Himalayas Indian Restaurant City Centre Christchurch — Restaurant in Christchurch

Went here hoping to meet my 2 friends, who had arrived earlier (and had finished eating), to join them for dinner, but was faced with abysmal service from the store manager. The restaurant was close to empty, yet, me and 2 other friends who I was with were not allowed to sit adjacent to the one where my friends were seated -- the adjacent table was for 6, so my guess is that they didn't want 3 people sitting at a table for 6. I suppose that makes sense but bear in mind the restaurant was close to empty with ample seating. So then we asked if all 5 of us could move to the big table, but we were outright refused. All this while, the manager was also talking to us in a condescending and rude tone. Eventually, he even said that he is refusing to sell to us. I don't believe our request was even close to being out of line. Apparently the 2 friends who arrived first said that the food was good, so it's a real shame that the service and experience I had was the complete opposite.

Edit to address the owner's response: Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, there are falsehoods in it, and I address them here:

First, my 2 friends did not only have a starter. They ordered a full meal — a sharing platter, the naan and a salad. The final bill was NZD 72.10: consisting approx NZD 20 of takeaways, approx NZD 50 which was consumed in the restaurant. I attach the photo of this particular meal.

Second, there was no redo/replate of the food to be done: my friend had just asked for the food to be served instead on a plate — simply for the food to be emptied from the takeaway container onto a plate. Perhaps there was some miscommunication here, but there was absolutely no need to replate the meal as if it had been ordered for a dine-in, which we communicated by saying that we just wanted to eat together in the restaurant.

Third, there was no offer to put an extra chair next to our 4-person table. I’m not sure how this retelling of the events came to be. When we showed up, we simply asked if it was possible to move to the big table with 6 seats, seeing as the restaurant was near-empty. Your account of being “nearly full”: 2 other tables taken by patrons. I’m finding it hard to understand how seating 5 people on a table for 6 is an outrageous request.

It is sad that when provided an opportunity to improve the service, this restaurent chose to respond with falsehood.

I will leave it to other discerning paying customers of this restaurent to make their...

The duty manager was rude, stubborn and had a rotten attitude.

I dined here with my partner. Food was fine, we were the first diners because we walked in at 5pm.

We had just flown in on a long flight, so towards the end of the meal I order 2 takeaway dishes for family members who were taking a nap at our apartment nearby. Anyway, they woke up and wanted to join us for dinner, and that is when things went downhill real quickly.

I asked the duty manager if we could change the takeaway to dine-in, and that my family members were coming to join us.

(1) He flat out said no. Said the packaging is different, pointing to the hot plate on the table. I said don’t worry about that, just use a regular plate. He then said its the packaging for takeaway. Now I do of course understand the costs and bother to the kitchen staff, but I said can you check if the food is still cooking or has been packed yet? First he said, “I’m sure its packed already”, but I asked him nicely if he could check and he begrudgingly walked off.

(2) My 3 other family members arrive. Mind you, now its 6+pm and there’s still only 2 other tables occupied, max 4 other diners with many tables empty.

Duty manager said he can’t join tables, I said sure, then how about we move to the table of 6 right next to us. He says no and directs my family members who just joined to a table of 4, a few tables away. I then ask him how my partner and me are going to sit together?

Like I said, the restaurant was 90% empty. Obviously I’m annoyed and point out how ridiculous he is being. It felt he was clearly trying to antagonise patrons and I have no idea why. Anyway, he tells us they no longer will service us and asks us to leave.

I was fuming but won’t let this spoil our vacation. Just sharing so others know what they’re potentially getting into and can’t wait for the restaurant’s inevitable defensive reply to...

It's been a while since I had returned to Himalayas (5 years ago or so). I used to go weekly with my collegues when I worked in the CBD, so as it appears I will be returning to the CBD shortly, I excitedly decided to give them a go - this time with my wife (armed with the purchased NZ Entertainment discount book).

I'll be honest, nothing had changed, reasonable curries, good location and reasonable service (recommend the Chicken Tikka Marsala personally).

The only things that I would remark upon is: The lunch price has increased from $12.00 to $14.50 with Naan (no surprises) They will not accept any discounts on their lunch menu (Entertainment book, Grab one, etc...).

I own up that my rating of three-star would normally be four-star (I'm a fan of fiery-Friday so I have a lot of experience here).

The reason for the three-star is because they are the first restaurant in Christchurch to reject the NZ Entertainment Book on a lunch menu (25% saving). Pretty much every restaurant who signs up to the book commits to the discount agreements. Not sure why these guys felt it was worth fighting against paying it for just a few dollars. Big question - will I return? Maybe after I've moved the relocated CBD team around all the abundant...