Kabir Indian Cuisine

I am a huge fan of the Indian food at the WC Irvine location and I was so excited when they opened the Laguna Niguel location. I’ve eaten the Indian food at the Laguna Niguel store four times and while the staff is very friendly I find it food very disappointing. That location does not have the recipes down very well and the sauces and spices taste watered down. Even the naan bread is disappointing last time I was there they had it pre-​cooked wrapped in foil and it was dry and room temperature. For now until they can work out the issues I’ll continue to travel further to Nina’s grocery store in Lake Forest where the food is always flavorful and the bread fresh hot from the Tandori oven.

We were shopping at the market when my husband decided to get some vegetarian curries. The food didn’t taste right and was salty. They charge a lot for very little. He and I tasted everything and threw out most of it. Will not be getting food here again.

Very ordinary Indian steam-​table operation located inside the Wholesome Choice food court.
The price scheme indicated on the menu is more complicated than it should be. It is simplified as follows: $ 5 for a 1 veg & 1 non-​veg combo, add $ 2 more for a tandoor naan and raita. There is a $ 1 surcharge for per non-​veg option added although only around 3 to 4 pieces of chicken/​lamb are given per order.
The curry selection during my visit was typical North Indian — baingan bharta, gobhi mattar, chicken tikka masala, vegetable korma, lamb curry, etc. Nothing unique to set it apart from basic Indian buffets or fast food joints. Since Wholesome Choice is a Persian business, some items were actually labeled with the Iranian translation.
Kabir does serve a different rice than most steam tables, a vegetable pulao rather than jeera rice, but the rice was somewhat old and overcooked. All the curries were very oily and heavy, especially the baingan bharta, which was a huge grease bomb. This eggplant curry had no roasted eggplant flavor and was sour and bitter. The gobhi mattar was oversalted. The only item I was not disappointed with was the gosht korma which consisted of 3 pieces of succulent lamb in a sweet and pungent (ginger, garlic, and onion) gravy infused with cardamom, a nice touch.
Be warned that the naan here comes aggressively coated with ghee, all over the bread. It was the very thick and chewy variation that I am not a fan of (I like more thin and crispy).
This ended up being a very heavy meal, which is actually the opposite of a «wholesome choice». Underwhelming flavors, grease bomb curries, overpriced for the quantity given (close to $ 10). I didn’t think this was a place worth driving out for.

The people working here are friendly and you’re welcome to have a tiny sample of the entrees to pick which you prefer. However, after getting take out three times, we have generally been disappointed. Their combination of spices never seems quite right. Also don’t care for the spiced rice with peas and carrots. Their seemingly family recipes could use some tweeking. WISH we loved it – we live a mile away. For now, we will continue to drive to Ninas market in Lake Forest for our take out.

Picked this place for the lack of reviews and my girlfriend and I loved it. Really friendly service and provided samples of everything we asked for. Everything tasted amazing!!!

Very average food. tried 3 times to encourage local indian place but tastes worse & worse every time

Don’t let the location fool you, the food is awesome!
Ate lunch there last week and the food was phenomenal – authentic Indian food with just the right amount of spice. The quality and taste is better than ALL the Indian restaurants in Orange County (and we’ve been to almost all of them searching for that real Auntie cooking).
Came back again tonight for dinner. Pretty sure this will be a weekly (maybe even bi-​weekly) stop for fine Indian cuisine. Met Dexter, one of the owners, is super cool and they do catering.

This restaurant is part of the food court inside Wholesome Choice grocery shop. Surprisingly, the food was very authentic and incredibly delicious. Dexter, the owner was so nice and helpful when it came to teaching us about Indian cuisine and the ingredients on his recipes. He even helped us shop for some spices. If you like good food, come check them out. You won’t be sorry!