Deck on Himalayan Kitchen - Honolulu Restaurant Review - REPOST

I'm reposting this blog due to some of the comments.  While I don't mind negative feedback to my writing, the blatant profanity is not necessary.  Please feel free to comment, just keep it clean.

Last night we were in Kaimuki again, debating on what we wanted to do for dinner. We started with Korean, then thought Italian, before I noticed a sign for the Himalayan Kitchen. I have come to really like Indian food, and thought that this would be something that we could all enjoy. So, we walked up the stairs, got a table for 6 and sat down to dinner.

The ambiance of the Himalayan Kitchen is good. There is some outdoor seating available, but for cooler nights, there is indoor as well. We were a little unfortunate in that we were caught right in the cross breeze, and my chair was sitting on a weekend floorboard that I thought could collapse at any minute. The waiter stopped by almost immediately and asked if we wanted an appetizer. We ordered both the Keema Naan (lamb) and the Himalayan Naan (chicken). He left without taking out drink orders, which I found a little odd.

After a few minutes a second server arrived. She asked if we were ready to order, which we were. We had decided to order a few dishes family style for the table. We were also able to finally place our drink order, a Sprite, 2 cups of Chai tea, and 2 waters. I had asked for a beer and was told it's a BYOB place. Not really a big deal, and one of the things that I do like about many Hawaiian restaurants. This is something to be aware of if you are dining out. I have yet to figure out how to identify these restaurants, but they do exist.

It wasn't much longer and our Naan arrived. With the stuffed naan was a green sauce which I thought was a mint chutney type sauce that I'm used to having. So, I grabbed a slice of the naan, dipped it into the sauce and took a bit. The first thing I noticed was that the sauce was cilantro based, rather than mint which threw me off a little. The second thing I noticed was that there was not much of a filling. The lamb naan seemed to have a little onion while the chicken one apparently had chicken and spinach in it, though I really couldn't discern either.

After we ate the naan, two of the drinks finally arrived. We were told at this point that they had run out of black tea, so were unable to make the second tea. I'm not sure how this happens in an Indian restaurant, especially with tea which does keep for more than a couple days. But, we let it go, and continued to have a pleasant conversation over waters awaiting our entrees.

For dinner, we had selected Saag Paneer, Chicken Curry, Chicken Bhuna, Lamb Biryani and some more plain naan. When the dishes arrived, we began dishing things out. After a few bites, I would say that we ended up going two for four. This isn't a bad day if you are playing baseball, but for dining out, it is kind of a bummer. On the positive side were the Chicken Bhuna and the Lamb Biryani. The Chicken Bhuna contained hearty amounts of shredded chicken in a nice garlic cream sauce. In the Lamb Biryani was a combination of lamb, peas, cashews and raisins in basmati rice. Both dishes were pretty good from a flavor standpoint and quite enjoyable. They were the dishes that once they made the rounds, I went back for seconds. My only complaint would have been that they skimped a bit on the lamb, and that the cashews were cooked a little too long so they lost all crunch.

On the negative side would be the Saag Paneer and the Chicken Curry. The Chicken Curry was pretty good from a flavor perspective, but was lacking in one ingredient; chicken. We had to cut a couple chunks in half just so everyone at the table could have a bit. And the curry was ok, with a little bit of a kick, but nothing that really wowed me. And the Saag Paneer just wasn't good, which was doubly bad because I had assured the table "You can't go wrong with Saag Paneer". It looked like totally pureed baby peas, and kind of tasted like it too. The cheese taste was totally lost, and the flavor was somewhere between bland and bitter, just not pleasant at all. Additionally, there was a little problem with the naan. It seemed like every bite I took had a really obvious burnt taste. And for a table of 5 adults, we were given a small bowl of rice that barely made it around the table once.

From a people perspective, the meal was quite good. We were able to spend time with friends and family that we have not seen in a while. From a food perspective, it just wasn't that great. Starting with understuffed naan and running out of black tea to a flavorless Saag Paneer and empty rice bowl, the food was underwhelming to say the least. I've had some really good Indian/Himalayan food, and this just wasn't it.

Final Verdict - 2 stars