Himalayan Restaurant

After roaming the snow-filled streets of Minneapolis in search of an open restaurant, we decided that Himalayan cuisine would be perfect for a winter night. After all, if the people who live in the mountain range that features Mt. Everest can't come up with good cold weather dishes, who can? Thankfully, we were pleasantly surprised by the fantastic food we found. Here are some of our favorites:

Kothe: fried dumplings with yak meat. The sauce was delicious and the dumplings were not over-fried. Definitely worth the extra $1 to try yak meat!

Aalo ko Pakora: potato/onion in batter, lightly fried with a sweet sauce.

Chicken Choyala: marinated chicken bits and vegetables cooked in a tandoori oven.

Palak paneer: Spinach/cheese in a savory sauce.

Mango lassi: Wonderful sweet beverage, delicately spiced. Split one (they're large) but don't miss this drink.

Naan: Great.

Chai: Nice, especially with free refills. Oh, yeah.

The menu above, along with ras malai and rice pudding, was more than enough to feed three people. Prices were very reasonable. Parking lot in the back.

3.7 stars
Now this little Nepalese restaurant just off 94 with the extremely tasty food, it shines!!! The neighborhood is unremarkable, the 'feel' here nondescript, and across the street is an eyesore of a soft serve hut.

Perhaps there is a disparity in quality between what is served for their lunch buffet and the regular menu (there shouldn't, though). All i know is that my late lunch was magnificent, and I couldn't have been more pleased with it.

About to give myself some street cred: I went to school in Berkeley.... you know, land of the international cuisine on every single street corner, where Indian/Pakistani/Nepalese/Asian overflows? (Oh look! a deailed poster of K2 on the wall, which makes me think of noble Greg Mortenson. But I digress.)

Israel:land of milk and honey
Berkeley:land O international

I'm up with the cuisine! I first learned about momos from my Mongolian friend, Otgon. I had fond memories of her. So I got half order of some veg momos. The steamed dumplings were never as juicy and refined as the shanghai xlb (xiao long bao...little dragon dumplings) though. And the skin was torn, which also shouldn't happen. Also tacked on a lamb tandoori choyala (spelled chwela on some menus).

Taste bud explosion ensued....the momos ($5) were very tasty, filled with cabbage and onions. The dip for the dumplings was really great, and I struggle to tell you of its constitution (uh... something totally tasty!).

Choyala ($14) came out in a very large portion, and I knew immediately that I was a goner. Really not even going to make a dent in that puppy, for certain. Another small plate of basmati. The wonderfully seasoned lamb slices (soo tender, soo delicious) went together with some onions, green bell peppers, tomatoes, scallions, peppercorns, and Kathmandu spices. I ordered the dish mild; if I hadn't done that, I might as well have slid the freshly prepared dish right down the chute.

Distinct in taste from East Asian Indian food, dishes were tasty and flavorful. It was wonderful. Nepalese food is a great blend of both Indian and other SE Asian countries' cuisine. Somewhat like Burmese cuisine is (yep, that exists in the Bay Area as well). In fact, many of the terms share usage as Indian. Saag (palak) is spinach, but their saag is a mustard green, much like the Chinese 'gai choy'. Delicate differences.

The owner has opened for 2 years, and emigrated over to join his brother in St. Paul. He was a kind, attentive and helpful guy. I wanted him to succeed and do very well in his new homeland. And in expressing this to him, speaking slowly, I left a large tip and went on my merry way.
PS One star off for slow service, very coarsely chopped veg on the main, and stone cold rice...on a plate? All that surface area makes for dry rice!

Read about this place on Yelp and since I'd never had Nepali food before I wanted to give it a shot. Going in I figured there would have to be a similarity to Indian food but since I don't particularly like Indian food I was hoping there would be a difference substantial enough for me to notice. I went for dinner and not for the buffett. I sat down and got the menu and most of what was on there was familiar through my visits to Indian restaurants. I chose the Himalayan platter since it seemed to have a variety of different items, a samosa, a couple of fried dumplings, a couple of steamed dumplings, and what appeared to be a few jalapeno/onion frites.
To keep this review fair I want to start by saying I knew I didn't like Indian food going in and I wasn't expecting miracles etc. The service was top notch and the owner very personable and the decor and premises seemed very clean. My issue with the food wasn't the spices or the overall taste but with the prep. I love dumplings, eaten them all over the world. This was the first time that I ever had a fried dumpling come out hard as a rock. If I threw it at your head it would be like hitting you with a rock. The samosa was slightly less hard but not much less. It was described as a pastry but that would be an exaggeration. I had to break open the samosa and the dumpling with the handle end of my knife.
The disappointing part was the fillings didn't taste any different than standard Indian fare, so I won't be back any time soon to try anything else. Once again the service and premises were very good. I would rethink my approach to

I went here for the first time yesterday. I loved the kothe (fried dumplings), which were delicious, especially with the tomato-cilantro sauce on the side. Our main courses, bhanta aaloo (eggplant curry) and kataar aaloo (jackfruit curry) were both delicious---the sauces were light, fresh and not oily, and the addition of fresh tomatoes and green onions made the flavors come alive.

