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Have you ever noticed, that as soon as you plan to move . . . and have less than a month left living in any region of the country that you find, the MOST amazing and delicious restaurant? Himalaya's (a beautiful Indian food place right off of Hwy 50) is that restaurant.
My husband has secured a job in the freezy cold North Dakota land, and we move within the month. Eating at this charming little haven in Cameron Park, we ALMOST changed our minds.
Sure North Dakota promised a wonderful job opportunity complete with medical, dental and clean air benefits; but what was that compared to the unbelievable nectars that slid over our tongues right here in Ca?
It was enough to make custody battles and the angry rodent juggling of paying bills in this state melt away. The staff are more than friendly, personal and genuine.
The atmosphere is relaxed, classy and clean, and as little as I would like to discuss restrooms while thinking about the divine food I just digested, I must mention that they were clean and pleasant enough that I thought while drying my hands, that I would brave making a spectacle of myself and write about them on the internet.
The food, as I said before; and cannot say enough was delicious, but it was far more than just that. It (I found after talking with our waiter) is all homemade, right down to the sauses and flat breads.
It comes in sizable proportions, AND is fairly inexpensive. I would gladly pay twice what we paid for our meals. My plate was around thirteen dollars and I think my husbands was around sixteen.
Anyway, I will be writing right through dawn if I do not make my end here, but this place sincerely is the best restaurant I've eaten at since a little hole in the wall Italian joint I ate at in Ga. Together they tie for the finest dining experiences of my life, and I have had a great number to date.
People thought this was:
Hemalayas is a good find in Cameron Park. We arrived around 6:00 on a Saturday and the restaurant was about 1/2 full, including one large group. The staff had no problem with us sitting in the bar and ordering drinks and appetizers, and they were all extremely attentive.
We ordered the Hemalayas naan and lamb samosas. Unexpectedly, we filled up on just those two items, plus the complementary crispy bread/chips with dipping sauces they brought out. All of the food was great and the portions were generous.
While we were there, three people came in to pick up take-out orders. This place is good and obviously a local favorite.
Hello ethnic food in the hills! This place was wonderful but it needs to be a little more spicy!! Besides that I was beyond impressed with the selection of food for the buffet. Many of the choices had meat which was a plus for my cousin and I. Normally, Indian food is vegetarian. And if you never had Indian food please don't be rude towards the staff like the customer we witnessed...where's the bowl for the soup! Did he really need to shout that outloud for everyone to here? Yeah sir its right next to the katsup. THEY DIDNT HAVE SOUP!! LOL
UPDATE: Was just there tonight - YUMMY as always. The staff is always friendly and kind. Our fav dish is the Butter Chicken. We always get one mild and one medium. Our girls are still young and they love Indian food. I also love the Aloo Gobi veggie dish. Recently we took some friends there and they ordered a lamb dish. Wow, so tender and flaky. We love this place. Everyone needs to go try this delish food!!! Better than any Indian in Folsom.
Take 50 E - Exit Cameron Park - Left on Cameron Park - then a RT on Palmer and BAM... there it is. Not far at all!!! GO, EAT... be happy. hehe
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Love this place. The food is delicious and the restaurant lends the perfect ambiance to the flavors. I love indian food and it's so nice to eat it in a clean, well-designed place. We also do take-out often.
Love the live music in the summer.
People thought this was:
Well, we read the other reviews on this place, so my wife and I decided to check it out. The bottom line? It is a good place, but has definite room for improvement.
Now, admittedly, we chose to dine on Tuesday night at 6pm - which tends to be the Bermuda Triangle for restaurant reviewing. We were the first people to show up for dinner - not an auspicious start (in fact at no time during our meal were more than four booths occupied). The cocktail lounge was empty - and the TV in there had 'Family Guy' on. They lost a point just for that. Well, that and the fact that there was no background music for our dining experience. Listening to Peter Griffin bray while trying to have a conversation was downright annoying.
The cocktails were mediocre - I suspect that was because there was no bartender (the waitress told us she made the drinks).
