Taste of Himalayas

This place runs hot or cold, either very good or absolutely horrible. Three weeks ago ordered the goat (a first for me) curry ($ 14.50), and it was superb — lots of tender meat in a yummy sauce, and a chicken/​coconut sauce dish that was delightful, altho’ I did not care for the rosemary naan. Ordered the goat again last week and got a half dozen pieces of gristly meat in a mediocre sauce, while my partner specified a MILD a spinach/​potatoe dish ($ 10.50) that was so loaded with white pepper (I think) that it was inedible. Three weeks ago the restaurant was out of their ethnic beer and the merlot, which they claimed came from a just-​opened bottle, was serious vinegar. I’m not sure if they brought the same glass back to the table, or just poured from the same bottle, but after the second glass was sent back our server became very slow and snooty. This week the chai and iced tea were good, as was the rice, but, I’m sorry to report, the diners at the next table had the same experience with over-​seasoned, poorly prepared food, and will not be returning again either. Oh, and this week, considering there were only two couples dining, service was slow and the waiter did not bother to inquire about what we thought of the food. It’s back to India Kitchen or Taj Mahal for us.

We really enjoyed or dinner here. We ordered Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Pasanda, and a vegetarian dish with curried cauliflower. All three meals were excellent. Juicy, rich sauces, nice fluffy rice. The raita was too salty, but since it was complimentary that’s no big deal. My petite teenaged daughter was also given a free mango lassi, because «all kids get one.» She was too stoked about the free drink to mind being called a kid. :) We will go back.

Booked in advance for a table of 8 with colleagues — only 4 showed up in the end. Despite that, they did have everything organized and ready to go. Fortunately the evening was quiet so not much delay in serving.
We went straight to the main meals so can’t comment on the appetizers.
This is where they lose one star. It was relatively early in the evening (7.30) and unfortunately they were already out of lamb. So had to settle on chicken and fish.
The biryani was great. The fish and the goat curry was a little too much ‘masala’/spice. But the medium was tolerable.
The Raitha (yoghurt) was slightly salty.
Overall, great service but the food wasn’t too impressive (apart from the biryani).
I would however try this place again!

After being a take out customer for sometime, we decided to dine in and got two friends with us. This has been the most disappointing experience I’ve had in a restaurant in a long time. The service is so terrible that one of the waiter giving us a state when my baby boy had puked on the seat. We started off by ordering some chow mien dishes and the waitress came back after ten minutes to say they ran out of the stuff. So we ordered some fried rice instead, and there comes the surprise after yet another 15minute wait to tell us that the veggies need time to cook and so the fried rice can’t be served! That was the most bizarre excuse I’ve ever heard in a diner. Often while picking up take outs I used to wonder what left the place empty most of the times, and now I know for myself after this horrible dining experience.
Not recommended at all.

I’ve been here four times. This is by far the best Indian Food in Albuquerque. The butter chicken was really good. The lambs really good and that peanut sesame sauce they use for the egg plant is great. Try this pace it is good and has been consistently all four times I have been here.

Very disappointed! I ordered the Tikka Chicken Salad and it was probably the worst salad I’ve ever had. The chicken was so dried out it was like eating boot leather. The salad itself was a bagged mix with a few carrots, cucumbers and blueberries. I would expect a better salad out of a grab and go container at a gas station! My husband ordered the Tandoori Mixed Grill. While it was certainly better than my dish, the meat was still dry. The Rosemary olive oil naan had no salt but enough rosemary to kill a small horse.
I’m willing to give this a second shot and assume I ordered the wrong thing because those around me seemed to enjoy their meals. I just won’t be in a hurry to come back!

Can’t really review the food due to the fact that we never got to eat any. We bought a groupon very recently and were looking forward to trying this place out. However, when we got there signs all over the place said they wouldn’t accept their groupon! That’s ridiculous. That’s the only reason we drove 30 minutes out of our way. We weren’t even provided a good reason as to why they wouldn’t take their groupon.
We considered still eating there because we were so hungry, however we were then told we could only do take out because they were closing in 20 minutes. Excuse me, but you’re still open!
Screw that, I’d rather spend my money on better customer service. We went down the street to a delicious Tacos y Mariscos joint instead. Go try them out! The ceviche tostada was loaded with delicious shrimp and seafood and was under $ 10. Highly recommended! And the customer service was great and they’re open late.

