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| - After all these years we finally took in The Himalayan. We mad a reservation for early Tuesday evening (5:30 pm), and the restaurant was full (all reservations) in no time at all. And I must say I'm so glad we finally went to this lovely and delicious restaurant. It's located in a crappy little strip plaza, and the outside is nothing to write home about. But inside ... OMG, what a beautiful place! You would never know from the outside. What a delightful surprise. And the ambience is awesome.
We were served by a very nice and polite young man who clearly knew his menu and the ingredients. Polite, friendly, and knowledgeable. A pleasure to be served by him.
We started with a shared appetizer, the "Vegetable Mo:Mo"; 6 beautifully artistically created steamed dumplings filled with veggies, mozzarella cheese and herbs & spices. Absolutely delicious, with perfect texture, layered with flavours and delightfully light. Right away, I was more than happy.
Linda had the "Mango Chicken Fruity", which is creamy mango, beautiful white chicken pieces, in a tomato and cashew nut sauce. She ordered it "medium" spiced. She loved it. I tried some and it was as nice as I have every tasted. Perhaps the best ever.
I had the "Machha ko Johl", which is a nice light basa fish cooked a tomato, onion and mustard-based sauce. OMG, this was good! I've had this dish several times in Thai restaurants, but this Himalayan version beats them all. I was more than impressed by the layers of flavour, and how the sauce brought the fish to life. I ordered it "mild" spiced. I would definitely have it again. And again.
These dishes came with saffron rice, which was perfectly done and worked very well. It also came with a Nepali Salad, which was really a different type of cold potato salad. I didn't think this worked as well, and thought the vinegar was a bit forward. However, everything else was so perfect, this did not affect my opinion overall; which is, You have to eat here!
This is one of the finest restaurants in Calgary, without a doubt. We will definitely be back often to try the many other interesting items on their menu. And, yes, even the price was right. It's so delightful to see restaurants like this in Calgary.
Service: 5/5. Presentation: 5/5. Ambience: 5/5. Portion Size: 5/5. Flavors: 5/5. Parking: 3/5. Value: 5/5.
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