We've all been taught the adage 'don't judge a book by its cover' but I know we fickle creatures tend to ignore it more often than not. In the case of the Himalayan, I've dismissed it for so long simply because of its relatively non-descript storefront and boy, am I kicking myself for not discovering this place sooner. Would you believe that beyond the plain storefront is a beautiful restaurant wonderfully decorated with textures, woods and romantic dim lighting? Seriously great date night spot and brownie points if you brought a first date here.
Moving onto the best part - the food. I'm not familiar with Nepali cuisine but I am familiar with good food and this place offers a lot of that. The dishes are a blend of Asian and Indian style flavors. Where one is plainer the other infuses with aromatic spices and where one is heavy the other makes slightly lighter. For example, typical butter chicken tends to be heavy and rich. Here, maybe with the added ginger it feels a bit lighter and I can walk away without feeling like I need to drink copious amounts of tea. Because nothing is too overwhelming oil or sodium wise, I also feel like I can eat here often without the tummy ache or guilt (and believe me, I have been). My favorite things here remain the lamb choyla and the momos (any kind). I've never had anything quite like the lamb and as a texture person, the crunchy rice combined with the spices and meat makes this dish a literal party in my mouth. Same with the momos. If you don't know what they are, they're sacs of juicy, drippy pork or vegetarian goodness stuffed inside a soft steamed doughy exterior. My only complaint is that there isn't more because I can literally eat 20 of these.
Mo(re) mo(re) please