Himalayas Indian Restaurant Rangiora — Restaurant in Canterbury

My partner and I came in for dinner last night at around 5:40 pm. Although it wasn't super busy, it took over an hour for us to get our starters (vegetable pakoras). The table next to us came in ten minutes later and got their food before we even got our starters. The waitstaff were very friendly, but they seemed stressed and disorganised.

We got our two main meals about 20 minutes after our starters (Mango Chicken and a vegan Baingan Bhartha). My partner's mango chicken was tasty and mine tasted nice until, after eating a few bites, I found three small pieces of meat in the vegan meal. We raised this issue with the waitstaff, but they weren't sure how to handle the situation. When they came back, they told us the chef was very adamant that the kitchen had cooked them separately and that they didn't understand how meat could've been in the meal. We didn't get an apology for this contamination and it felt like they were blaming us for somehow putting the meat on my plate (the meat in the vegan dish did not look like chicken). They remade the dish and it was nice on the second try, but unfortunately the contamination tainted our dining experience.

Overall, the staff didn't know how to handle this situation and we feel like this could have been dealt with better. After they almost made us pay twice for the meal that got sent back, we ended up leaving the restaurant 2...

Himalayas is one of our go to's in Rangiora and the food is authentic Indian, without the flavours all being same same as you find in other Indian restaurants. We went on Saturday night 5/10/24 and as usual the food was great however the service was very poor. We got an obviously new waitress who tried hard by was belittled by her fellow waiter, an older male Caucasian. She was too young to serve drinks and it took 20 minutes for him to pour our drinks for her to serve the first time and 15 minutes the second time. This was woeful as there were only 15 people in the restaurant including us!!! He either fawned over the 2 tables he was serving, mucked around with the till or spent time in the kitchen instead of watching and being attentive to the whole front of house. We felt sorry for the young waitress as when ever she asked a question she was told off or belittled. It certainly took the pleasure out of the evening and if he was serving next time we'd go...

The very friendly manager welcomed us to the restaurant and seated us, pouring lovely cool water and handing us menus and wine list. He then allowed us time to read both lists and decide on our choices. Have you ever had a 'hoverer' who comes back every two seconds to see if you're ready to order? This guy was great, arriving at just the right moment. We ordered our wine, a Last Shepherd Pinot Noir, which was beautiful. I watched as he opened the bottle and sat it for a short time to let it breathe. He then took our orders. I loved the pakora vegetable entree and the butter chicken was amongst the most delicious I have eaten anywhere. The cheese and garlic naan bread was beautifully hot and the flavour superb. In Rangiora, look them up! You won't be disappointed....