The waitress was very helpful in trying to guide us down the menu, given her limited use of English. Did I just give you the impression she was Indian? Nope - just the product of our local school system. She got points for effort, but there are only so many ways one can use "um, kinda like"s to describe food.
We ordered garlic naan, a tandoori combo plate, and Prawns Korma. For those not familiar with Indian cuisine (that includes us) naan is their 'bread' - somewhere in between a tortilla and a pancake. The naan was very flavorful - garlicky, but not overly so. The combo plate gave us a chance to try the beef, chicken and prawn tandoori-style: they were tasty, but I have had better in San Francisco. The Prawns Korma, on the other hand was delicious!. I have had korma sauce a couple of other times, and this was extremely flavorful. The entrees came with a side of fragrent rice, which served well to gather every extra dollop of sauce we could tease from the serving dish.
We decided we had enough room to try dessert, so we ordered the two items that did not sound familiar to us. My wife had something that was grated carrot in a "milk fudge" - she liked it, but I thought is was so-so. I ordered something that was "milk-powder balls in a spiced syrup". Aside from bringing to mind the 'Schwetty Balls' skit from SNL - it was pretty good - very rich in fact. The balls were somewhat donutty, but springier and slightly translucent. The syrup seemed like a simple sugar syrup infused with clove, cinnamon and a few other spices.
So in a nutshell - that was our experience. We plan on trying Hemalaya again - closer to the weekend - to see how things are different when it's busier.
Oh - when we were leaving, we saw a fire engine and a paramedic pull up to the restaurant. We hadn't seen or smelled any smoke or noticed any commotion - so maybe they had ordered some Biriyani extra-spicy?
People thought this was:
UPDATE: I've been back twice since my original review, and each time I've had the same excellent food and service.
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I moved to this area from San Francisco recently, and got to craving some good Indian food. A friend told me about this place, and I didn't know what to expect. Well, it was great.
The food was excellent -- flavorful (--not just spice thrown in, but really good *flavors*, sometimes subtle, sometimes complex, but all good). Portions were generous, the ingredients were fresh, and they didn't skimp on meat or seafood in the dishes that contained them.
There were two of us, and we ordered a lot of food, and I happily enjoyed leftovers the next day! We ordered lamb korma, shrimp biryani, bengan bharta, 2 kinds of naan, and some basmati rice. Like I said, a LOT of food for 2 people.
I've ordered lamb korma at a lot of places, and this was one of the best. The lamb was succulent, and just melted in my mouth. The sauce was perfect. The biryani was amazing, with a really great combination of flavors (golden raisins, peas, etc.) that worked perfectly. The bengan bharta, which is one of my favorite dishes, was yummy as well.
The service was prompt, friendly, and unobtrusive. The environment was comfortable and attractive. The bar nearby was quiet, although this was a weeknight, so I don't know what it's like on the weekends. I tried an Indian beer recommended to me, and enjoyed it. It seemed like they had a good selection of beers and mixed drinks.
I eavesdropped on the waiter speaking with the folks at the next table, who had not had Indian food before. The waiter courteously explained and described things, without being condescending. Also, since they weren't sure how spicy to get things, he worked with them by starting it off mild and then adjusting the spiciness level to their custom desire. Nice!
The prices seemed slightly on the high side, but well worth it for the quality, quantity, service, and environment. I will definitely be a repeat customer.
People thought this was:
Great Indian Food. This is fine North Indian dining, great for a date or also for the family. If you've been to some of the classic indian restaurants in London, England you know what I'm talking about. If not, save the gas and go to Hemalayas, You'll be glad you did.
The decor is very soothing and friendly, the service is excellent and best of all is the KITCHEN Very appealing to the those uninitiated in Indian food such as my 13 y.o. son, and you too will be happy after some Chicken Tikka Marsala, or some Lamb Saag. They have many varieties of Naan, North Indian bread.
Get a little crazy and try Indian in Cameron Park tonite, it's the best you will get for hundreds of miles around.
Great taste.
