Badmaash Venice: Best Steak Frites in Los Angeles

Badmaash opened its Venice outpost on Abbot Kinney in late March, and the $95 New York strip has already become the most-discussed plate on the Westside.

The address sat dark for a while, cycling through Yours Truly and then Piccolo before landing empty. What the Mahendro family did with it is worth noting. The all-black dining room carries Street Fighter-inspired artwork on its walls, paint-flecked curtains, and found-object lighting that doesn’t try too hard to announce itself. That’s the thing about Abbot Kinney spaces: they either feel earned or they don’t. This one does.

It’s a family restaurant in the most literal sense. Chef Pawan runs the kitchen. His sons Nakul and Arjun work the floor, circling tables with the kind of presence that you can’t train into hired staff who don’t have a stake in the night going well. When you sit down, there’s a sense that someone’s paying attention. That’s not a given on the Westside, and it makes a difference.

Don’t skip the cocktails. The Arjun Palmer is cold and refreshing in a way that makes ordering a second feel automatic. The Kashmir tilts martini-dry, a jolt of spice and fragrance that sets the meal’s temperature before the first appetizer arrives. Seriously, start here.

Then figure out what to eat. That’s harder than it sounds.

Get at least two starters. The dahi puri land tangy and yogurt-filled, a clean example of the Indian street snack done properly. The Punjabi fried fish, chickpea-battered and served alongside tamarind chutney, tastes something like fish McNuggets pulled from a Ludhiana McDonald’s, which reads like a dig but isn’t. It’s crispy, bright, and gone before you’ve made a decision about whether to pace yourself.

The prime Niman Ranch New York strip is twelve ounces, coated in a piquant masala au poivre and served with thick, crispy fries. “It’s the dish that the Mahendros hope will put Badmaash 3.0 on the map,” said one reviewer, “and it definitely delivers.” At $95 it’s not a casual order, but the plate doesn’t ask you to rationalize the price. The steak is exceptional. The fries exist specifically to drag through that sauce, and they’re built for the job.

The butter chicken runs tomato-forward, which keeps it from sliding into the heavy sweetness that cream-dominant versions carry. If you’re picking between the saag paneer and the saag aloo, pick the aloo. Baby spinach, soft potato, earthy finish. It cuts cleanly through the richness of everything else on the table.

Naan comes in rosemary, plain, or a chile cheese option that shouldn’t work and definitely does. Order the chile cheese. You’re going to need something to clean the au poivre sauce off the plate, and you won’t want to use the regular naan when that option exists.

Dessert is the one place where the table might not agree. The tres leches arrives perfumed with rosewater and topped with crushed pistachios. It’s genuinely beautiful and worth ordering if the table can split it. The kulfi, though, is Chef Pawan’s personal project, shaped by trips he’s made to Chowpatty Beach in India with his wife. That backstory comes through in the dish. Start there if you can only pick one.

Badmaash 3.0 isn’t trying to be a New York import doing its best impression of California. The Venice room has its own logic, its own staff, its own energy. Those Street Fighter murals aren’t a gimmick when they’re surrounded by paint-flecked curtains and lit by found objects that feel chosen rather than purchased in bulk. Chef Pawan’s kitchen produces Indian food that doesn’t shrink itself for a Westside crowd. It’s confident cooking from a family that’s built the room to match it.

The $95 strip is the headline. But the Kashmir cocktail, the Punjabi fried fish, and the saag aloo are the reasons you come back.