Peng's Palate

360 South State Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

801.328.2077

$$

One of my favorite food critics, Jeffrey Steingarten (Of Food Network fame and author of The Man Who Ate Everything), once said when referring to Indian desserts  “Desserts in Indian restaurants. The taste and texture of face creams belong in the boudoir, not on the plate.” I have always felt similarly to Jeffrey and would go a step further in my abhoration of all things Indian cuisine. The food is over-spiced, complicated to it’s detriment, and very often an insult to my palate. I mean no disrespect to the 1 billion or so Indians around the world but there is just something about Indian food from ALL regions that I can’t take. Whether it’s yogurt, the preparation of lamb, focus on vegetarianism, the often foreign texture or bastardized usage of turmeric, cumin, and peas of all types; it just isn’t my cup of tea. When I think of Indian food, I have two thoughts that come to mind: 1) White folks who are so used to bland meat and potatoes that Indian food is the most exotic and palate pleasing (this group also brings to mind vegetarians who adore the diverse vegetarian options). 2) Curry and lots of it. But not the curry that Southeast Asians are used to. Instead, this Curry is much thicker, coarse at times, and with a very often overwhelming sense of spice. While it’s true that Cambodian, Thai, and Laotian culture are influenced directly by India ( Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism), sometimes that which is the initial influence is not the best.

Food often tastes bad because it reminds you of something you don’t like (this tastes like liver, okra, broccoli, barbecue sauce, etc) or food tastes good because it reminds you of something you like. “This taste like chicken!” “This reminds of this one thing my mom used to make!” and so on. That is how I approached Indian food for this visit. Everything that tasted like something else was usually something I could enjoy while the unfamiliar was pushed away like Peter Griffin does Kix.

Let me add that I was surprised by the selections of Indian cuisine I had. It helped to have my regional specialist and the world’s greatest South Asian, Kelly, from the Office. JK. Thanks to Rachel for putting up with my jokes about her ethnic cuisine and for giving me an insider’s view on the food, she was helpful in many ways. She also paid for the meal. And thanks to guest taster Tony. He ate the food Rachel paid for.

For the meal, I ordered the following (descriptions taken from the menu):

Vegetable Pakora – Seasoned mixed vegetable and chick pea flour fritters deep fried and served with tamarind sauce

I called this Indian Hashbrowns. The consistency was like a McDonalds hashbrown patty but had the distinct flavor that makes it Indian food.  Eaten fresh, it was crispy, salty, and faintly foreign. It was a perfect introduction to Indian food. Not too powerful and over-spiced.

Lamb Somosa – Green peas, minced lamb and spices wrapped in homemade pastry dough and deep-fried to golden perfection

Coxinha  – If you’ve never heard of it, then you’re missing out. Coxinha is a Brazilian tear shaped meat pocket that usually has chicken or beef in it. Somosa was very similar. It was wrapped in pastry dough and fried to the consistency of a meat pocket. The lamb though tasted slightly gamey and reminded me of taco meat. The sweet and sour sauce they provided was a real good complement. It’s really hard to get deed fried meat pockets wrong. Thankfully, Himalayan didn’t.

The sauces they provided for the meal were some of the best. Loved the mint sauce!

Himalayan Momos – Typical Nepali Style steamed chicken dumplings mildly spiced with onions, ginger, garlic and spices served with sesame seed sauce

It’s pretty obvious that these are potstickers. Don’t know where they got the name Momos and to be honest there is a bad and inappropriate pun there. Nevertheless, these steamed dumplings tasted typical and what you would expect in dumpling form. It was like any variety of gyoza, dumplings, potstickers, wontons, etc, you would find at Chinese Gourmet or at the Super China Market. I’m not taking away from Himalayan food but it wasn’t anything unique. It was however, still tasty (but pricey).

11 dollars for a handful of potstickers.

Lamb Tikka Masala – Lamb barbecued in tandoor oven, then cooked with onions, tomatoes, nuts, cream & spices

Don’t be fooled. This is not a sauce cup. It’s actually an entree in that small bowl of curry goodness. I’ve never been a fan of Tikka Masala or any curry type Indian food. Yet the lamb pairing with basmati rice really hit the spot. The flavor was not overpowering as I’m used to with Tikka Masala elsewhere and the lamb was the perfect texture of not quite braised and fall apart and not quite chewy and tough. The entree tasted even better when I took it home and put it on “real” rice, Jasmine .  The spice was adequate but I would have liked a bit more of a kick. Finely prepared, best thing so far.

Sauce cup sized portions! Luckily this Tikka was tasty.

Chicken Tandoori – Chicken leg quarters marinated in yogurt and spices, barbecued over tandoor oven.

I have a problem with Tandoori. It’s barbecue chicken that I could cook up myself or have made better elsewhere, no matter where I order the Tandoori from. I understand that part of the specialty in this dish is the Tandoor oven but honestly, I’d much rather have my chicken marinated and barbecued. The chicken was a bit overcooked and had a grainy texture either from the chicken or the spices.

As often as I order Tandoori, I end up wanting something different.

Gulab Jamun – Fluffy milk puffs served in rose flavored sugar syrup and a touch of rosewater; like a flour-less doughnut ball

Two small little balls, textured like corn-meal and over sweetened like flan.  I did not like this at all.

Galub Jamun - A song by the Indian Bob Marley

Naan – This is my saving grace. I love this stuff. Naan reminds me of (haha see how good food reminds you of something) being a little kid and coming home to watch I Love Lucy, snacking on flour tortillas grilled on the stove top

Naan is the ultimate Indian snack.

Himalayan is considered by many in Utah as the best Indian food. I am in no way an expert on Indian cuisine but this place may be hyped up a bit.  I’ve had Indian at places like Bombay House and Royal India and those places were better, albeit by not much. The food was decent and the experience what I expected but having the “best” Indian food, I assumed would change my mind about the type.

Friend Meter: None