I've been a fan of Indian food for years and was excited to hear about the new Himalayan Cafe in downtown Cheyenne. This week, I stopped by for the first time and was pleasantly surprised.

One of the biggest problems new restaurants in Cheyenne experience is service. Good help is hard to find, especially in a town like ours.

Wisely, the Himalayan Cafe serves lunch and dinner "cafeteria style", which allows for the small staff to acommodate customers quickly.

It also allows diners who are unfamiliar with Indian cuisine make decisions, which is helpful in a 'meat and potatoes' town like ours.

The menu features several popular Indian dishes, including chicken tikka masala, chicken vindaloo, chicken korma, paneer (a mixture of spinach and cheese), momo dumplings, naan bread, an assortment of cucumber and cabbage salads.

Chicken tikka masala served over rice, with chicken momo dumplings, naan bread and spicy cabbage salad. Rick Roddam, Townsquare Media.
Chicken tikka masala served over rice, with chicken momo dumplings, naan bread and spicy cabbage salad. Rick Roddam, Townsquare Media.
loading...

Unfortunately, you won't find butter chicken, tandoori chicken, jalfrezi, biryani, lamb rogan josh or somasas here. However, for more adventurous pallets, they serve a curry shrimp dish that is guaranteed to make you break a sweat.

Overall, the food is good, but not great. I've had better Indian food, but I've also had much worse.

The price is nice too. My meal included rice, an entree, momo dumplings, salad and a drink for under $15.

The cafeteria style service is fast. During the lunch hour, with 10 of their 15 tables occupied and a small line forming at the counter, I was able to finish the entire meal in under 30 minutes.

For ethnic food fans like me, it's great to finally have an Indian restautant here in Cheyenne. Let's hope local diners are brave enough to try it.

More From 101.9 KING-FM