Himalayan Cafe

Amazing momos! Very good service– must go if you crave for some momos and awesome chutney with it!

Comfort food for yogis! Attentive service. Casual and family-​friendly. We like the brunch buffet on weekends.

Good selection at the buffet, well seasoned, fresh… Can’t beat all you can eat @$ 9.99

One hour and 40 minutes later and still the delivery has not arrived. I’m half a mile away. I called twice to complain and both times they said «5 minutes». 20 minutes later, I called a third time and now they have their phone off the hook.

The quality of the naan bread is usually a good indicator for an excellent curry restaurant what ever the style of origin, however, in this case the naan far exceeded the rest of the meal and I struggle to see how this ended up with 4 stars. Mediocre is my opinion for what it’s worth!

If you love Indian food, then you’ll most likely fall in love with Himalayan/​Nepalese food. Indian food can be found in most Socal cities but finding a good Himalayan restaurant requires a little more of searching.
The two of us decided to split the the Chicken Momo, Chicken Tikka Masala and a garlic naan. Most cultures have their own versions of dumplings and momos happen to be of Nepalese origin. Although they look like any other steamed dumpling, they’re actually a lot more flavorful and are full of delicious Nepali spices! Eating the chicken momo here was like feasting on tender, curry-​spiced chicken dumplings. Accompanying the momo was a creamy sauce for dipping, which served as a nice cooling contrast in flavor and texture.
While the momo was the highlight of our meal, I’m afraid the same couldn’t be said for the chicken tikka masala. I’m sorry to say but this was one of the blandest, one dimensional chicken tikka masalas I’ve ever had. And Nepalese/​Indian food isn’t exactly known for lacking in flavor. It tasted as though someone had decided to mix tomato sauce with cream, throw in a few spices to add heat and leave it at that. Think more Italian style tomato cream sauce rather than curry. It didn’t help that the chicken was incredibly dry and the garlic naan flimsy and tasteless. Although I’m not too far from this restaurant, I’m afraid the search for a good Himalayan restaurant continues.

I ordered for delivery and it was fast and delicious! We ordered the chicken tikka masala, chana masala, saag paneer, vegetable pakauda, cheese naan & bhuteko bhat (what? We were hungry!). The food had wonderful taste and every dish was delightful!
I would highly recommend, it’s yummy! The delivery person was extremely nice as well.

3.5 stars…
Looking for something exotic In Pasadena, and this place had good reviews.
Ordered the shrimp curry vindaloo and a side of rice. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the spice level was not overwhelming. How do all these restaurants always get the rice so perfect?!? I shoveled the spicy sauced shrimp in my mouth with flavorful warm garlic naan, and enjoyed it all with a large Kingfisher lager.
Ambiance is tiny strip mall café, and prices were slightly above expectation, but hey. this is Pasadena!
With so many options for exotic food in the area this joint is certainly good but did not stand out, so I can’t say this one makes the list.

The food was ok. The complimentary bread was too salty. The creamed spinach was pretty good. The mixed sizzling platter with shrimp, lamb, chicken was disappointing… there was ONE piece of shrimp, TWO pieces of lamb, and about 9 pieces of very dry chicken. The Lentil Soup was terrible… hardly any lentils and super salty. Service was not good… we found a piece of nail buried deep inside our bread and the nail was rusted! Someone could’ve accidentally eaten the bread without looking and put that nail in their mouth! Our server was apologetic and I realize mistakes happen, but they should’ve offered a compensation. Being in a family of restaurant owners I’ve learned the importance of customer service, especially when the fault lies in the hands of the restaurant. Just a small step of compensation can make a big difference is a dining experience.

This place has a very relaxed and chill vibe. Feels a bit like you’re in India.
I got the shrimp appetizer which was pretty dank. For an entrée I got the curry chicken with rice. The portion size was excellent, and both my roommate and I had some to take home.
The price was average for a sit down dinner in old town. 60 bucks for an appetizer, 2 entrees with extra sides, drinks and tip.
I’ll definitely be going back when my mom comes into town!

Himalayan Café was okay. We arrived there about 30 minutes before they were to close their lunch buffet. It was slim pickings, but they managed to add a bit more food when we asked for more. For $ 9.99, this price for the lunch buffet was fair. Standard offerings for an Indian food buffet. The best choices were the Tandoori chicken, Lamb curry, and Chicken Tikki Masala. Each one was flavorful. The Naan was fresh and partnered well with the flavorful sauces of the various choices.
I have a feeling that ordering from the menu is the best option when dining at this restaurant. Would not stop here for the buffet again. Well, at least not close to the time they end the buffet offering.

