Thursday, April 16, 2009

Himalayan food in Vegas

Let’s give a warm Vegas welcome (none of that jaded applause) to our only Himalayan restaurant in town, the not very originally named Himalayan Cuisine. It’s been here quite a while, but has remained largely undiscovered, which might be partially due to its location (in a strip mall, next to a payday loan office) on Flamingo between Maryland and Swenson and folks’ lack of knowledge of what Himalayan food is supposed to be.

My globetrotting husband, who ate his way across the Himalayas until he reached the base camp of Mount Everest, enlightened me. Basically, it’s an interesting mix of Indian, Nepalese and Tibetan cuisine. We have a lot of fantastic Indian restaurants in town (India Oven, the newly remodeled India Palace, Origin India, Gaylord’s at the Rio, etc.), but this combination is certainly very unique in the valley.

The place is small and comfy, with simple décor (think Himalayan posters) and booths and tables. Our party of four ethnically diverse people started off with a nice bottle of blended white Californian wine (three types of grapes versus two seems to be the new hip thing to do) and, in an attempt at food democracy, chose the Nepalese and the Indian sampler platter. We weren’t sure if it would be enough for a haven’t-eaten-since-breakfast dentist, a very hungry lawyer, a foodie writer and a foodie HR manager, but it sure was, and would have prepared us well for a hike in the Himalayas. The Indian platter included many classics such as organic tandoori chicken (well seasoned), lentils, mixed vegetable curries (just right on the spices), a refreshing homemade yoghurt, lamb vindaloo, vegetable pakodas and a few other delicacies, all nicely portioned in small stainless-steel cups. The Nepalese platter, on the other hand, was full of unexpected and delightful flavors, including mighty momos (dumplings stuffed with ground turkey), kakro salad (Himalayan cucumber salad with lemon and sesame seeds), kwati soup (lentils and beans), and five other excellent dishes.

Himalayan Cuisine offers a creative weekday "recession lunch" for $5.99, which includes the entreé of the day.

Himalayan Cuisine
730 E. Flamingo Road
Phone: 894-9334

--By Judy Jenner

No comments: