Himalayan Kitchen Review - Kui

Sorry for the late review, but exams suck. Anyway, as a bit of background, I'd like to start by saying I've never eaten here before and I've never had anything labeled "Himalayan" so I can't comment on the authenticity of the dishes we ate.  However, I will say I am a big fan of Indian food and I did notice that the dishes were very similar in taste and execution.  Also as a note, I did arrive to this meeting late, so I didn't order anything, but I did sample the food that Andrea and Ashley/Ichi ordered (yes, I mooched).

Now, taking all of that into consideration, here's my review!

I borrowed this from Andrea because I really have no idea what the names of anything I ate were...

-Appetizer: Himalayan Naan
-Entree: Lamb Bhuna & Malai Kofta & Garlic Naan
-Dessert: Rice Pudding

Accessibility: The location is very easy to miss and it did take a bit for me to actually find the entrance.  Granted, if I don't know where something is, I will usually look everywhere else before finding it.  I do wish they would have put a sign with an arrow or some small instructions somewhere on the building, but I did end up following my nose and that worked out in the end.  As for the parking, it is in the kaimuki shopping center, so the parking really depends on the shopping season.  I do live in the area and frequent quite a few of the shops in the center, so I do know how to find parking in and around.  The fee to park is pretty cheap though, but if you'd rather not deal with it, find street parking on 12th ave or car pool with someone.

Ambiance: I always passed their balcony while walking on the street, but I never actually knew what the place was.  I will say though, I always thought it looked like a nice place to eat (yes, even in Kaimuki).  We ate on the balcony, so we did get the atmosphere of the main dining room, which quite honestly, looked like it could get really loud.  There is another set of tables outside in their entry way.  If it had been earlier and busier, it probably would have been a nice opportunity to people watch.  The balcony where we ate was very cozy though.  It isn't completely separated, but for the most part, you are in a much quieter area (granted that there aren't any loud cards, ambulances, police cars, or fire trucks whizzing by... this is still Kaimuki after all). Since it does add to the ambiance, the crowd seemed very happy, kind of trendy, but very diverse (of about six parties, I think we were one of two comprised of locals).  This didn't apply to me, but I did notice that there is a slight breeze from the balcony, so if you get cold easily (which I usually don't), you may want to bring a jacket just in case. Lastly, I really liked the chairs and the tables on the balcony, very comfy and added to the "warmth" of the dining area.

Food appeal/presentation: As I mentioned earlier, I came late, so the only "presentation" I was exposed to was the rice pudding. However, I was very pleased to see that the garlic naan was in a basket lined with paper, rather than on plates, which is usually a good indication that it was recently cooked (to absorb any excess oil or steam to minimize sogginess). Although everything comes in kind of small plates and bowls, it adds up to kind of a lot.  Well, it ended up that way, since the two ordered for three and the order was intended to maximize the sampling...

Tastiness: I thoroughly enjoyed almost everything I ate. I'll do this in bullet points to make it neater.

Appetizer: 

-Himalayan Naan - I really enjoyed this stuff. It wasn't too much of anything. It was a nice balance of flavors and I didn't notice it being overwhelmingly chicken or spinach flavored. It had a nice weight too (not too heavy, but it didn't leave you feeling like you didn't eat anything at all), since it was more of a side dish/appetizer, it wasn't something that could stand alone as an entree (unless you ate the entire plate yourself), but it wasn't like it was lacking in anything either.

Entree: 

-Lamb Bhuna -   Very "simple" dish. It went well with the garlic naan, but that's probably because it was in a garlic sauce. I remember it was sort of like eating pesto, but it didn't have the same kind of bite. It was actually rather mild.  At this point, I don't really remember much else about the dish. Although, it was good as leftovers...

