The Icelandic palate has been known to struggle with spicy food. It’s a common beef among 101 foodies that restaurants will tone down the heat for the local audience, for many of whom, a pinch of white pepper is reason enough to down a glass of ice water. I even remember one Thai noodle joint putting up a hilarious passive-aggressive sign in the window saying — to paraphrase — “If your food is too spicy, you can’t bring it back”.
Thankfully, some places don’t pull their punches. Himalayan Spice is one such restaurant. The menu contains a variety of traditional Nepalese dishes, all made from scratch on a daily basis. Many are mild, colourful, and packed with flavour — but for the spice-curious or heat craving, there are plenty of choices that come with a welcome zing of fresh and fiery chilli.
Made from scratch
Himalayan Spice opened in 2018 on Laugavegur, but when the pandemic hit, the downtime was used to relocate to larger premises on the Geirsgata harbourside. The new site has a smart, airy dining room that wears its heritage on its sleeve, with strings of colourful prayer flags adorning the ceiling, and a whole-wall graphic of the snowy Himalayas. The restaurant offers takeaway — the waiting area has a thick book about Kathmandu that you can work your way through from visit to visit — but it’s also a lovely spot for a sit-down meal. There are big windows on all sides, plenty of space between tables, and warm, attentive service; a large sliding door swishes open from time to time, giving tantalising glimpses of the busy kitchen as the food is prepared.
The restaurant is run by a Nepalese family, some of whom have lived in Iceland for decades. Our friendly server — whose brother-in-law is the chef — is happy to fill us in on the restaurant’s history. The idea for Himalayan Spice, she explains, was started when they were lamenting a dearth of their favourite comfort foods in Reykjavík. With little to no Nepali cuisine on offer, the family decided to open a restaurant and make it themselves. Their focus is on fresh ingredients, and cooking everything from scratch every day — even when that means putting in extra hours.
Not fucking around
The effort is visible from the first appetiser plates. Lamb sekuwa is most often served on a street-food style kebab skewer, but here comes plated up — a few chunks of smoky, spiced meat with a powerful tomato relish on the side. The Newari Choila is a chicken variant arranged on a nest of savoury, earthy puffed rice and fresh cucumber. My eyebrows shoot up as the piquant spice and chilli flavours sizzle in my mouth — “these cooks,” I think, “are not fucking around.”
When it comes to mains, the menu contains a range of lighter and more substantial options. There are chicken, vegetable, or paneer Biryani rice dishes — which I’ll be returning to try in the future — and various delicious Nepali-style curries, more focussed on spice, marinade, and dressing than Indian-style sauce. The Himalayan-themed thali is a good opportunity to taste many things at once, with small portions of hearty lentil daal, wilted spinach, and fiery vegetable and chicken curries. The only missed beat is the Mustang aloo — a slightly forlorn potato side, rather than a zesty, crunchy star of the show.
Mo’ Momo
The true main event at Himalayan Spice is the momo dumplings. They come in neatly folded vegetable, chicken, and saucy chilli variants that are then steamed or pan-fried. Steamed, they’re clean and wholesome, with the soft dough letting the fillings — with plenty of ginger and shallot — take centre stage. The fried versions have a seared crust and a satisfying, oily bite. We clear the platter in silence, pausing only to mumble praise, and dunk each dumpling in dipping sauce before popping them into our mouths whole.
The restaurant has a steady flow of customers throughout the evening, but is never full to bursting. It does fine, says our server, although business could always be better. We linger for a while, sipping on the zingy house cocktail, and scanning the rest of the menu. Those tempting Biryani dishes catch my eye again. It seems that Himalayan Spice has won two more regulars.
Visit Himalayan Spice at Geirsgata 3, and book at himalayanspice.is.
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