made me want to come back. Some may consider the serving relatively "small" compared to North American dishes but it's the flavour that will satisfy your tummy. The service was attentive and the restaurant atmosphere is relaxed. The menu has a good selection for vegetarian and meat lovers and prices are reasonable compared to Chutney Villa and East is East.

Not much to rave about and I know Indian food! The service is odd, at lunch due to how dead they get, its almost too attentive, at dinner, when they are busy, food becomes slow and forget about take out, they often reject any take out once there's 2-3 tables filled, that is ludicrous to hear in this city. They get swamped once more than a table fills in. The food is flavourful but portions too tiny. There's a far better place called Raga just east of this place and I was told by my friends who are South Asian that its the place THEY would go.

My wife and I eat out a lot (Asian cuisine is our favorite) and we have been to almost every (clean and respectable) Indian rest in Vancouver including Mourya, Raga, Vij's, Original Tandoori grill, Ashiana, ....... and we can truly say this is THE BEST of them all. The chef/owner used to own our favorite Indian restaurant in Calgary back in the 80's called MOTI MAHAL until he decided to re-locate to Vancouver and change the name to Akbars's Own. The food has more flavor and texture than is usually found in Indian food. The place is also VERY clean (check out the spotless washrooms) which is a rarity with Asian restaurants. Check it out.... you won't be disappointed.

My husband and I were treated to dinner at Akbar's Own a few weeks ago.
There were six of us, and we shared a delectable combination of about eight dishes. We are very familiar with Indian cuisine, and this was positively the best Indian meal we have eaten in a restaurant. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

It was not very busy when we went here, which may account for the high level of service; nonetheless, the people were friendly and polite, and made no mistakes.

Although the food was good, the portions were ridiculously small--and I don't mean "eating less is better for you" small, I mean "I'm a five-year-old and I just had cake" small. Not only that but the naan was too thin and too crunchy, and plain rice was not only the same insulting size, but three bucks a pop. Other rice dishes were progressively more, but we didn't bother. They didn't even have an excuse like "organic ingredients" or "authentic experience". Overall we felt rather insulted.

The serving size? Okay, open your hand out flat and close your fingers, now imagine your hand is about the size of the average man's. That was about the size of the serving plates. The menu prices looked normal ($8 - $15 depending on the item), but everything was tiny.

We entered hungry and left unsatisfied

We decided to try Akbar's based on reviews here and we weren't disappointed. We have gone 3 times now in the last few months and can't get enough.

The service is very friendly and they are always willing to help out with menu decisions. The actual restaurant is quite boring inside, but it feels clean and comfortable.

For us, this can be closely compared with Maurya (which is just down the street). The food is cheaper and much better in our opinion. While we do have better places we like to visti (Tandoori King on Fraser), this is the best this area has to offer and is well worth the visit.

I'm a huge fan of Indian Cuisine...so much that I've flown to New Jersey just to try some traditional. Upon arrival at Vancouver, I was stoked to find Akbar's Own around the corner from my house. I thought "a place with a good rating and very close to my house...nothing can top that." My friend and I decided to give it a try.
From what I could see under the candle light, the place was somewhat nicely decorated. It was just sooo damn dark in there...I couldn't even make out the words on the menu. That was pretty bad. So I wanted a channa masala with bhatura, uthappam and masala dosa but they had nothing of the sort. On the random, we asked what the waitress thought were the best veggie dishes around. We ended up ordering Nauratan, eggplant bharta, and alu gobi with a whole bunch of naan on the side.
The food arrived. Each dish was pretty small, about the size of an eyeglass case. We dipped in. The Nauratan was a mushy mess...you can't even make out what the hell was in it (the poor lighting didn't help). It was so salty that I knew my health would be compromised if I had another bite. We moved on to the eggplant bharta. It was alright, I don't remember anything significant from it. The alu gobi was the only item I recognized both by sight and by taste. But it wasn't anything special.
On the last note, I was shocked to find the naan to be a safeway-type-flatbread. Granted, I was spoiled with tandoori-made naans back in the states...but I thought a place with this type of reputation would at least cook something representative of its native cuisine. The bhatura was yummy enough...probably the best item we ordered...which doesn't say much, it was like a small inflated fried pita bread.
(sigh)
Overall, it was quite a disappointment. From now on, I will take my time to bus all the way to Punjabi Market on Main St. to get the real treat.

It's a nice, cozy little restaurant - I really enjoyed that part. However, after reading the reviews I find this place highly overrated. The butter chicken was 'just ok' - I've definitely had better. I'd go to a different Indian restaurant next time.

me and my friends went to Akbar restaurant and it was our frist time at Akbar's we ordered few dishes and they all were incredible. we tryed shrimp pakora, tunduri chiken,fish(red snaper), egg plant,pliow rice and nan. The service was also really good.The value was resonble for the food.so overall it was really good

I do love Akbar's Own, the curries are great!! The good thing about the menu selection is that there is a variety of dishes with different spiciness to choose from, so anyone who cannot take spicy will be satisfy there. The sesame naan is superb, and Shrimp Pakora is a must try item. And fish cury...yummy. However, I cannot believe they charged me for a little bit of extra mint chutney!!