Himalayan Restaurant
Hours
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$$ - average
Nepalese
A Nepalese restaurant in the Seward neighborhood
Himalayan Restaurant is a Nepalese restaurant on Franklin Avenue. The menu includes appetizers such as veggie dumplings, pakora lentil pancakes, and samosas. They also have soups, salads, bread, desserts, and a section of vegetarian entrees.
Almost all of the vegetarian entrees are vegan, except for those with cheese.
They offer a lunch buffet from 11-2:30 each day which is mostly vegan.
Use exit 235A from 94, turn south on 25th Ave. Turn right (West) on Franklin Avenue and it's just two blocks! Look for the red awning.
- Buffet
- Quiet
Added by bethany88 on Jun 2 08 (updated Jul 6 08)
Reviews
I love this restaurant and usually list it as one of my favorite places to eat at. I asked them right away about vegan options and they were very understanding and helpful. I have since brought many of my friends and family to the restaurant and even the most picky eaters have enjoyed it. One of the servers remembers me by name every time I go back, which is great. Once, when a spice intolerant friend felt her curry was too hot, they brought her a new dish immediately at no charge.
I have so far enjoyed both of their soups, the pakora, and many of their curries--all except the palak paneer and the asparagus. My favorites are the eggplant and the jackfruit, my least favorite is the okra. I ask for my food hot and think it is still not as spicy as it could be.
From the outside this restaurant seems to be a generic Nepalese restaurant.
The inside? Impressive!
With elegant glass top tables and beautiful images and pictures of the Himalayan mountains, it's a fantastic date place.
I had the jackfruit dish with medium spice and I thought it was just as delicious as Everest's dish. My friend ordered a potato dish with mild spice, and although she is usually picky, she thoroughly enjoyed the quality and flavor of the food!
Service was great and our food came in about 15 minutes.
The Naan bread is pretty good!
It was a pleasure to visit this restaurant for my first time recently, since before the Himalayan was there, the space was occupied by some hamburger joint (I think) and a steak house.
I was impressed by the quaint atmosphere, nice decor, light incense fragrance, and nice booths. The service was friendly and knowledgeable about their vegan offerings.
I enjoyed a nice appetizer (fried momo filled with veggies?), jackfruit curry, and a vegetable noodle dish. The curry was light, with a variety of spices used--the highlight was the jackfruit itself which was slightly chewy and uniquely stringy (in a good way). Overall I think it could have used more of the spices already present. The noodle dish featured ramen-like noodles and a variety of vegetables (which appeared to be fresh, rather than frozen ). The flavors were nice and more bold than the curry. And the serving size was huge!
This is a great choice for a restaurant if you find yourself in the Seward neighborhood!
As a side note: They have a lunch buffet that generally offers a 2-3 vegan dishes.
I shared a few dishes with friends and we had the kothe (fried dumplings)- which were delicious; the bhanta aaloo (eggplant curry) - which I was disappointed to find did not contain potatoes, as the menu indicates; and kataar aaloo (jackfruit curry) - which was absolutely outstanding.
The texture and flavor of the jackfruit was something like chicken and was very unexpected but very good. We also had some sort of noodle stirfry that reminded me of Chinese food, and it was very good, and was a much larger portion than other items.
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.
The momos are really good!
This restaurant is not only delicious but very vegetarian, in particular vegan, friendly. Try the veg momos for an appetizer, you will be very happy you did...Also, the owner and staff are wonderfully nice and very helpful.
There are no more words needed for this place...it is simply spectacular. It is still somewhat new so I def. recommend supporting it so it can stay in business--it would be a tragedy to lose this place.
I just ate here for the first time and really enjoyed it. We tried the pakora, kothe (fried dumplings) and some curry dishes. All of them were very good, especially the kothe.
My wife got the buffet, which she really enjoyed.
The servers were quite helpful and seemed to know what vegan meant, which made ordering simple. They also mentioned that they've just updated their menu to add a few new vegan options.
went back a second time and had the buffet; best in the cities! very inexpensive at $7.75, and over half the options were vegetarian, many vegan. there was an okra and green bean dish that was just delicious, and even the salad offering was way above average for a buffet. i will be going here lots for lunch.