The kitchen also accommodated our request for tandoori roti (which is not on the menu, but is a vegan version of naan).

I was especially pleased to see jackfruit curry on the menu, which is a rare and unusual item---jackfruit looks similar to chicken and has an airy texture; but it's light and absorbs the flavors around it like tofu. It's a natural, unprocessed mockmeat, in a way. I've only eaten jackfruit on rare occasions in India, so it was a surprise and delight to see it on a menu in the Twin Cities!

Portion sizes were large and excellent for the price (most dishes are around $10). Namaste Cafe on Hennepin offers similar food at the same prices, but they have much smaller portions than Himalayan.

Service was friendly, but the wait for the food was long. That said, the quality of the meal was high. If Himalayan adds a few more vegan dishes and also creates a large, fresh chai menu like Namaste, I'll have a new favorite Nepalese restaurant in town.

Love this place! Best Nepali place in the Twin Cities!

Trust me, I'm Nepali :)

I have only been to Himalayan a few times, so maybe their inconsistency is not as consistent as it seems, but I'm not sure I'll be lured back any time soon so I'll proffer up the following:

GOOD

- Friendly service and a cozy dining environment
- Reasonably priced
- Lamb Choyala (actually, this one is really good)
- Goat Curry
- Fried Okra and Potatoes

NOT GOOD

- Takeout issues (been both really slow and missing items on separate occasions)
- Lamb Kebab (not bad, but far overpriced for the limited portion)
- Requests for extra spicy apparently vary between the MN spicy scale and actually spicy and haven't been consistent at all (which I know can be tough for restaurants in this area)

I'd say the positives generally outweigh any criticisms, but Himalayan isn't at the top of my list for Nepali/Indian food in the area.

My friend wanted Indian food and I wasn't in the mood for it. But tricked by not knowing what Himalayan food was like, I was still very pleased with this place.

Decor: It isn't much to look at from the outside and the parking lot does not even have painted lines. Inside is cozy, a bit older and looks almost family-run. You've got choices of both booth and table seating and it's all set in that one room.There were a lot of people there for a weeknight dinner.

Service: Attentive and fast, thanks!

Food:
- Wo appetizer (kind of like a savory pancake): I wasn't that impressed with the flavours of this and found it pretty uninteresting.
- Mango Chutney: I wouldn't pay extra for this. I love chutney, but you can just get this stuff in a jar at a market.
- Palak Paneer: Wow, that is some orange, but that orange stuff if friggen delicious!!! Full of flavor, great to coat on my rice and really so yummy that I barely forgot to leave some leftovers (The bite or so that I did leave over was my breakfast, haha)
- Friend got some other red curry, forgot the name, but he liked it.

Overall: Prices weren't too bad but the food was pretty darn amazingly flavorful. I would choose another app, but otherwise, I'd come back!

We took the weirdest bus ride from downtown Minneapolis down here for a team lunch that had us waiting for a 400 pound strange and smelly guy in a scooter that had broken. It did not start the trip out well.

We walked about three blocks from the bus stop to a small restaurant that a friend recommended for Nepalese food. They had a buffet for 8 bucks, so we all did that.

The buffet was relatively small, but had some nice chicken curry dishes and some other offerings. The pork/turkey meatballs were amazing. My friend got the salad and said the dressing was no good though.

I could have have had the dishes with a little more kick in the buttocks, but it is Minnesota. I would have liked an option of hot sauce. I didn't see any.

The chicken curry was awesome and everyone at the table said it was fantastic food. Everything I tasted was pretty awesome though, I took small samples of the whole gambit.


Overall, a solid restaurant, with good food and good service.

What a great find for a visit to Minneapolis! I spent several weeks in McLeod Ganj and Ladakh a couple of years ago and I had heard that there was a sizable Tibetan population in the Twin Cities so I couldn't wait to find a Tibetan place. We tried just about everything on the menu between the appetizer platter (yay for yak momos!) and the combo dinner. The goat curry was great, but my absolute fave was the okra and potato dish. I can't really even describe it, but wow! The bean soup (can't remember the name) was too spicey for me, but my friend liked it. I can see how it would be a great winter dish with a little less spice. As others have said, the chai is very authentic and the cheese desert I had was super sweet, but delicious.

Besides the food being great, the prices were more than reasonable and the service was great. Now I've just got to find a Himalayan restaurant in NYC!

This is my favorite Nepalese restaurant in the Twin Cities. I cannot say enough about how good their food is.. heavenly, ambrosial, delicious. Everything on the menu is amazing, love the environment, the service, and everyone working there..... take a moment to talk to them, they are always nice.

If you want to eat momos then this is THE place to go to. I have tried almost everything on the menu during my numerous visits there and I don't remember not being satisfied with any of it. Their lunch buffet is one of the best in town.

They do not add extra oil or spices just to make the dish look and smell better. So it is considerably healthier too..

Sometimes the service can get a little slow but usually it is fine.

A must try!!