himalayan curry and grill

this is a nice little indianrestaurantin lancaster. it fills to capacity most nights, so definitely call for reservations. we were turned away one night (which lead us to taj mahal that night instead- yum!). so, we went back to the himalayan grill the next day for the lunch buffet. the food was good. it was all either chicken or vegetarian. there was masala and tandoori and biryani, all made with chicken and there was dal and aloo palak, as well as basmati rice, cantaloupe, chutneys, and naan...but the best thing on the buffet was the kheer! wow, i'm not a fan of rice pudding, but this was so good! we had seconds of dessert! of the meat dishes, we both enjoyed the tandoori chicken the most. the masala seemed just above average to me. the dal was a bit bland, but the aloo palak was worth a second little helping. i would go back, but only if the taj mahal was filled to capacity. ;)

who knew there was fabulous indian food smack dab in the middle of amish country? thisrestaurantreceived high ratings on tripadvisor and we decided to give it a try. glad we did. of note, it's fairly small so i would definitely recommend a reservation. it's a byob with no corkage fee. the menu catered to every palate preference. my lamb vindaloo was fork tender and spiced according to my preference. dinner for two was around $35.00. i can honestly say this was one of the best indian meals i have ever had.

a friend and i have been to himalayan two times now, and both times, our food has been fantastic. we started out with the vegetable momo (dumplings), and i did not want the appetizer portion of our meal to end. they were that good. i then had the navaratan korma (vegetables in a creamy cashew sauce), and it was also delicious. thisrestaurantis a tiny little place on e. orange, so the place gets packed, and no wonder, because they also offer a lunch buffet. we love it, and will go back often!

love this place!. this is by far my favoriterestaurantin lancaster. the food is fantastic. i would like to request that they join the restaurants that use carryout courier. i do not leave for lunch during the day so it's hard for me to eat there as much as i would like. if the courier service delivered, i would order multiple times a week! please contact them, i have already requested they do the same. the last i heard, they left a message and are waiting to hear back. thank you!!!

won't return. my wife and i went to himalayan last night and don't plan to return.

first impressions: my wife dropped me at the door and then proceeded to circle the block three times in order to find a parking space. i waited inside therestaurantfor 10 minutes until she finally came in. additionally, therestaurantis incredibly small, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. but the tables are crowded together. the people behind me kept bumping their chair into mine and when they went to leave their coat sleeve brushed me several times, which i find incredibly annoying. further, we could hear every word of the couple's conversation next to us as their table table was only about six inches away from ours. and when the man decided to take off his jacket (we kept ours on, but more about that in a minute) it brushed against me several times.

now, about leaving our jackets on...as i mentioned before therestaurantis incredibly small. when someone opens the door it creates a perfect pneumonia tunnel into the restaurant. we were alternately freezing and too warm. every time someone opened the door the cold blast of air would come in. with that said, even if we wanted to hang up our coats it would have been nearly impossible. a table was placed right next to the coat rack and the coat rack itself was apparently mounted high enough on the wall to accommodate a yeti from nepal. seriously, it's mounted at about 7'.

ok, so maybe first impressions aren't everything. people on here have been frothing at the mouth about the food. and having eaten at taj hundreds of times (where this owner/chef used to work) we did not doubt the food would be good.

for the most part, the food was good and the prices were very reasonable. but some problems...the service was terrible. it took forever to get our food. the people at the table behind us were audibly commenting about how hungry they were and how long it was taking to get. the wait was unacceptable. although i will say that the apps flew out of the kitchen.

on top of the slowness of the kitchen, the staff seemed disorganized and their service was terrible as well. we waited for a long time to have our order taken (the menus are made from corrugated cardboard with fabric glued to it, you'd think they would have spent a few bucks for better) and then the waitress disappeared. we scarcely saw her. maybe she was in the kitchen trying to help get the food out. or maybe washing dishes. either way, it just wasn't good. the staff didn't seem very friendly, but maybe they were shy, i'm not sure. i know at taj we have a good relationship with their servers.