YES! It’s been difficult to find great Indian food at a reasonable price around ABQ, but this place has it right. I got the vegetarian lunch special for $ 8.99, it comes with 4 different curries, rice, and a sweet rice dessert. It was so much food it lasted me through lunch and dinner. I’m sad I live far away from here, but then again, if I lived close by then too much of my paycheck would go to this place. They got ABQ Magazine Top 5 in 2014, and I definitely see why. I’ll be back when I’m in the area or when the craving hits. My only qualm is that the food could have been a little spicier, but I didn’t specify how spicy I wanted it when I called, so that could be my fault.

Their lunch special was phenomenal!!! We also tried the lamb chops, served sizzling with onion and a huge side of basmati rice. Everything was amazing.

Walked in here and didn’t know what to expect for a Sunday lunch. The décor is really clean and neat– we were ordering food to go but decided to sit down because it feels really nice. Lamb momo (dumplings) is my favorite. We had the non vegetarian special (3 different kinds of chicken plus saag paneer and a dessert) and lamb korma. Nepalese food is NOT Indian food, they are not as spicy hot and therefore you can taste each of the unique spices better. Highly recommend and will definitely come back for other things on the menu. The signage is small so try not to miss it!

This little gem is hidden away in the North Valley and was a great little get away. I really enjoyed the naan, chicken tandoori and basmaati rice. The service was quick and friendly, the food fantastic and the atmosphere, well, a little odd, but it worked. Can’t wait to get back here and try more of their delicious menu.

Second time in a row my wife and I were served very, very fatty lamb in both korma and vindaloo. Used to be very good Indian food. Now not even close to being good. We mentioned the fatty lamb to our server and he all of a sudden didn’t understand english.
Will not be returning!

The village of Los Ranchos limits signage which castrates this amazing Indian restaurant from gathering the mass attention and business it deserves.
If you want the best Indian food in Albuquerque it’s a no brainer, come here. Pricing is very resaonable.
Very well prepared food, aesthetic environment and a friendly staff is inspiring me to write this review to encourage more people to patronize this exceptional restaurant.

4 of us ate lunch here on a Saturday. Easy parking in back. Restaurant had 3 tables full when we arrived. One table waited a while and then left without ordering. One more table was seated while we were there. Décor was nice to look at, tables and space looked clean.
Service was a little curious. Wasn’t ever given menus (had to go get them ourselves from the front), clearly ordered things with the server that then didn’t get ordered, plates and cups were attempted to be cleared repeatedly before we were done, samosas came out without the side sauces and were cold in the middle and had to be returned to the kitchen but the next batch was perfect and came with sauces, etc.
Food was pretty good. WARNING: items ranged from somewhat — -very (excessively/​unacceptably) salty for my taste. Nothing was spicy– not even the spicy sauce in the squeeze bottle. Portions were generous. Kitchen was not fast but not too slow, and none of our food ever came out pipping hot.
I had the vegetarian lunch special. Very good, and salty. Naan was warm and soft, and made me wish I had ordered extra instead of rice. My favorite part was the bean dish. My saag was a little sweet for my taste, but good– when I tasted another person’s saag from their meat lunch special, their saag was spicier and not sweet at all. Strange. Of the other food I tasted at our table, the lamb momos were spiced and way too salty. Vegetable biryani without cheese was spiced and very salty and a huge portion. Samosas were good. Chai was standard. Papadums standard.
4 of us had appetizer, chai, big meals, and substantial leftovers for around $ 60 including tip.
I’d personally be fine never going back, but would go if someone else really wanted to. Good but salty and inconsistent food, inconsistent service.

I had been considering trying this place out, since it is very close to my house. At the same time, I had found myself avoiding it because I feared being disappointed. I finally decided to stop my avoidance behavior, and take a plunge.
This restaurant occupies the spot left vacant by Om, the Paddy Rawal venture that in my opinion served some of the best Indian food in Albuquerque. I was eager to see whether this restaurant would meet the same standards of taste and quality.
Looking at the menu, I was quite happy to see some difficult-​to-​find –in– Albuquerque staples such as the Indo-​Chinese dish vegetable manchurian, along with the ubiquitous in Nepal dish of daal-​bhaat.
We ordered a mix of dishes, including the above mentioned vegetable manchuria, a chicken tikka, tandoori salmon, bhindi [okra], along with naan and tandoori roti.
I was particularly excited about the vegetable manchurian. In India, buses serving up Indo-​Chinese food line many busy intersections, and dish up delicious and affordable grub that takes chinese dishes and combines them with the spices and flavors of India. the end result a cuisine all its own. This manchurian was just fine, but did not have the texture of vegetable manchurian that many from the Indian subcontinent have come to love.
The rest of the meal also left much to be desired. The tandoori salmon was the best of the bunch. It was well prepared and reasonably tasty. I would get it again. The okra lacked salt altogether. They served chicken tikka masala instead of chicken tikka, and the breads were all undercooked, and lacked the flaky, multi-​layered goodness of a well prepared indian bread.
I likely will return one more time to try the daal-​bhaat, but with my expectations in check.

