Everest Himalayan Cuisine, Encinitas, Downtown 101 Highway CA — Restaurant in Encinitas

WHATTA TREAT ! My wife and I love Indian food but these guys take it to the next level by combining Nepali, Indian and Tibetan fare under the one roof. Not that we are totally familiar with Nepali or Tibetan cuisine but we have certainly enjoyed our share of delicious Indian dishes over the years. On Friday we headed over here for dinner inside the restaurant at about 5.30pm. This was a FIRST because the restaurant had opened during the pandemic in November and the owners have played it very safe with no inside dining since then...until our visit on Friday evening. Even though they have use of the covered patio out the front ( no gas heaters ) we prefer to dine inside particularly in the cool weather lately. I had a chat with the manager Laxman on Thursday and he told me we would be welcome to dine inside for dinner on Friday. And we did ! When we entered the restaurant via the rear exit Laxman ushered us to a table against the wall. We were the only diners inside at that time. Laxman brought us a glass of iced water and a cold Lagunitas IPA beer at my request. When he returned we ordered 1 x Vegetable Samosa Appetizer ( we love these so much we ordered 3 extra serves to take home..only $4 a serve ), 1 x Chicken Korma, 1 x Shrimp Tandoori and 1 x Garlic Cilantro Naan Bread. Laxman manager / server extraordinaire was taking care of everything ..fetching take-out orders for customers, answering the phone, greeting new diners, looking after 3 or 4 tables on the outdoor patio plus us. Our Vegetable Samosa appetizer hit the table fast and tasted wonderful with the side of Tamarind dipping sauce ...GONE IN 60 SECONDS ! Our dinner order arrived pretty much in one hit shortly after. Firstly my sizzling steaming and colorful Shrimp Tandoori came out.....such a spectacular arrival I shot a video. My wife's Chicken Korma with huge bowl of Basmati Rice arrived seconds later and looked totally delectable. Our serve of Garlic Cilantro Naan bread arrived at the same time. My wife loved her Chicken Korma and of course piling it on the scrumptious Naan bread made it even tastier. My Shrimp Tandoori tasted perfect..juicy char-grilled shrimp, delicious veggies combined well with the amazing Naan bread. My wife boxed the remains half of her Chicken Korma & rice. By the time we asked Laxman for the bill there were another 3 tables being served inside the restaurant plus the outdoor patio was packed. And we could see they were doing huge take-out business..obviously the word is out that the food here is...

FOOD TO DREAM ABOUT ! My wife and I love good Indian food and we get even more than that ( Indian, Nepal & Tibet ) at this amazing restaurant. Of course it helps that we know Ishwari the owner from Himalayan Kitchen in Encinitas which he previously founded and co-owned for a number of years. I phoned Ishwari on Friday to make sure we could get a table inside on Saturday at 5pm...no problem Ishwari said. We arrived just before 5pm and parked in the parking lot behind the restaurant.....in the shade and so convenient. Ishwari was very happy to see us..it has been a while as he had been back in Nepal for a few weeks caring for his Dad until recently. We found a table near the front entrance and settled down. Glasses of cool water found their way to our table within seconds courtesy of Ishwari himself. An appetizer of Momo ( dumplings )...4 x Chicken & 4 x Vegetable sounded like a good start. A kind server named Satish brought me an ice cold glass to go with my ice cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale ( not a beer I drink much but quite a refreshingly good beer ). My wife has become addicted to Shrimp Tandoori as of late ( probably after seeing me enjoy it many times here and elsewhere ) while even though I wanted a shrimp dish...I wanted something with a sting in the tail plus rice. Ishwari suggested Shrimp Korma kicked up to about a spicy 5 level ( my suggestion ). It's not even on the menu...how's that for great service ! Oh and we had to have a serve of Garlic Cilantro Naan Bread. Satish our server brought out our Mixed Momo appetizer...so delicate and so yummy. My ice cold pale ale paired perfectly with the dumplings. And then it sounded like fireworks when our mains arrived.....my wife's sensational looking Shrimp Tandoori was still sizzling away as it was placed on the table. Our Garlic Cilantro Naan Bread and my Shrimp Korma incl huge serve of Basmati Rice came out too. My wife was in GOURMET HEAVEN ! Not to be outdone my Shrimp Korma and Basmati Rice blew me away.....with the mouth watering Garlic Cilantro Naan Bread. We pretty much got through everything in front of us...much too good to waste. Before we left for home we ran into our good mate Laxman who had been running the restaurant while Ishwari had been away. Amazing cuisine with top quality ingredients prepared by expert chefs and friendly service that will make you want to come back...

Indian/Nepalese cuisine is one of my favorite cuisines. I am South African and grew up eating eating variety of traditional curries and stews. I travel a lot for work and have had the fortune of trying some of the best Indian restaurants in the nation, including dozens of places in SoCal. Everest Himalayan Cuisine is by far, the best restaurant I've ever been to. This cozy casual restaurant opened in November originally for take-out. I am a big fan of dine-in, so I was excited to find out that they recently opened for dine-in. I came with my best friend (we're always looking for new favorite restaurants). We decided to get a couple things to share. Started off with the Lamb Momos. They were such a wonderful treat. For Entrees, we went with the Lamb Tikka Masala and the Butter Chicken with Cilantro Garlic Naan. While eating our Momos, an adjacent table received their Tabdoori Chicken and Lamb. It smelled and sounded so good, we decided that we would have to order more (we also ordered Chicken Vindaloo and Chicken Tandoori). Our food came, and when I dipped my Naan into the sauce, I nearly cried it was so good. It reminded me of a better version of my grandmas famous Tikka Masala. It's was then, that I knew this would become my new favorite place. It was so flavorful and luscious. All the meat was so tender. The Naan was supple, while pillowy and stretchy at the same time, (clearly proofed perfectly). Every dish we tried was the best iteration of the dish I've ever had. I usually order my food quite spicy (9-10), but if you like a flavorful warm heat, get a 5 to 7. We ordered another order of the Cilantro Garlic Naan to get every bit of the sauce. I know I'll be back soon. I really would like to try more of their dishes and their desserts. They also have a nice Lunch Special, I'd like to try. Thank you for sticking around, and reading to the end. I hope more people discover this new place; there's nothing like it, especially...