lastly, my wife was brought the wrong entree. she specifically asked for a dish she wanted and the server read our order back and she still got the wrong thing. i wanted to send it back, but it had taken so long to get we didn't want to chance it. i understand this happens, but this is unacceptable as well given that the server reiterated our order to us.

finally, the last straw came when we were finally finished with dinner and finally were able to locate our server. i asked her for a refill of my drink, which she took care of. but the problem was with the bill. we were actually charged for another drink soda.

now, nothing pi**es me off more than when arestaurantcharges you for refills. this is the reason we don't go to bube's anymore and the reason we're not going to himalayan anymore. this is bs given that this is an accepted practice in every restaurant. shame on the owner for doing this. my wife and i are both professionals and work very long hours. the last thing we have time for is cooking so we go out to dinner nearly every night. we spend about $30 to $50 per meal usually and frequent restaurants that we like...pressroom, characters, taj, fiorentino's, gibraltar, fenz, etc. but we won't be going back to himalayan.

return of the best chicken tikka masala. the taj mahal was the best indianrestaurantin lancaster, but at some point their chicken tikka masala suddenly didn't have the "magic" flavor that it always had. my wife and i had heard the the chef moved on and we were sad because we loved this dish.

behold! our favorite tikka masala returns in all its glory (although less spicy than before) at himalayan curry and grill. the place was packed, but we didn't care, we're here for the food. the service was fantastic and they accommodated us very well.

one question, is it normal to put salt an pepper shakers on the table at an indian restaurant? we found it odd, but hey, who knows, maybe people want this? we sent them back because we had very little table real estate to work with. i hope that thisrestaurantsurvives and gets a bigger dining room, because the demand is there and therestaurantwas packed to capacity. also, the prices are very fair, and i hope it stays that way for a while.

so this was a glowing review, and the taj still deserves a visit here and there, but hcg is very good and everyone must try it.

my new favoriterestaurant:). great fresh, flavorful, well-spiced healthy food. loaded with options for vegetarians! try the nepali menu... i've had 4 dishes and loved them all. very reasonable prices and large portions. food comes quickly. highly recommended!

very good!. excellent effort by a past chef from tajmahal (so we are told). we went on a friday evening - and the place was packed! it was very cold outside, but everyone (for the most part) seemed to wait patiently. the food was excellent and the portion sizes were quite large - and prices were a couple dollars below the local indianrestaurantcompetition. we will go back. recommendation: if they can - make an entrance way to keep the cold/hot air out of the dining area! one half of me is still thawing out from sitting near the entrance. happy they're downtown & wish them success!!!

outstanding!!! i had the lamb korma, goat vindaloo, cauliflower manchurian and garlic naan. i've had indian food before, but the food here hits the nail on the head. the food is crisp and refreshing, seasoned well and prepared to perfection. the portions are also very generous for the cost. this place must be the first name in indian food in lancaster. to the owners - keep doing what you and your culture demands and run yourrestaurantas you see fit. your are off to an excellent start. keep up the good work!!!

indian food on orange street. a great addition to lancaster city, which is already so full of a wide array of ethnic restaurants. i had their goat vindaloo, which was spicy and delicious. the na'an was exceptional, soft and full of flavor. the decor in therestaurantis very appealing and interesting as well, and the i appreciated that the budhist ornaments and paintings on the walls reflect the differences between northern india and the rest of india.
my only complaint is that when me and my wife showed up at four pm on a thursday to the restaurant, a younger man who had been lying on the couch when we walked in informed me that they were "on break," and were not serving food until 5 pm. also, they have no postedrestauranthours and often i notice that therestaurantis open when the "open" sign is not on. so i think there is some difficulty in understanding and adapting to american expectations and culture here, but i hope they can figure these things out, as it could be a wonderful addition to lancaster city.

uniquely delicious. lancaster city really needed a place like this. featuring an all you can eat lunch buffet for $7.95, and lunch box specials, you really can't beat it. besides indian cuisine, thisrestaurantalso specializes in nepalese food, which is not as a spicy as indian. when i was there on my first visit, every table was full. it's clean, inviting, and the staff is friendly, even though they are a little slow with the service, but they are newly opened and will learn. my only complaint: it's a little cramped. still, i plan on going back frequently.