Tradition is revered by the grill’s owners, who stick to food that represents not only India, but Nepal and Tibet as well. The restaurant is at the site of a former Vietnamese place that never caught on with locals, despite having the successful Panda Palace next door in the Peter’s Landing Mall.
Himalayan used some of the decorations from the old restaurant, including a screened waterfall and various Buddhist ornaments.
One thing that should help the restaurant’s owners is they cut the dining room in half. The former place had too much space and ultimately paid for it. While the dining room now is smaller, that will help keep costs down.
My fear, though, is with the quality of the food, it will outgrow this space in no time. Waits on the weekend are already common, despite being open for just two months.
One good way to sample the food would be the much less-crowded lunch buffet. For $8.99 diners can feast on lamb curry, chicken tandoori, samosa, four to five vegetable dishes and dessert in an all-you-can-eat buffet.
The quality of the lunch dishes is exactly like what you will find at dinner, so it is perfect if you want a more budget-worthy meal with less people. I went with my friends Mark and Diane for a weekday dinner, and this was the second time for them.
It was nice to have them guide me through the menu, and it made my decision to get the combination much easier, because Mark had chosen it the previous time and was going to order it again.
The waiters were very attentive and immediately we had papadum bread and tamarind and mint sauces. The tamarind sauce was a little sweet, but had a touch of spice to it as well. The mint sauce had onion and cucumber in it and mixed well with the cumin in the papadum.
