All right, another one for Indian. This one is Himalaya at five docks. Its a Pakistani Indian restaurant. It is funny to see Pakistani Indian together as restaurant and perhaps a wish that may be the two rival nations can be together again. A partition that has scarred the nations and a deep gash of wound in the hearts that still hasn't healed even after 60 years.
Anyways another occasion, my friends birthday. The cool stylish and very individual and exclusive dude of our group. Of course his unparalleled loyalty and humility to spend the evening with us mortals instead of the thousands of women screaming at the top of heir lungs for one evening. (I hope he reads this). Well he is quite the elegant charmer with the boyish looks which just throws a spanner into the normal functioning of the pretty damsels in Sydney.
Well to celebrate his birthday we head to Five docks, Himalaya. For me this restaurant has been like a dhabha. Most cabbies do drop in here for a meal and to me that in itself is a indication of good food. In the land of kangaroos where Indian food has suddenly gone through a renaissance and opened up in every nook and corner and yet serve the trashiest food, this is perhaps one of those places where there is some saving grace. The food is acceptable and nice.
Again the same demographics that haunt me these days.. 3 vegetarians and one me. Of course, it is beside the point that in any demographics, there can only be one ME. I could almost start a TV series like 'two guys a girl and a pizza place.' except this could be like 3 veggies and one pk.. Or the wolf in the veggie wonderland.
So without any further ado, I just proclaim my undying love for veg starters by ordering the Paneer Sizzler and the Assorted chaat platter.
For main course thanks to my heroic efforts, I order a tawa goat and save the group from having paneer makhani again. So the order for main course is paneer bhurji, daal makhani, regular breads- butter naan and rotis and a kheema naan.
As we settled and watch the TV playing videos, cant help saying what a fantastic music list they had. Almost everyone in the group just loved the songs being played.
The paneer sizzler and the chaat platter were served. The paneer sizzler was delicious. Little pieces of cottage cheese with capsicum and onion rings on a sizzling plate. What I loved about the paneer sizzler was that there was no artificial colour or excessive spice. You could taste the fresh cottage cheese with turmeric, garam masala and crunchy capsicums.
Next was the chaat platter. This had two samosas, two onion bhajjis and little bit of papri chaat. This one I would say was pretty ordinary and average. Nothing to rave about. I kind of stayed away from this one.
Once we were done with the starters, we gave a go ahead for the main course. It took about 15.minutes to get the mains. The daal makhani and the paneer bhurji. The paneer bhurji looked a bit too yellow to be honest. More like fluorescent green a bit but I think they used only turmeric again and no artificial color. The cottage cheese curdled from milk was definitely fresh. Tasted pretty good ID say. Not too over spiced. The daal makhani was pretty average and pretty stock standard. Actually the daal could have been better. 
Next came the tawa goat. Well what do I say. This dish is my favorite in Himalaya. Simply because of the soft goat pieces they give over here. Served on a sizzler plate and came with the sizzle. Well what do I say. as it approached the table I sat like a romeo with his heart out on his hand, looking at his love approaching him and she looking ravishing and splendid as never before. Makes you feel like falling in love all over again.
Well the tawa goat eventually came. Small pieces with bones cooked and served with very thick gravy along with diced onions capsicum and tomatoes with masala. Just too good. Ideally it would go well with drinks on a regular day but today I made it with rotis. Loved every bit of it. On other occasions its been even better but highly recommended. I think this made my evening. The portion of course is good for two people and eventually I had to do a takeaway.
The breads were good. The keema naan was good. Loved it.
All in all good food. The kind of food that doesn't hurt too much and doesn't make you squirm with discomfort when you look at the color and spices and the price as well.
Well there is one dish I didn't like and this was at another visit. It was the chilli chicken, the Indo Chinese version. Quiet pathetic.
I like this place and would definitely come over again. I would recommend my readers to try this one out for sure. It has got good food, and a bit more authentic.
Recent Update: 5/11/14: Visited again. Great food. Besides the regular, the Tandoori Chicken and the Lahori Chicken were unbelievable. The tandoori chicken was juicy succulent and yet spicy at the same time. The lahori CHicken is probably the best chicken curry I have had in some time.
http://www.himalayarestaurant.com.au/
http://www.himalayarestaurant.com.au/five-dock/home
Accepts EFTPOS
Average meal for two- AUD 30- AUD 60
1/205 Great North Rd, Five Dock NSW 2046
Ph: (02) 9712 2726
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