If you walk into AK Lounge & Grill expecting a standard Indian restaurant, be prepared for so much more.

Your first clue is the bumping club music and lively Farm Rio fabric on the booths and chairs. The second is a set of eight tables with giant industrial hoods suspended above, remnants of the space’s former life as a Japanese restaurant. Finally, the expansive menu defies the norm with "exotic" appetizers, kebabs, pasta, wok-tossed items and, yes, regional Southern Indian food.

What to Eat and Drink

Since it was a gray and rainy afternoon outside, I opted first for warm masala chai—perfectly spiced and subtly sweetened. But if you’re going to do it right, you would order the restaurant’s popular mango lassi, a traditional yogurt-based cold, smoothie-like drink. AK’s version is pure, with only three ingredients.

Drink in hand—there’s also a full menu of colorful cocktails if you’re coming for dinner or ladies night on Wednesday—it’s time to settle in. The menu is full of options, and your first decision might be your regional focus.

Not that you have to choose just one. On my visit, I bounced between Thai, Chinese, Californian, and Indian-influenced dishes and never felt like I had gone astray. It turns out that my palate just likes good, fresh food, which was delivered in spades.

The honey chili water chestnuts are a surefire way to begin. Deep-fried and coated in a sweet and spicy honey glaze, these water chestnuts are nothing like the crunchy, starchy plant that makes brief appearances in Chinese takeout. Meaty, crispy and kind of addicting, owner Pallavi Yeluchuri says the restaurant is particularly proud of this dish.

On the lighter side, an assortment of salad includes tangy microgreens with pineapple and herbs. You could also choose a more familiar apple Waldorf or Caesar.

Next, prepare for a global adventure with a heavy emphasis on seafood and chicken. The Thai basil fish, pan-fried and topped with lemon sauce, was delightfully light, while salmon tikka masala arrives with generous chunks of fish and plenty of kick. Try the chat phat chicken tikka ormurg malai kebab for your grill fix.

Yet it was the nizami chicken dum biryani that really transfixed me. The bone-in chicken is marinated before it’s steamed over rice and slow cooked with fried onions, cardamom, garlic, ginger, and other spices. Accompanied by raita andanIndian chile and peanut curry, it was hearty and layered.

If you save room for dessert, AK’s apricot delight is a creamy specialty served in a festive cocktail glass, and the baked cinnamon jamun are delicious.

“We want to cater to everyone at the table,” says owner Pallavi Yeluchuri, and the menu reflects that. Notably there is a large offering of made-from-scratch pastas which are popular with kids.

An Ambitious Vision

“Crowd-pleasing” might be the best way to sum up AK Lounge & Grill. With such an array of flavors across the menu, it’s easy to accommodate vastly different tastes and preferences; vegetarians will feel right at home, as will picky (or, for that matter, curious) eaters.

Yeluchuri tells me she’s seen customers from all kinds of cultural backgrounds. During my visit, on their way out, two diners stopped to compliment her. The food, they said, tasted like back home in Bombay.

AK does feel like a home thanks to its owners. Yeluchuri opened the restaurant with her husband, Dr. Anosh Yeluchuri, who, with his family, has run hospitals, schools, and an orphanage in Southern India.

“He and his family are always serving people,” Yeluchuri says. Their restaurant, which opened in September, is an extension of this dedication to service. The couple has worked diligently to make AK their own, enlisting friends to help and hand selecting each piece of decor.

They also plan to revive two of the teppanyaki tables and test a menu focused on a live grill. There’s also patio seating on the horizon. —Lisa Plachy

// 6770 Santa Rita Rd. (Pleasanton), akloungeandgrill.com