[UPDATE: Post about new restaurant opening on Thursday, November 4th, in the old Himalayan Kitchen space, is here: “Harissa Mediterranean Cuisine to open this Thursday.”]
Some sad news I accidentally ran across just this morning (on a site about data mining, of all places):
Last night, I visited my friend Sheila, owner of the Himalyan Kitchen [2255 NE 65th St] in Ravenna, Seattle. She told me the sad news that they were going to be closing the doors today (so we managed to have one final meal there).
The Ravenna Blog JUST got take-out from the establishment last Thursday, October 21, and saw no signs then that they would be closing.
We’ve got no official confirmation of the closure yet, but we’ll do some investigating today. Look for an update this afternoon.
As potential eulogy, I offer this review of the Himalayan Kitchen from the Seattle Weekly (August 9, 2010), and this excerpt from it, which really sums up the place for me:
With the monster portions they serve, it’s easy to find yourself sitting in The Himalayan Kitchen for a few hours picking away at your dish, which is totally fine. The restaurant is occupied mainly by families with kids darting between tables and fighting over the free lollipops, which gives the place a lively ambience. Servers treat you like family, telling you to save your rice pudding for last. Also, the background music was something lifted from the soundtrack of a spaghetti western, which is bad-ass. I mean, who wouldn’t want to feel like the High Plains Drifter munching on curry?
FYI, Sheila mentioned that the new occupant would be a Lebanese restaurant.
Well, I guess I’m happy that they were able to find someone to take over from them so quickly.
If this is true, this makes me very happy. (Not at the current place closing, but that good Lebanese restaurants are few and far between.)
Hope springs eternal in my heart for PHO on NE 65th. Somebody tell me what I can do to make that happen.
A Lebanese place would be cool. But, I’m bummed that the Himalayan Kitchen is gone. I hope the new Indian place across the street didn’t drive it out — our one visit there wasn’t impressive (to say the least), and the fake 5 star reviews on Yelp aren’t increasing my confidence any…
Wha? Fake reviews? How do you figure?
Here’s the link on Yelp, for those who want to investigate further:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bernus-indian-restaurant-seattle
I agree, I am a reviewer on there, and it appears that there are suddenly MANY 5 star reviews to bring up the 1-3 star reviews given by people who live in the neighborhood.
I did find both of the restaurants to be spendy, but at least the Himalayan was tasty, where Bernus fell very short of expectations.
However, it looks like the restaurant was split and the Himalayan is one side and a new Harissa Mediterranean Restaurant is the other side. I look forward to an update from the Ravenna Blog.
Hmm. Perhaps there is a way on Yelp to report those? I’ll let you work on that. 🙂
I JUST drove by and saw the papered-up windows with the new sign. I shall investigate further tomorrow morning.
I hope they’re splitting the space. I used to manage another restaurant on the block, and we wondered whether the Himalayan place could afford the double space they had. Hopefully they decided to scale it back (and pay half the rent).
The new place only put up a banner on the left side, so we’ll see. I’ll peek in tomorrow.
Well, they HAVE split the space. And I have heard from a neighbor what went in the other half, but I need to verify that bit first.
Another “delayed” sign of the times. So the economy is supposed to be bouncing back, so Ravenna/Wedgwood is supposed to be a wealthy neighborhood. Then why are all of our neighborhood restaurants so quiet lately? I have made it a goal to frequent ATLEAST one local spot every week. They have all been eerily quiet, atleast during the week. Most of these are family owned establishments who are trying to pay the bills. If WE don’t support them, the only thing left will be University Village, and we will be left with shuttered doors. Sad .
We live a few blocks from the Himalayan Kitchen and are heartbroken that it’s closed. It was our favorite local restaurant, and we always enjoyed chatting with Sheila when we went. The ambience and food were just perfect. Does anyone know whether Sheila and the family have opened up a new place elsewhere, or where they have gone? They will be missed.
They have another restaurant, on Capitol Hill. I believe it is India Express. Here’s the website: http://www.indiaexp.com/