Parking: Gotta love Old Town and it’s 90 free parking structures.
Atmosphere: Nothing fancy, by any means. They dress the place up with Nepalese knick knacks and tchotchkes in their awkward L-​shaped dining area.
Food: They must have sent a Sherpa up Mt. Everest to get the food, or something, because it took an unusually long time for them to bring out our very light orders, especially since we arrived with only 1 other table occupied. Going to have to dock a star for the wait.
–Mo Mos: These are pretty much Nepalese dumplings, and they’re really good. You can get the mixed plate to sample both chicken and vegetable.
–Vegetable soups: Decided to eat light tonight. The soup had that spicy/​sour tang to it that reminds me of Thai soups, which I am a fan of. My grandmother, on the other hand, choked on it. So it really depends on your tastes.
Overall, the sampling I had of the appetizer foods were good, and I would definitely have come back, had it not been for the wait time. For soups and dumplings, I did not expect to be sitting there for so long gulping my water.

Pasadena reminded me of East Hampton if it had a sizable Asian population and thus influence. Needless to say, I loved it.
We had never tried Himalayan food before, but Indian cuisine is my favorite and we were feeling adventurous. Himalayan was very similar to Indian in terms of flavor and the names of foods. For example, the chicken pakaudas were very similar to pakoras and came with that same tamarind chutney I have always loved.
The restaurant itself was small but clean and the service was affable. I would certainly return, if in the area.

Walked by this place multiple times but never went in till I saw a Groupon for it.
Second visit and I will definitely be back.
Typical Indian food. Chicken tandoori or masala is our usual choice.
Vegetarian dishes like spinach or cauliflower with potatoes always hit the spot.
Basmati rice or plain naan always good.
My daughter tried the rice pudding and she liked it. Looks gross to me, but it tastes sweet. She went for seconds at the buffet.
90 minutes free parking around the corner.
Semi quoting another Unilocaler, they take American Express.

TL;DR: The service was good and the flavor was there, but the lamb wasn’t that great.
Stopped in on Friday night and while there was plenty of room when I arrived, it filled up quickly. I placed an order for a Nepalese beer that I’d never had before. Mustang. Good.
I had an order of samosas to start (oddly spelled «singada» on the menu). Very hot from the fryer, they were nicely stuffed with potato and pea and such. It took a while for them too cool down enough to enjoy.
My main course arrived, looking excellent. The lamb curry had an excellent flavor and there was plenty of sauce to go with the huge pile of white rice. Big pieces of lamb in there, but they were rather gristly. The garlic naan was excellent. Thin, with plenty of garlic and cilantro.
Service was great, the meal was great (other than the lamb), the price was pretty good. It was A-​OK. Next time, I’d go with a tandoori.

Nice Himalayan place, with a few delicious dishes! Loved the Lamb Vindaloo was amazing!!! Dipped with the Garlic naan bread, the dishes were both amazing together. Saw a couple with a sizzling dish that smelled good, and will want to try that next time.
Parking is conveniently on the same block– free for 90min.
Will come back for the lamb again!

Got $ 68 groupon voucher for two, so we went here for dinner on a Thursday night. Parking was hard, it’s located in old town pasadena so street parking was a struggle. The place is not big too, its across the street of Bachi burger.
FOOD 4+
* Chicken Tikka Masala — ehh, its not as flavorful as the previous ones I’ve had. This was just lacking and a little bland. Not my fave.
* Vegetable Biryani — now this one was done just right! Really good! It wasn’t dry and flavor was there, not too overwhelming. I can even eat this by itself.m. Oh, the portion was huge too even for two people.
* Mixed Plate — pricey but pretty good. Portion was big and you get lamb, shrimp and tandoori chicken altogether. The meat were cooked well but not dry. Definitely worth getting.
SERVICE 3+
Wait for food was sooo long! We were seated at the corner too so we can’t always see our waiter.
Anyways, overall this indian restaurant is ok. I’ve had better ones. I’ll probably come back to try their lunch buffet. But their dinner is pricey without groupon voucher.