People thought this was:
Walked away very impressed. The establishment is very nice and new, with a cozy feeling. The service was good, albiet a bit slow (clearly it was busier than anticipated for a Sunday night and they were understaffed), which was my only gripe. The food was absolutely fantastic. Everything was perfectly spiced (be warned, if you order something hot, it comes HOT), and completely delicious. The chicken tikka masala was some of the best I've had, which says a lot give the fact that I've been to well over 20 indian restaurants in my time.
We will most certainly be back!
Update: Went there a second time. Still good, but was not nearly as impressed. All of the dishes were too similar.
People thought this was:
I was glad to finally find an Indian restaurant near my grandma's house, which generally has only Italian and "American" dining establishments. We took g-ma there for her first foray into Indian cuisine, and it was delicious! The waitstaff (I think the owner is from Australia) was ready to answer questions and approached each table as if it were the first time they had been to Indian food (which I think was true for everyone in there but me and my mom). The food was so good, the cocktails list extensive, and the place was bustling by the time we left around 7pm. The rumor is they have live music on Saturdays too, but we were in a hurry to get home and watch a movie, so maybe next time I am up for a visit!
People thought this was:
I've now eaten at this location 3 times. The food is excellent, although other than an Indian food buffet in Santa Clara I don't have a lot of Indian style food to compare it to.
The food is served family style similar to Chineese food, a bowl of herb spiced rice is provided with each entree and the entree is in a seperate bowl that can be shared. You also have a choice of how spiced you would like your meal, either mild, medium or hot. I typically opt for the mild as I don't do hot foods very well.
Most recently I ordered the Lamb Vindaloo which was excellent, served with potato and lamb.
There was live music on the Friday night we were there and talking with the bartender I was informed that Thu., Fri. and Sun this occurs. The music was nice and was perfomed on the outdoor patio. It was rather loud outside but at just the right volume inside the restaurant. Some people were slow dancing on the outdoor patio as well.
The restaraunt was clean and pleasant as was the bar. I could easily just go and unwind at the quiet bar after a day at work, (no annoying loudmouths like many bars) The staff was friendly and helpful and didn't mind at all that we had some questions about this type of food that we aren't very familiar with. The meals are reasonably priced (4 people, 2 appetizers, 4 entrees and a few cocktails for a little over $100) and the environment was relaxed and casual.
Overall a great experience and I will definately return.
People thought this was:
Great restauraunt with a very good lunch buffet. Staff is very attentive and courteous.
After seeing the extensive restoration that the Hemalayas' owners did to the old Blackwell;'s building, we hoped that their cuisine would live up to the ambiance.
It totally does!
My wife and I love good Indian food, and have been to lots of decent restaurants. Hemalayas surprised us with the fact that they are a large restaurant, but the food taste like a small specialty place. They have over 10 different types of Naan! We have only tried about half of them but they are all good so far. We have been there quite a few times and each time we try something new, we have never been disappointed, and usually are pleasantly surprised at how good the food is.
Our weakness, however, is their buffet lunch. For less than $9 they offer an all-you-can-eat buffet of fresh food made daily. Don't be put off by the size of the buffet, it is deceiving. We have been to other Indian restaurants that offer a room full of chafing dishes with re-heated food from the day before. Hemalayas offers an assortment of FRESH dishes that are full of meat! If you want Chicken Curry, you get CHICKEN Curry. You don't get a vat of sauce with a few bits of chicken. Anyways, just try it once and you will be hooked!
oh, and yes, they do offer live smooth jazz bands on the weekends and have a full bar. The bar area got pretty packed the times we were there for dinner and it seems to be a cool place for folks to hang out.
Worth the trip to Cameron Park!
We got to know Susan, one of the co-owners by eating there a few times. We liked the place so much we worked on their website....hey, it was a good excuse to keep going there to do...um...research! :)
Check them out here: http://www.HemalayasIn...
People thought this was:
we just got take out from Hemalayas and it was delicious! I took Brendon S. advice and ordered the chicken tikka masala and I love it! My hubby ordered a creamy red curry beef dish and he loved it also. We love hot spicy food and this satisfied us!
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Category: Restaurants
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