If you told me a few years ago that some of the best Himalayan cuisine in the Bay Area would be in Sonoma County, I wouldn’t have believed you. The wine country has some terrific restaurants, but culinary diversity isn’t the first thing that comes to mind — especially in the sleepy town of Windsor, where the aptly-named Himalayan Restaurant opened up last year.
I visited with my family on a recent afternoon, hungry and curious to sample their Nepalese and Indian specialties. We started with a yellow lentil soup.
Hearty and cumin-flecked, this is comfort food at its best. Pureed legume soups are de rigueur in a lot of South Asian restaurants, but not all lentil soups are created equal. This one was freshly cooked and richly flavored.
For lunch, I had the lamb momos. These were my first momos, and they were deliciously juicy and beautifully pleated. The ground lamb and onion filling was encased in a slightly chewy dough and served alongside a mild sauce.
My family also shared an order of lamb keema matar (so creamy! so spicy!), lamb tandoori (so sizzling! so tender!), brown rice, and green salad. The salad was run-of-the-mill, but everything else was outstanding. To end my meal, I sipped on a cup of masala chai.
I’ve been back a few times since my first visit, and service has been consistently warm and friendly. Windsor might not be the first place that comes to mind when I think of Nepalese and Indian cuisine, but the secret is out. Himalayan Restaurant is serving some of the best South Asian fare this side of the Golden Gate.