Himalaya Pakistani Indian Restaurant Surry Hills

Great food, 100% get the nihari, looks a little dagy from the street, but once you're in the food is awesome.

Best vegetable biryani i ever had..

Food is tasty but really expensive. Seriously...$10.95 for a takeaway cheese naan and two small vegetarian samosas?! Staff seem rather disinterested in customers which is disappointing.

Heard a lot place, did not live up to expectations

The food is great, that’s beyond doubt. The respect and acceptance that I felt here is beyond description. A great place with an remarkable owner with an inspiring story. Will never miss a chance to come again.

Had dinner on a Sunday evening here. The waiter was very kind and greeted us with a smile! Table water was brought to us instantly with the menu. We decided on the $30pp banquet which was phenomenal value. It included papadums, chutneys, samosas, chicken tandoori, garlic and normal naan, rice, one meat curry and one vege curry and dessert. Great value. Everything was super tasty. We tried the authentic Pakistani curries. Chicken Haleem and Vegetable Achari. The waiter noted an allergy we had and the dish came out perfect. Highly recommend.

Great biryani but sometimes the potatoes in the biryanis is old but they gave me free one later.

Great food, awesome service. The portions are huge. Definitely recommend.

After shuffling down Elizabeth Street a couple of hundred metres, Himalaya Pakistani & Indian Restaurant makes up for the lack of dining room windows in their new space using colourful, Indian-inspired murals. On one wall, the Taj Mahal is swathed in fiery skies and reflected in the still water that stands at its base; while on another, four elaborately clad figures interact against a natural, leafy backdrop in shades of blue, yellow and green. This Surry Hills restaurant is one of five outlets owned by the group, who, just like the Manjit’s group that I reviewed last week, also own a function centre that caters to Indian weddings. As the name suggests, they’re serving desi food from the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora, which can broadly include Pakistan and Bangladesh. They attracted my interest with their weekday long lunches, which run until 4.30pm, making them perfect for people who never quite manage to step out of the office at the assigned lunch hour. The Tandoori Chicken Thali ($19) is basic but covers all your lunch needs, spreading them across the compartments of a shiny, stainless-steel thali tray. Two smoky pieces of bone-in charred tandoori chook, served with green capsicum and long loops of onion, are complemented by a chicken curry of your choice. If you like heat, opt for the one labelled chicken curry rather than butter chicken. While it isn’t going to blow your head off, it’s tasty with sweet sweated onions and whole cardamom rather than cream or coconut. There’s also a soft and pliable naan sliced into quarters, rice and pappadums hiding frost green mint chutney that’s more yoghurt than it is mint. The Lamb Thali ($19) comes in a similar format, switching out the tandoori chicken for two tubes of flavoursome seekh kebab that have also been roasted in the tandoor. They’re made from minced lamb mixed with onion, fresh herbs and spices, rolled onto metal skewers, which are pulled out before serving. The lean, well-spiced kebabs are served with a lamb curry that has had a long slow cook in a gravy with a round and balanced tomato base, until the pieces of lamb are nice and tender. The restaurant’s main menu is also available at lunch time. Craving something with a bit more kick (everything I tried on the thali plates was very mild) I hit up Paneer Tikka Masala ($16.95). Labeled as medium-hot on the menu, the home-made cheese arrives in a dense tomato sauce broken up with sweet onion and still-crisp green capsicum that is almost sweet against the mild, lip-tingling heat. There’s a generous amount of tender, rather than chewy, cheese in this decently proportioned serve, and the dish leaves me with a satisfying aftertaste. Rather than rice, I choose to team it with a Peshwari Naan ($4.50) that has a bright orange interior stuffed with lots of fruit and coconut. It’s particularly enjoyable against cheese and the acidity of the tomato-heavy curry. Service is variable during the day, with just one floor person, who often spends more time on their phone than they do looking after the dining room, but I suspect that would improve with more custom at night.

So I ordered via Uber Eats app and it felt like if you are not in the restaurant and ordering a delivery they'll just send you whatever is left. The roti was stale and was in no state to be eaten. When I opened biryani it looked like it's not fresh at all and after eating the rice and chicken in biryani, it was clear it's stale. I typically don't leave such reviews about restaurants but it felt like for deliveries they'll just send stale food which is ridiculous!