Today was Father's Day, and even though my son did not attend church with us in the morning, he was able to wake up once we returned home so that the two of us could embark on a Father and Son lunch at the new Himalayan Hut restaurant in Rock Hill. We have driven by it several times since it swtiched from being Yong China, and I have been anxious to go, and now I finally had someone willing to accompany me.
We showed up a little after noon, and there was plenty of parking in the lot and also plenty of room in the dining area (there were only two other tables occupied when we arrived.) We were seated at a table for two and asked if we wanted the buffet or to order off the menu. We both chose the buffet with water to drink, so we were off to the buffet line! There were three sections of food in the buffet, with the first having salad and sauces, the second having rice dishes, naan and some appetizer and vegetable dishes, and the third having the meat entrees. Since it was not too crowded we had plenty of time to look at all the choices and make some selections.
For my first plate I tried to select a little of everything, including both the plain rice and the biryani rice, some naan, and a small spoon of anything that looked appetizing (which was most of it!) I skipped the goat on the first pass since it was labelled as having bones, but I did select some tandoori chicken (which also had bones!) After sitting down and discussing my selections with my recently ethnic food enlightened son, he informed me that the goat was pretty good so I knew I would have to get some on my second plate. He also told me the first section with the salad (which I had basically skipped on my first pass through) included various chutney sauces which were very tasty just on the naan or with some of the other dishes. Being a lover of sauces I knew I would have to try some on my return visit to the buffet line. All the selections I had made were quite tasty, all having a distinct flavor of their own but also blending quite well together. My favorites were the chili chicken and the chicken tikka masala. The tandoori chicken was okay, but the entrees in the sauces were better.
On my second plate I skipped the rice and just got naan, some of the mango and tomato chutneys, some more chili chicken and some of the curried goat. The goat meat was a bit fatty, (hey, it's a goat!) but it was very flavorful with a rich curry flavor to the sauce. Yes, it was good too! And the two chutneys I selected were good with the mango chutney being quite sweet (almost like a marmalade) and the tomato chutney being quite rich and tangy. My son suggested I try some of the mint chutney so I tried a bit of his and it was also quite different, with a refreshing, cool flavor.
For my third and final plate, I grabbed yet another piece of naan (yes, it is that good!) and some more chutney and even added some of the vegetable dishes I had missed before along with some more goat and chicken. You can eat anything with naan! The service there was pretty good, with someone coming by regularly to refill our water and take away our plates, and someone else checking on the buffet to make sure all the items were replenished. I ran into one of the ladies from the Wash U School of Engineering who rides the Metrolink in the afternoon and she seemed to be enjoying herself making selections at the buffet as well.
All in all the Himalayan Hut seems to be a welcome addition to the Rock Hill area, where there had always been plenty of Chinese, Mexican or Italian offerings, but never anything like an Indian restaurant nearby. Both my son and I thought it was a good place to enjoy a buffet together with plenty of different flavorful offerings in a roomy, comfortable setting (House of India is somewhat more crowded with less space between tables.) We would definitely go back again, if we could find something there for my wife or mother-in-law to eat besides the naan.
Food Variety, Quality, Flavor, Service & Dining Comfort
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