Namaste Himalaya Restaurant — Restaurant in East Devon

Overall an average experience, which for us was disappointing due to the good reviews.

I'll start with the good. The restaurant had a nice vibe, background music playing and everyone chatting. We were seated and served promptly, and overall the meal was nice. The naan was the best I've tasted in a while. Also the prices were reasonable.

But the bad, while not exactly "bad", the meals were just average. There was nothing wrong with anything we ate, it was just forgettable food that I wouldn't crave or even think about afterwards.

I was expecting to be blown away by the combinations of spices, but just wasn't. Everything was nicely cooked and tasted fine, but no better than any other curry I'd had recently.

One thing I noticed was how quickly the food came out. It didn't seem to me like it was cooked fresh, more like it had been cooked earlier and reheated. I can't say for sure, but the whole evening did feel a bit rushed to me.

Another thing, there seemed to either be a very limited range or drinks, or the waitress lacked knowledge. She asked us if we wanted a drink, I replied that I'd like a gin and tonic, she asked what gin I'd like? I asked what they have, and she didn't know. I did ask for Tanqueray but she hadn't heard of it. Then she said they have "normal gin, Gordons". Er... Ok I guess I'll have one of those then.

The starters were ok, but a touch disappointing. I had a Tikka starter and it only had 4 pieces with no side salad and no mint sauce, just served with onions and a slice of lemon. It was a bit dry tbh and while it tasted ok it was a bit bland. We also had the sesame chicken which was nice, but only lukewarm.

And again, the main courses were fine just forgettable. Everything was nicely cooked, the meat was good, I just wasn't blown away by it despite having the chef's special.

So overall a pleasant but forgettable experience. I may return another time and try some of the...

For anyone who likes food from the Indian sub-continent, the Namaste Himalayan would be a must.

As well as having all the dishes you'd expect in a traditional Indian restaurant, they also have some excellent Nepali specials.

The owner and staff are from Nepal and are keen on promoting their specials, which were delicious, but are equally good at cooking the other dishes.

Evidence of a full restaurant and a very busy take away business indicates that it already has a good reputation in the town, but we came upon it one evening and were really impressed by the experience.

For starters, my husband opted for Mughlai, Seekh Kebab, cooked in the Tandoor on metal skewers making the meat cook all the way through. I opted for another Nepalese special the Himali Chicken Choila. The Choila was spicy, but flavoursome. The spices were well mixed so you could pick out the cumin, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and little hot chilles, while they combined to make a tasty and inviting whole.

For mains we had two similar dishes as each other, one with lamb the other with chicken. These are called Khasi Ko Masu and Kukura Ko Masu. I could pick out flavours of bay, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, garlic and tomatoes, but I think there were other flavours there too – whatever they were they were zingy and delicious. We eat the Ko Masu with plain and pilau rice, Keema Naan and Cheese Naan, both Naans were soft and fluffy, with no hint of fattiness. I have had Naan bread where I've need cuffs to stop the oil dribbling down my arms as I eat it, these were the opposite of that...

The owner greeted us warmly as we entered and asked us if we had booked. This place was busy even at 18:00. Sadly no tables available unless we could eat in 45mins? I liked his challenge "my job is to cook quick, your job is to eat quick". Challenge accepted, we had a round of poppadoms, chicken momo (steamed not fried- chefs recommendation), then the namaste himalaya mixed platter, khasi ko mashu-lamb, sag aloo(extra garlic) himalayan mixed veg curry & two naans. Food arrived promptly as promised and was delicious. Mouth watering sizzling plate of lamb chicken prawn on a bed of onions. The mashu had that lovely zing from the sichuan pepper without being overly hot or over powered. All of that amazing food... and I probably would still say the best bit was the first bite of momo.. can't beat a well made momo in my book, and these were excellent 😍 Highly recommended restaurant, just missed personally thanking the chef/owner for being so...