Himalayan Kitchen — Restaurant in Rapid City

On our way back from Keystone, we stopped at this Restaurant for a lunch, after having read all the great reviews. The ambience and the interior was nice. The restrooms were clean and smelling good. The Restaurant staff, who attended to us, was a nice warm person with a pleasant attitude. We skipped the appetizer and went ahead with ordering the Main Course - Garlic Butter Naan, Onion Kulcha, an Entree (Kadai Paneer), and a Mix Veg Biryani. After around 15-20 minutes, food was served.

Naans were okay. Onion Kulcha was slightly more thicker than it should have been. Stuffing was less. We had asked for a few pieces of onions, on the side along with Naan and Kadai Paneer.

Kadai Paneer was totally disappointing. It was similar to having a kurma. Tasteless and watery. Even the bell pepper in the Kadai Paneer was little raw (not fully sauteed). The portion-size was good enough only for 1 Naan. This was not worth the price.

Next, came the Mix Veg Biryani. Looking at the Biryani, we were shocked. Being die-hard Biryani fans, we have a certain expectation of a Biryani. But, here, the biryani was pathetic. It was not even a proper pulao or a proper fried rice, let alone being a biryani. No salt, no spice, no taste. It was just some colored rice with few veggies added to it. And, to add to this, the chef had added sweet corn to biryani. Imagine sweet corn in biryani ! Lol :)

With this experience, we realized that the chef doesn't know how to prepare Biryani, nor, does he know how to prepare pulao or Fried rice.

Glad that we did not order any appetizer, else, we would have been mad at ourselves.

Time for the check. There was no check. We waited for 10 minutes for the check, but then, we were asked to walk over to the Front Desk to pay the amount. They did not have a printed copy of the check. When I asked for the details, they showed me a hand-written copy - which had the final amount on it. For the items that we had ordered, the final amount seemed relatively little too high. So, I requested for an itemized break-up.

We were shocked to find that a $4 was applied for the onions which we had requested on the side along with Naan. Just imagine - 4 half-cut pieces of onion, 2 small quarter slices of jalapeno and 1 small-piece of lemon with some chat masala sprinkled over on top. And this was $4. Wow ! This was supposed to be the Chat Masala from their menu - which we were informed at the time of paying the bill.

Folks - in my opinion, this restaurant is good for those, who do not know or have an idea about Indian Food, for amateurs. This restaurant is an example of WYOINWYG (What-You-Order-Is-Not-What-You-Get). Very expensive and Tasteless.

It was an utter waste of hard-earned dollars ! Totally...

This place was a definite winner for Indian food, especially the lunch buffet. Originally skeptical of trying ethnic food in Rapid City, but this place was wonderful. The service was very polite and the vibe was great. The perfect variety of joyful Bollywood music was playing and I could recognize many of the songs. As others have mentioned, there isn't much variety, so might not be ideal for picky eaters. But, the entrees that I tried tasted great.

The samosa/pakori chaat was amazing and it's usually not something offered at most Indian buffets. The chicken tikka masala was the right color and right taste. The chicken chili was unique, but also very tasty. I'm usually not a fan of lentils, but their daal makhani was tasty enough for me to go back for seconds. The mint chutney was very fresh smelling and flavorful. A couple of downsides - the mint chutney and tamarind chutney were too liquidy - I would've preferred them to be thicker. The gulab jamun tasted more like a different Indian dessert on the inside and didn't taste like a true gulab jamun. Loved the fresh warm naan that they bring to your table.

The plates were very clean for a buffet. Also impressed with the clean bathroom and neat decorations, especially the local artwork. This place's lunch buffet is priced a little higher than other places in the country, but it was tasty and I would return again if ever...

The food was okay. Very dry and not at all flavorful. They only have a mid 20th century cash register and can’t print a receipt that’s real. They just type the prices and print a ticket. Unitemized. We thought it was less than average until they charged us different prices than the menus presented. I tried to argue with them and explain that they needed to make the menus represent the actual price of the items so people weren’t blind sided by a ridiculous bill at the end of their meal. They just smiled and pretended like they didn’t speak English all of a sudden. Besides that, the wait staff did not explain that certain dishes were for two people so when we received the food from a different waiter she told us it was for two people. That should have been explained by the menu or the waiter taking our order. When I asked for hot, spicy, they just made it either extra spices, not peppers. The tea was the same. No flavor. Just a bunch of spices in it; still tasted like tap water. I’ve been to the Himalayas and this place sucks in comparison to real Himalayan food and most I’ve had around the U.S.

But it’s got to be illegal for the menu to list one price and have them make up a price at the end of your meal that’s $40 more expensive, not...