I recently had food flown in from Himalayan Café through DoorDash, and just about everything went wrong with the order.
While browsing through local restaurants on the DoorDash app, I came across the menu for this restaurant that included Hyderabadi biryani, Vijaywada biryani, Chettinadu uttapam, egg kothu paratha, and even pesarattu upma. The selection was shocking, because to my understanding, no restaurant within a 10 mile radius from the Pasadena area serves South Indian fare. I thought that there must be new management or a new chef in town, since there is virtually zero probability of a Nepalese/​Tibetan restaurant offering these exotic South Indian dishes outside of their specialties.
I ordered the Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani, described as «fresh gobi, potato, onions, paneer marinated with herbs and spices, cooked on low-​heat with basmati rice, served with raita and mirchi ka salan». Unfortunately, what I received was completely different from what was advertised.
When I opened the box, I almost fell out of my chair. The restaurant delivered a vegetable fried rice, not a biryani. The rice was not layered and slow cooked, it was most likely stir fried with curry on a griddle, which is not the way Hyderabadi biryani is traditionally prepared. For the heat level, I specified spicy, but the «biryani» turned out to be relatively mild. I did not find any paneer cubes, potatoes, or onions as the menu indicated there would be. The dish was scattered with plenty of carrots, corn, peas, and cauliflower though.
The condiments were strange: sour and spicy pickles, raita, and coriander chutney. Mirchi ka salan, the ultimate nutty accompaniment for Hyderabadi biryani, was not provided as promised. Himalayan Café’s raita was extremely sweet, like the carrots and cucumbers inside the yogurt had been laced with syrup.
After this disappointing meal, I looked up the actual menu for Himalayan Café (
) and was shocked to discover that it was totally different from the menu published on DoorDash. Himalayan Café did offer a vegetable biryani, described as «curried mixed vegetables cooked with basmati rice in Himalayan spices served with raita». It sounded very much like what I had received, but it was not what I had ordered on DoorDash.
I don’t know if this was a bait-​and-​switch strategy employed by Himalayan Café, or if there was some miscommunication between DoorDash and Himalayan Café when uploading the menu. But at the very least, the owner or chef at Himalayan Café should have called me or aborted if an order of «Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani» didn’t sound familiar or if my instructions «please include salan and raita» could not be honored.

Sooo I didn’t know what Himalayan food was like till I went and basically it’s Indian food. THis place is pretty good, I came here with a group of ppls and we all loved it. We didn’t eat at the buffet they had but I saw a lot of ppls enjoying the buffet.
We ordered everything a la carte. I really enjoyed every dish, food is fresh and piping hot. This place is such a hole in the wall, I don’t think I would have came on my own. Prices are reasonable. Parking structure is right next door.
You can usually find a Groupon deal for this place.

Wow! I would’ve never thought to step foot into this little gem of a restauran just by staring in from the outside. This goes to show that you should never judge a book by it’s cover.
Located on Fair Oaks right across the street from Little Sheep Hot Pot, with plenty of structure parking or metered parking. During busy days, expect parking to be difficult like Pasadena usually is.
=FOOD=
1) Lamb Vindaloo — Delicious! I’m no vindaloo connoisseur, so I can’t compare this with others, but if this is what vindaloo is, it’s pretty darn good! They’ll ask for how spicy you want it, so we asked for it to be SPICY. Although it’s not mouth numbing or sweat inducing spicy, it’s got a nice kick to it! Along with the sweetness of the sauce (which is kind of stew consistency), this is definitely a winning dish! The lamb meat and the potatoes and carrots were great! Drizzle this stuff over the basmati rice and you’ll be glad you ordered it!
2) Mixed Plate — Absolutely amazing!!! My reaction with each meat on this plate was pretty speechless. All I could do was dramatically point to the meat while making «MMMMM!!!» noises at my friend! It was SO good! The seasoning and the garnish plus garlic made this a solid winner! I’m not a chicken lover, but the pieces of chicken were so flavorful! Each meat on there was moist, tender and packed with savory taste! Your mouth, and tummy will thank you!
=SERVICE=
The service here is great. Although it takes a little while for the food to come out, you can expect it to be fresh and piping hot! The waiters here were very polite and very friendly. The restaurant is small so they won’t miss you if you need them. Food is a little pricey, but it’s worth it!
=FINAL VERDICT=
Never judge a book by it’s cover. You get what you pay for, the food is amazing! I’m definitely a huge fan of this place, and when you try it, I’m hoping you’ll feel the same!