Himalayan Fusion

(tl;dr it’s good to tip $ 1 – 2 at buffets)
Would be five stars because the lunch buffet is really really great. However my lunch there was very strange, because we were only approached by a staff member when we were given water and when we asked for a check. Since it was a buffet, I understand the self service, but my friend and I were unsure if it was customary to tip, since we didn’t really speak to anyone and didn’t know who our tip would go to. We decided not to tip, and later read that it would have been good to leave a dollar or two. Oops — decided we’d tip well the next time we went. I ended up being charged 15%… Which was odd, because I never read a clause that said they would auto-​tip if you didn’t. I’m not upset, just thought it was a really strange thing to tip yourself if the customer doesn’t. Anyway the food was amazing and I will try this place again!

It’s time for the punishment, it’s time for the end, let the suffering begin. I hadn’t been to this place for about 8 years, and talked it up to some visiting family, from what I remember, but oh how our memories can be faulty. Oh how the loves of our lives can change into hated. This place needs wiped off the map, figuratively speaking, I’ll leave you figure out how to do that.
First off, I always liked the design and layout, and luckily that’s remained, but the rest has died with my memories. First thing, came to this place on a Saturday, when the hours had already begun (roughly 12:15). The ‘Closed’ sign was rotated so we looked inside, but it was a little dark. Then, out of the shadows, approached the «hostess», and there’s a reason that’s in quotes, but let me continue. She changed the sign to ‘Open’ and said after, «oh yeah, sorry, forgot to flip the sign around,» already acting kind of strange, as if she didn’t want us there in the first place.
We entered the restaurant and sat ourselves down on the seats near the front where you can wait. Please note we had two grandparents, four adults, and three children, including a 6-​year-​old, 1-​year-​old baby, and a 4-​year-​old. We waited a short amount of time, and no one came up to us, and seeing as there is no «seat yourself» sign my mother, with the 6-​year-​old, went up to the bar area. The CHILD asked the bartender, out of curiosity, what the mural behind him meant, which features a modern take on an Indian goddess or god. Dude was like «pfff, I don’t know,» with the rudest of tones, tossing up his hands, and walking away as if to say with his actions «screw you I’m out of this I don’t feel like talking to you idiots.» I mean, who has such a response to a grandmother and a 6-​year-​old? A simple, «sorry little guy, I don’t know,» would suffice. This put a dampening on the atmosphere I once loved, and the goddess on the wall seemed to leer at me as if to say «there is more, prepare yourself.»
Perhaps he simply had something happening in his life, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, or not. We sat and waited some more, noticing other people already eating, which makes the sign fact mentioned earlier strange. And we waited some more. After no one helped us, one of the young ladies asked the «hostess» if we would be helped for seating, in particular because we wanted to sit outside. She gave us a rude look, and then replied «ugh, umm, I GUESS I could help you set up a table,» taking her attitude with her as she turned around to go outside, whispering under her breath «this always happens around here.» So that was the end of it, and we decided to take our business elsewhere. The staff has become incredibly rude from what we witnessed on that fateful day, and from what I’m reading here the food hasn’t remained as good as I remember anyway. Let it die, Charlottesville, put it down like the pet you refuse to admit has already died.

The restaurant atmosphere is nice. It was not the best Nepali restaurant that I have ever been though. It was worth a try.

Love this place! It’s hard to try everything because I love the Tikka Masala so much but everything I have had is fantastic. Love the Chicken Chat. The owners are lovely and the space is cozy.

Good service, good atmosphere, quick service. Food was somewhat bland. I ordered the saag paneer. «Medium» was not enough, might need to increase the spice or heat

I come here regularly, and really enjoy the eclectic mix of Indian/​Himalayan food, with tons of veggie options. My only complaint is that I almost always enjoy it too much, as it’s a buffet at lunch. And love the seats & cushions!
So, save room, try a bit of everything, and take your time!

Great food, even at the lunch buffet! I can’t wait to come back.

I have eaten at the lunch buffet 2 or 3 times and I have yet to be disappointed. Their food for me has been consistent and tasty. The best indian/​himalayan food I’ve had, perhaps not, but I would certainly eat here again without question. And the staff is friendly!

Really good vegan options and the servers are very knowledgable about what is and isn’t vegan (I would have never thought to ask about the rice, but they have pots they make with butter and pots they don’t).

Place was not too bad. Clean but the service took a while when we went for dinner around 6:30 pm. The lamb curry was SUPER oily and greasy, the vegetable chow mein was really bland. The veggie samosas were huge and delicious though. Tamarind sauce and green sauce was delicious with the chips. The 16 $ 3 course meal for Restaurant week is definitely worth it when it comes around.

I’ve only ever eaten here for the lunch buffet (~$ 8) and its a great value for the price! There are a couple other indian places in town that have this place beat taste-​wise, but it’s still pretty good here! Also, they validate 2 hours of parking!

Last weekend, I had a craving for Indian food. We hadn’t tried Himalayan Fusion yet, but it’s relatively close to us, and we had a coupon, so we decided to give it a shot on Saturday night. Most restaurants on the weekend are pretty packed, but they had plenty of open tables, which we should have taken as a sign that it would be disappointing.
They brought out the traditional papadum and sauces. So far, so good. We started off with the vegetable samosas. This were okay, but they were lacking flavor, and they definitely could have been better. The meal continued to go downhill from there. I ordered the Bhendi masala, which is normally my favorite Indian dish. The okra was overcooked to a very poor consistency, and there were so many green peppers that it completely overwhelmed the flavor of the dish. We also ordered garlic naan on the side. It was so bland and lacked flavor as well.
I would not return to Himalayan Fusion. If you want excellent Indian, make the trek up to 29 to Milan.

