Peaking at Everest Himalayan Cuisine

Eating Up and Down 101 In Encinitas #9

We love a Friday Night Date Night! We have spent the day running all over town, making sure we are good and hungry. I checked out the menu for Everest Himalayan Cuisine well in advance. If I could, I would try everything on they have to offer, but I don’t want to skip dessert!

Everest Himalayan Cuisine is in The Lumberyard shopping center just south of F Street. It’s surrounded by boutiques, and just a short walk to the F Street overlook.

EHC is a family owned restaurant that has been serving Encinitas the dishes of Nepal, India, and Tibet for over 10 years. They are are extremely welcoming, and the staff is very helpful.

Turning the Tables

We see several diners both inside and out when we arrive, so we’re pretty sure the food will be good! Even though the place is more than half-packed, we are quickly shown to a seat. Usually, we like to eat al fresco. But it’s kind of overcast, so we go for inside dining.

It’s clean, and the décor is inspired by the Himalayan region, with relaxing music flowing loud enough to lend ambiance, but not so loud we have to raise our voices. Though there are other people, I never feel like they’re eavesdropping, and we aren’t overpowered by other conversations.

They have a beer and wine list, and while we usually have wine, tonight we’re going for Mango Lassis. It’s made with mango, yogurt, milk, a hint of sugar, and a pinch of cardamom. It has a consistency a little thinner than a milkshake, served in icy-cold glasses, and very refreshing!

The Adventure Begins

We really want to try everything and step out of our comfort zone, and this place is authentically ethnically exotic enough to take us on an adventure! So we order up several starters.

First to land on our table is Vegetable Samosas with a tamarind dipping sauce. They are about the size of your fist, hot and crispy outside, and filled with potatoes, peas, and amazing spices. In fact, we are about to go on an amazing spice overload! There will be a future excursion to acquire new spices for my kitchen after this experience.

But back to the tamarind sauce, it is so good… sweet with a hint of spice. I love the sweet, spicy tamarind dipping sauce so much I’m going to try it on everything!

Garlic Herbal Naan comes next. Himalayan serves it soft and warm, topped with fenugreek, oregano, and Himalayan spices. To go with the naan, we get a little crazy and order “911 Sauce” and “Mixed Pickles.” Andy is seriously sweating with the 911 Sauce, but decides to try it like I’m having the tamarind sauce: with everything. Wow, it is spicy!

The pickles are a little strong, using a fermenting process we’re not so keen on. So I head back to the tamarind sauce to dip my naan.

We split the Everest Himalayan Salad. It’s big and very good, with mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and blueberries. The salad dressing was like a thick, spiced balsamic vinegrette.

Peak Experience

My entre is Nawaratan Korma, a veggie coconut curry. It comes in a beautiful bowl filled with mixed vegetables, tofu, paneer, cashews, and raisins in a creamy spicy, sauce. They serve it with a side of rice.

And I am now a big curry fan! I really loved this dish. I saved some naan to dip in the curry sauce.

Andy went for Lamb Tikka Masala. Of course, I have to dip in! The lamb is tender and the sauce is a wonderful blend of spices that kind of remind me of Mexican mole. Andy decides a solid dab of the the 911 Sauce mixed into each bite turns it up until the angels are singing! Or is that his ears ringing?

A Decent Descent

Yes, we have room for dessert! I read about Kulfi, and could not wait to try it.

Kulfi is a frozen confecton, a 16th Century traditional Indian ice cream, but it is not whipped. So it is more dense and melts more much slowly. It’s made with thickened full-fat milk, and is flavored with cardamom, mango, pistachios, and other flavors.

I pick pistachio, and my man goes mango. We love it! It is sooo creamy! My pistachio is filled with chunks of fresh pistachios. Andy’s mango has a hint of cardamom.

Afterward, I had to know how to get more Kulfi, so I researched how to make it. Turns out, it is a long process, taking hours to cook down the milk! There’s a shortcut using sweetened condensed milk, but I think I will leave it to the experts and enjoy Kulfi when ever I find it on the menu.

Such as Everest Himalayan Cuisine. We’ll climb this mountain again!