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Resturant of the week: Himalaya Indian Restaurant 西馬拉雅印度餐廳

By Yu Sen-lun
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Jun 14, 2002, Page 10

Himalaya's curried meats are delicious and reasonably priced. PHOTO COURTESY OF HIMALAYA

It's not easy to find an authentic Indian restaurant in Taipei. Himalaya is one of those you can dine at without any hesitation.

Take a glance at the menu which lists dozens of traditional Indian dishes from starter shami kebab (spice mutton ball) to main course to mumtaj biryani (saffron chicken rice) to dessert gajar halwa (Indian carrot cake). The house is constantly filled with Indian music. "And all the different spices are imported from India," said chef and manager Deepak.

Deepak has 18 years cooking experience in Saudi Arabia, Japan and Hong Kong. Originally from India, he calls considers Taipei home. He used to own the old Taj Palace Restaurant on Sungchiang Rd., which was well-known among Taipei's Indian community. A year ago, the palace moved to the old area of Tataocheng (大稻埕), and renamed itself Himalaya.

A few entrees are a must-try at Himalaya. The first is Tandoori chicken, which is grilled with mixed spices and yogurt. From the crispy skin one can tell that this famous dish is grilled by an experienced hand. Then it's vegetable sheesh kebab, with its vegetables and grilled meats in a spicy sauce. The third must-try is mutton roghanjoshi, which is a kind of thick mutton curry. It's fragrant but not too hot and spicy.

Indian food is definitely heaven for vegetarians because its use of vegetables is far from bland. Palak paneer, which is Indian cottage cheese mixed with spinach and gravy is a very satisfying dish. For sweeter tastes, one should try baigan bharta, which is fried eggplant minced with potato and blended in gravy, then cooked again, creating different flavors for the dish. Then of course there is hommous, a typical Middle Eastern vegetarian dish and a favorite among foreigner customers.

One great advantage of Himalaya is that food here is generally 5 to 10 percent cheaper than the more popular Indian restaurants in central Taipei. But the authentic tastes remain the same. One proof is that the majority of customers are foreigners or previous patrons. The residents from Tataocheng find the Indian dishes "too spicy" and "complicated" according to restaurant staffer Sonam.

The NT$280 business lunch is prepared with one Tandoori chicken leg, one vegetarian dish, one kind of curried meat (choice of chicken, mutton, fish or prawns), one kind of rice and one kind of nan, or bread. Lunch is also served with soup, a drink (either lassi, lemonade or orange juice) and coffee. It's a lavish lunch.

For dinner one can choose the two-for-NT$1,000 set menu, which includes half a Tandoori chicken, curried meat, curried vegetable, one kind of rice and two kinds of nan, plus two drinks. Indian Kingfisher Beer is recommended.
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