Taste of Himalayas
110 North 3rd Street, St. Charles, IL
Cuisine Type: Indian/Nepali
Price: $$
I was spinning a globe at work the other day (every employee gets one) and decided that wherever my finger landed, Theresa & I would try to find a restaurant with that cuisine. The first 65 times I landed in Antarctica (ok so they’re poorly made globes), the 66th time I was out in space somewhere (I landed on my tape dispenser) but the 67th time I landed in the Himalayas. Normally when I think of the Himalayas, I think of three things: mountains, mountain ranges and Mount Everest, so I can only assume the area’s diet consists of rock and glacial ice. Luckily Theresa reminded me that you can’t cook rocks and we remembered a place called Taste of Himalayas in St Charles that specializes in Himalayan cuisine, so off we went.
ATMOSPHERE: Located right off the main drag of downtown St Charles just behind the Filling Station, Taste of Himalayas is in a wide-facing building with a large patio out front. The inside is well-laid out and comfortable, has a fully stocked bar and few Nepali items for flair (look for the dagger on the wall), and felt equally accommodating to both casual and formal dress. The secondary dining area towards the back holds a lunch buffet and more seating.
DRINKS: There’s a full list of 22oz and 12oz Indian beers to try here. Theresa chose the Haywards 5000, a pretty straightforward and flavorful lager, and I chose the Flying Horse, a lager so light and sweet it was almost juicelike; it felt like the ultimate beer-to-cool-down-with-on-a-hot-day, I’ll have to look for it at Binnie’s this summer.
FOOD: The menu is primarily Indian cuisine with Nepali-style dishes and has a ton of vegetarian and non-vegetarian offerings like tandoori specialties, poultry, fish, lamb, veggies, breads and more. We ordered the kashi ko Bhutuwa appetizer, boneless goat meat stir fried with Nepalese spices and cilantro, a little lettuce & cucumber on the side: oh good god, delicious. Every time I’ve had goat it makes me wonder why more places don’t serve it, the meat has a natural sweet gamey/spice to it that was only enhanced with the crisped edges from the stir fry. We had to stop ourselves to leave room for the entrees on the way.
Our entrees arrived a few minutes later, accompanied by basmati rice and excellent tandoori bread. Theresa ordered the chicken tikka masala, marinated boneless chicken roasted in a spicy tomato sauce garnished with ginger & cilantro. The dish was everything she expected it to be plus more. The spiced & creamy tomato sauce complimented the tender tandoori cooked chicken and was quickly a favorite of Theresa's. I ordered the lamb palak, boneless lamb pieces cooked with fresh spinach and Indian sauce, garnished with ginger. Impossible to say anything bad about it, it was fantastic: the lamb pieces were big and tender, the sauce was thick, spicy and rich with a little heat to it, and it all mixed deliciously with the rice and bread. This dish can trick you into thinking you’re not eating as much as you actually are, because it won’t fill you up until 15 minutes after you stop, so I suggest taking it slow!
SERVICE: Friendly, quick and helpful service; our table was waited on by two different guys, each of whom couldn’t have been better if they tried, stopping over frequently to top off our beer glasses and ask if we needed anything else. The owner even stopped by to check on us, and I hope he understood (despite a full mouth) how enthusiastic we were about everything.
OVERALL: A great experience all around, we were thrilled to have tried it. It has different beers, amazing food, great service and is a short walking distance from plenty of St Charles bars. Prices can lean a bit upwards for some drinks & dishes, but everything else easily makes up for it. We were all praise, no complaints. Very highly recommended!
WOULD WE GO BACK?
Anytime, no globe needed!
- Review by Jon
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Spy who fed me.
Safe House
779 N. Front Street, Milwaukee, WI
Cuisine Type: American/Bar & Grill
Price: $$
Safe House was one of the most unique and coolest dining experience I think we've come across so far in our travels.
ATMOSPHERE: Safe House is a Spy themed restaurant in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. Not only is it "themed" after spies... it takes the definition of the word theme to a whole new level. Upon entering the establishment, which is located in a secret entrance in an alley, you are led to a room where you have to disclose to the woman a secret password to enter. (You'll have to figure the password out for yourself, it's more fun that way!) If you know the password you will be let in without a problem... however, if you don't, they will require you to do something to humilate yourself... such as hula hooping or doing a robot dance. Once you've done this, the secret door will open and you will enter the establishment... only to find that your humiliating experience was just viewed on multiple televisions throughout the restaurant. It's fantastic! Besides carrying on the whole James Bond and miscellanous spy movie theme, the whole restaurant filled with a slew of surprises. Secret doors, windows, mirrors, moving walls... etc. I won't spoil all of the suprises as you'd be best off witnessing them yourself. Make sure you walk around and explore every nook and cranny, there's so much hiding right in front of your face that you just might miss if you're not looking. All I can say is that it was one of the coolest, most interactive dining experiences ever.
DRINKS: They had a huge variety of alcoholic drinks. We opted to go for their custom Microbrew called "Code Beer" that was served in a souvenier mason jar glass. After you buy the glass (with beer inside) for $5.00, refills after that are only $2.50! That's a great deal! They also have a great selection of other various microbrews on tap as well. As far as signature cocktails, they have a wide range of those as well with their own signature souvenier glasses. There is also a $25 enormous martini that you can buy and keep the glass as well! As far as non-alcoholic drinks go, you'll find your standard sodas and such.