-Malai Kofta - Since Andrea is a vegetarian, we usually have some kind of pure veggie dish on the table and this was it.  Usually I'm pretty good with vegetarian dishes and rather enjoy them, but I wasn't too crazy about it.  It was good though, just not my cup of tea.  I really like Masala, so it didn't totally miss with me.  I was expecting something that tasted like veggies, or was at least spicy and/or savory, but it turned out to be kind of sweet.  It wasn't sweet in a dessert kind of way, but sort of like coconut milk (which it very well may have had).  The menu's description is kind of vague on what's actually in the Malai Kofta, so I couldn't quite put my finger on where the sweetness was coming come.  It could have been the nuts, because it was a sort of nutty sweetness, but it also (to me at least) tasted kind of like sweet coconut...Overall, it's an interesting dish, but it's not for me. I won't say that it was bad though, because it wasn't. Side Note: I've only written a lot on the dish because it was different.

-Garlic Naan - Probably my favorite thing... It was kind of sweet from the cooked garlic, and didn't have a bite.  In addition, it wasn't overly garlic-y (like some other garlic breads...) and not oily. It complimented all of the food that was ordered very well.  As I remember it though, it was actually almost crispy. I know it's flat bread, but it seemed to be a bit thinner than I normally see with Naan.  The taste was great though. Nice garlic fix.

Dessert: 

-Rice Pudding: So I had a bit of an issue with this dish. In general, I love rice pudding and I can't get enough of it, but this was a bit different.  As most "ethnic" foods go, dessert is usually an iffy area.  This was definitely no exception.  the pudding was sorta spicy/almost savory. Not sure if it was from just eating the entrees, but it also wasn't so sweet. Oddly though, it wasn't that it tasted bad, it just didn't feel like a dessert.  What Andrea and I found though, was that it kinda grows on you. Eventually, I was eating it just because I couldn't stop. The cardamom was definitely an interesting flavor to be in it. It was kinda like there was curry in the rice pudding... A final note though, is that it sort of reminded me of having the sweet rice tea at Sorabol...

Helpfulness: Since I missed most of the meal, I don't have too much to say, but the wait staff was really friendly and had a good sense of humor from what I was exposed to.
Price:Expectation Ratio: Again, since I was late, I'm not sure how full the dishes were when they first came out.  The dishes did seem kind of small though, and I don't know if the rice came with the entrees. Probably best to check Andrea and Ichi's reviews for this bit.
Drink selection?: According to the girls, there's no alcohol on the menu, but it is BYOB. I believe they had picked something up from the gas station across the street, but if you go early there is Tamura's a block or two down the road. The non-alcoholic drinks offered did look good though, but I just stuck with water since I got there late.  As per the usual, they did offer Lassis.  I was kind of interested in the Rose Lassi (yogurt drink with rose water), but I am one of the few people who has been desensitized to the concept of drinking rose water. They also offer a "Nepali Chai" that I assume would go really well with the curries.
Dessert selection?: Like I said, I wasn't too enthused by the rice pudding, but I wouldn't mind trying the 4 Spice Chocolate Cake, which is marked on the menu as being the chef's special.  I do believe I've had Rasmali before, but it was with honey. I wouldn't mind trying the one here though.
Come-back-ability: This place definitely has a great charm to it, especially from the balcony. There are definitely a lot of dishes I would love to come back and try.  There's definitely the impression that you could spend hours here picking at food and having a nice lengthy conversation without even noticing.  Even though we were in the middle of Kaimuki, I really felt like we were in a very isolated place, away from all the gunk of Waialae Ave.


Extra comments...

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty good place to eat.  There's a lot here that most local eaters will not have heard of or even bothered to try before.  It's a great place if you're lookin for a quiet, romantic place for a date (if you eat on the balcony) or just want to de-stress with some friends and a nice bottle of wine.  Although we didn't have anything that was labeled as "spicy" on the menu, I would say that the dishes we had would be a nice introduction to this type of food for those who have never tried it before.  As I am not a fan of spicy foods (with the exception of Indian curries), I look forward to coming back and trying the Madras dishes and if I'm really adventurous, the Vindaloos.




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If you'd like to check out the menu, or read about the restaurant, please visit their web page at the following address:
Himalayan Kitchen Honolulu