Himalayas Indian
I have been frustrated with Atlanta’s lack of real, good, authentic Indian restaurants for some time now. Most times, the cuisine has been customized to the American palate. Such is the case here at Himalayas. I came in on a Friday night and the place was packed. With non-Indians. Bad sign. While service is good, the kitchen got slammed and the wait was a good 25-30 minutes for the food to arrive. They seriously need to add another tandoor oven.
The mixed appetizer plate came with a vegetable samosa, a pakora, 2 pieces of chicken tikka, a beef sheekh kabob, and an onion bhajee. While the samosa had a flavorful filling, the pastry shell was so soaked in oil that it fell apart as soon as you bit into it. The chicken tikka, however, was perfection. The pieces were fork tender and evidently marinaded for hours. The sheekh kabob, resembling more of a sausage due to its minced meat, was delicious with its perfect blend of spices. The fried onion patty was also a disaster with half of its weight and all of its flavor coming from the frying oil.
Perhaps the only saving grace here is the tandoor chicken, which, if anything else, is a winner (as was the beef kabob). The meat pieces are fork tender and very flavorful. You can actually taste a hint of yogurt in every bite. Best of all, there is a lot of flavor as you bite deeper into the meat.
The curries, unfortunately, all taste the same: sweet. All the ingredients are so mixed together that there are no discerning flavors. The naan, although yeasty and with lots of buttered goodness, is so stretched thin that there isn’t enough chewiness that makes naan bread the awesome bread that it is.
If you’re not a very adventurous eater, then this spot is for you. Tandoor, Royal Palace (Norcross), Udipi Cafe, and Zyka still retain my current Indian rotation with Tandoor blowing everyone away.
Insider tip:
Special dinners (combo meals) available.
Homemade desserts.
The scoop:
Himalayas Indian Tandoori Restaurant
5520 Peachtree Industrial Blvd
Atlanta, GA 30341
(770) 458-6557
Technorati Tags: Indian food, Chamblee
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Atlanta Restaurants // Sep 22, 2009 at 12:55 am
great story, makes me want to eat Indian food immeaditely
2 BuHi // Sep 23, 2009 at 10:03 am
I think you nailed it. This is my local go to spot because of the tandoori – I think they do a good job. Bhindi bhaji (okra) is a standout as well. The curries, as you say do seem to come from the same pot.
I’ve come to believe that with Indian in Atlanta, you can’t always tell if the food is good by the clientele being primarily Indian (just like you can’t tell if an American place is good because it’s full of Americans – the rule does seem to apply to other Asian cultures tho…). Places like Bombay Grill (shudder) and the profusion of low quality Indian buffets around town packed with Indian families prove that….
3 Chloe // Sep 23, 2009 at 8:24 pm
@BuHi: I couldn’t have agreed more with you. Excellent point.
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