FOOD: The food here is your typical American Bar & Grill fare. We started with the spinach dip and pita triangles for an appetizer and it was delicious and addicting!! I opted for the Spy Burger with american cheese and Jon got the burger as well with a little mexican international flare(salsa & pepperjack cheese). The burgers were delicious and extremely filling and I was happy to see that they had crinkle cut fries to go along with it. Another person at our table ordered the Foccacia club sandwich and it was HUGE! Definately worth the money. The other entrees amongst our table included the Vegetable Lasagna with a cup of Tortilla soup and the Country Fried Steak. I didn't get a chance to taste those, but they seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. All in all, the food was pretty basic and decent for the most part, but you can tell the whole incentive to visit this establishment is for the atmosphere.
SERVICE: On a kind of negative note, I can't say that the service here was that great. Sure, it was Saturday night and extremely busy... and our waitress let us know that she had about 9 other tables to take care of... but, I would think that since this place seems pretty busy on a regular basis, that the owners should try and have more waiters on staff on the busy nights. It took a long time for her to visit the table initially... probably about 5-10 minutes and after we ordered each drink, it took about 10 minutes for her to bring it out to us despite the fact that the bar was right behind us. I was going to request some mayo with my burger, but didn't want to risk the 5-10 minutes it may have taken her to bring it out to me, so I just ate what I had in front of me. Maybe on another night of the week besides Saturday the service here is better, but again, I think the main focus here is on the atmosphere, not the service.
OVERALL: I'd say this is a great place to visit if you're in downtown Milwaukee. It's fun, unusual and unlike any restaurant you'll ever visit. The food is decent and the service is on the slow side, but it's great if you're not in a hurry, looking for some cool drinks out on the town and are looking for an interactive dining experience.
WOULD WE GO BACK? Definately! It would most likely be for the ambiance, but the food isn't bad either!
- Review by Theresa
779 N. Front Street, Milwaukee, WI
Cuisine Type: American/Bar & Grill
Price: $$
Safe House was one of the most unique and coolest dining experience I think we've come across so far in our travels.
ATMOSPHERE: Safe House is a Spy themed restaurant in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. Not only is it "themed" after spies... it takes the definition of the word theme to a whole new level. Upon entering the establishment, which is located in a secret entrance in an alley, you are led to a room where you have to disclose to the woman a secret password to enter. (You'll have to figure the password out for yourself, it's more fun that way!) If you know the password you will be let in without a problem... however, if you don't, they will require you to do something to humilate yourself... such as hula hooping or doing a robot dance. Once you've done this, the secret door will open and you will enter the establishment... only to find that your humiliating experience was just viewed on multiple televisions throughout the restaurant. It's fantastic! Besides carrying on the whole James Bond and miscellanous spy movie theme, the whole restaurant filled with a slew of surprises. Secret doors, windows, mirrors, moving walls... etc. I won't spoil all of the suprises as you'd be best off witnessing them yourself. Make sure you walk around and explore every nook and cranny, there's so much hiding right in front of your face that you just might miss if you're not looking. All I can say is that it was one of the coolest, most interactive dining experiences ever.
DRINKS: They had a huge variety of alcoholic drinks. We opted to go for their custom Microbrew called "Code Beer" that was served in a souvenier mason jar glass. After you buy the glass (with beer inside) for $5.00, refills after that are only $2.50! That's a great deal! They also have a great selection of other various microbrews on tap as well. As far as signature cocktails, they have a wide range of those as well with their own signature souvenier glasses. There is also a $25 enormous martini that you can buy and keep the glass as well! As far as non-alcoholic drinks go, you'll find your standard sodas and such.
FOOD: The food here is your typical American Bar & Grill fare. We started with the spinach dip and pita triangles for an appetizer and it was delicious and addicting!! I opted for the Spy Burger with american cheese and Jon got the burger as well with a little mexican international flare(salsa & pepperjack cheese). The burgers were delicious and extremely filling and I was happy to see that they had crinkle cut fries to go along with it. Another person at our table ordered the Foccacia club sandwich and it was HUGE! Definately worth the money. The other entrees amongst our table included the Vegetable Lasagna with a cup of Tortilla soup and the Country Fried Steak. I didn't get a chance to taste those, but they seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. All in all, the food was pretty basic and decent for the most part, but you can tell the whole incentive to visit this establishment is for the atmosphere.
SERVICE: On a kind of negative note, I can't say that the service here was that great. Sure, it was Saturday night and extremely busy... and our waitress let us know that she had about 9 other tables to take care of... but, I would think that since this place seems pretty busy on a regular basis, that the owners should try and have more waiters on staff on the busy nights. It took a long time for her to visit the table initially... probably about 5-10 minutes and after we ordered each drink, it took about 10 minutes for her to bring it out to us despite the fact that the bar was right behind us. I was going to request some mayo with my burger, but didn't want to risk the 5-10 minutes it may have taken her to bring it out to me, so I just ate what I had in front of me. Maybe on another night of the week besides Saturday the service here is better, but again, I think the main focus here is on the atmosphere, not the service.
OVERALL: I'd say this is a great place to visit if you're in downtown Milwaukee. It's fun, unusual and unlike any restaurant you'll ever visit. The food is decent and the service is on the slow side, but it's great if you're not in a hurry, looking for some cool drinks out on the town and are looking for an interactive dining experience.
WOULD WE GO BACK? Definately! It would most likely be for the ambiance, but the food isn't bad either!
- Review by Theresa
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