Had promise. I think we hit them on a bad night. The meat was overcooked, and very dry. The sauce was awesome! I’ll give it another shot in the future.

The Nepalese dish we tried (chicken momos) was disappointing and too salty, so this review is really about the Indian food.
To order:
Chicken Tikka Masala
Benghan Barta (spelled differently on their menu, but you get the idea)
Garlic Naan
This all comes with rice. Had we known, we wouldn’t have ordered the Shrimp Biryani, which was only okay.
If I lived in Albuquerque, this might possibly be a regular spot for me.

I didn’t know what to expect from a Nepalese place, but was somewhat pleasantly surprised to see that it was more or less Indian food. I can dig that.
Lunch specials had very generous proportions. I had the sizzler plate, since it seemed to offer a little of everything. Was not disappointed, the food was tremendous. Date had the paneer, and it was also very good. I was a little disappointed with what they had on the menus as a «Himalayan Lemonade,» which turned out to be nothing more than pink lemonade with whip cream on top.
Pretty quiet when we were here. Nice, open and airy interior. Service was very attentive, and they have ample parking.

Nice change of pace from the typical ABQ fare. We frequently go there now for the Chicken Tikka, butter chicken and palak paneer, the farmer’s cheese is fresh and the spinach was not overcooked. They also have King Fischer Indian beer. We think the food is much better than Paddy Rawal’s since the dishes now actually have some protein in them.

I was super excited to finally get to try this place. I love Nepalese food, and used to go to a Nepalese restaurant when I lived in Boulder frequently. So we went for lunch today. We got there around 11:15, and there was only one other table of guests, sitting outside. We are seated inside at a rather large awkward table by the window. They had nice booths all open, but put us at this table. So we ordered two lunch specials and the veggie pakoras, they give you free papadums and a couple chutneys to munch on– which were quite good. So 20 – 25 minutes go by after we ordered, and the pakoras finally come out. They are just battered pieces of potatoes and cauliflower, and they are served with no extra sauces to dip them in. I was not excited about this appetizer, and would not order, or eat it again. Actually we did not even finish it, which is unheard of for us– we like to eat! So I asked what’s going on with the food, and the server was like «the printer in the kitchen jammed and no one caught it for like 20 minutes.» I said that would have been useful information. No my apologies on the hold up, do you need to be somewhere? or «Do not worry your lunch is coming and we are going to comp your appetizer.» or «Here are some more papadums to much on» Everything would have been fine it she had just told us, in a nice «damage control» way, that there was a glitch. I call «damage control «- the act of trying to clean up a problem with a customer. Say a steak is over cooked, or they waited too long for food, you kiss a little butt to make things right, maybe even see if the management can throw in a desert, or comp a round of drinks? You are trying to turn an experience around so they come back and spend more money. So both him and the sever seemed not to understand it is important for food to come out in a timely way, or to explain why it isn’t. It was not busy or anything, so there was no reasonable explanation. I was thinking a chef didn’t come in and the kitchen did not get prepped?
So now it is like 3o minutes in. the naan comes out, I was like where is the rest of the food? Around 40 – 45 minutes in, I almost threw a 10 spot on the table for the lackluster app, and we were about to flee the scene, when the food came. We are about 50 minutes into our dining experience, and this is lunch. I have to ask for warm naan. The naan on the table had been sitting there for like 15 minutes. I felt like a dick, but come on, after all that, don’t you want the meal to be spot on? So the manager comes over to talk to us, asking us how everything is, and I was like this is a less than stellar first experience with the hold ups in the kitchen. I mentioned to him you should inform your tables if your kitchen is having problems, some people have to get back to work or have other things to do. He was like if you have to go back to work you can call in your order. Not a great answer. This is not dinner, this is lunch. Good service means keeping your tables happy and calm. I consider going out to eat to be like therapy. You want to feel taken care of, and nourished. If you feel the staff does not care about reassuring you when a restaurant is having problems, then it is all over. Guests will not come back=no repeat business. It is really a shame because I liked the food, and the atmosphere. Not my first bad dining experience in a Eastern restaurant. See my review of India Palace Keene NH. As we are finishing up, a couple ladies come in and they seat them in the booths. If a restaurant is empty –ask would you like a booth? or to sit by the window?