I was expecting Himalayan Fusion to have at least a few Indian/​Tibetan fusion dishes and was extremely disappointed when majority of the menu consisted of standard Indian food. Had I known, I could have gotten better quality Indian food for the same price elsewhere.
I came here for dinner during restaurant week with my roommate. The food was extremely bland and unoriginal. The vegetable samosas, paneer naan, and vegetable momos had little flavor which is surprising for Indian food. The paneer naan was essentially naan filled with plain, unseasoned paneer. It could have benefitted from some extra spices. I have also only ever had homemade momos which are usually very spicy and flavorful.
Overall, I would not come back here again. However, I hear the food is worth the buffet price and selection so I might consider coming back for that.

First, let’s start with the value. The buffet was $ 8.99 in Saturday’s and has a large variety. There was a good combination of vegetarian and chicken dishes.
The atmosphere is cool and the service was good. The kitchen is open so you can see what’s happening.
There is some nice art.

This review is for dinner during restaurant week. We’ve heard great things about this restaurant but it was unfortunately very mediocre. For appetizer my friend got the vegetable samosas which were very bland. They were okay but we expected more than potatoes. I got the paneer naan which I had intended to eat with my entrée. I didn’t taste any paneer and the naan was kind of dry.
For entrée my roommate got the momos (dumpling like). She said those were also very mediocre but I guess she’s used to homemade momos. My waitress recommended the chicken tikka but I got the chicken tikka masala because I like to dip naan in sauce. The tikka masala was probably the worst I’ve ever had. I understand that this is a fusion place, but it was simply not that good.
For dessert we both got the rice pudding which I already didn’t have high expectations for.
Overall, the food was just incredibly mediocre. I had expected more flavors from a fusion place. Next time I’ll just stick with Milan or Royal Indian.

Judging by the mixed reviews of this place, it sounds like the lunch buffet is the way to go. It’s not the grandest of buffets, but has enough for a filling and satisfying lunch. And judging by what my lunch pals said, they seem to change up some of the menu items, which is helpful if the buffet doesn’t have a large variety. But I still think there’s enough variety to satisfy both vegetarians and meat-​eaters.
My favorites were the chickpea chips and the green mint. The chips were so thin but had the crunchiness that I love without it being greasy. I liked the flavors of the baked chicken dish but it got a little messy so I stayed with the masala. There were also two types of salads, which I thought was a little out of place because it wasn’t Himalayan or anything, but it’s still a good way to get your greens in.
The only big knock is the service. For a place that isn’t terribly busy, they sure do take their sweet time.

First let me say this is a fusion restaurant with a variety of asian flavors. So if you want some purely ethnic foos I’d recommend trying somewhere else. But if you want some really good food with an American twist and perhaps more than one ethnicity mixed in, try this! I was very happy with my curry dish. Good service. Nice atmosphere.

Went here for dinner during summer restaurant week 2014. Would probably not come back for dinner, but could see the lunch buffet having potential. Here’s why:
The entrees were delicious. We had the Malai Kofta (koftas in a creamy cashew sauce) and Chicken Vindaloo (we ordered it on the extra spicy side, duh).
The main reason I’m giving this place a 2 was the rest of the food and the service. The appetizers were less impressive than the entrees. The naan was decent (in the way that buttery, seasoned carbs can be) but the samosas were nothing to be excited about. The dessert was blah. I’m not a big fan of Indian dessert anyway, but the carrot pudding reminded me of cooked canned carrots you are forced to eat in preschool.
Our waiter, as well as the one we overheard next to us, was not professional. Additionally, neither waiter knew anything about the menu, which was frustrating when we asked questions. I’ve worked in restaurants while in high school/​college and am usually pretty forgiving when it comes to service, but I couldn’t overlook the lack of knowledge and care. My brother is the GM of a 4 star restaurant and couldn’t get past it either — they were perfectly nice but it appears as though there is a lack of training or oversight on management’s part.
So given that the lunch buffet requires minimal service and a variety of entrees, I can see why it’s popular in the reviews. But i wouldn’t come back here for any other meal.

Disclaimer: This review is solely based on experiences with the weekday lunch buffet special.
For $ 8 AYCE+ validated parking, this deal is hard to beat on the Downtown Mall. It’s not a huge buffet, but what they had was tasty, at the appropriate temperature and consistently replenished.
The naan was hot with a crisp/​charred texture on the outside and soft on the inside — perfect for soaking up all the sauces such as my favs — green mint and tamarind. As usual at Indian restaurants, I fill up on the dal (lentils) and chicken tikka masala, which had just the right balance of kick and creaminess here.
I also appreciate the fresh salad on the side, just to have something light on my plate.
The only reason I had to dock a star is because the service had been slow both times I visited, which seemed odd when it was a buffet. (e.g. waited a while to be seated and to get our check)

I wasn’t interested in trying the restaurant, having stopped here on a previous trip to Charlottesville and finding the waiter stuck-​up to the point that I left without ordering. However, a friend was hungry, and, after walking up and down the Downtown Mall, we stopped here because he likes it and he was the hungry one.
Like I said earlier, I wasn’t hungry and I wasn’t impressed with the buffet, so I ordered an appetizer, the vegetable samosas, off the menu.
The waitress this time was not rude, just a little cool. Also, the samosas were cool inside and seemed like they could have used an extra two or three minutes in the fryer. (I used to work in a restaurant. I know about deep fryers.)
The samosas were arranged very artfully on the plate with two different sauces forming a X and the samosas placed in the center of the X. However, lovely the arrangement, I did not appreciate it very much. Because of the arrangement, my samosas had sauces on them, and I didn’t like the sauces! It would have been better for the patron if the sauces came on the side, so the patron could decide how much sauces to put on the samosas, if any.