Himalayan Delights vs Moti Mahal

There’s only a few meals I’d take over a good curry, and so we were rather pleased when we learned that our new house was fairly close to an excellent curry house called Himalayan Delights. Lou and Steve even went so far as to make us assure them that we’d share our first Himalayan Delights (“Himmo’s”) experience with them, which eventually we did, and we were suitably impressed!

However, in the other corner, dearest Mel also told us of her favourite curry house – Moti Mahal – which just happens to be only a stone’s throw further away. Sure, it sounded okay, but when Himmo’s was so good, why would we want to chance something different? Well, one fine September morning when Kristy and I were desperate for a curry for lunch, we gave them their opportunity, after finding that Himmo’s didn’t cater the lunch service.

Ahh, how fickle favourites are – suddenly there was a new contender on the block!

Since then, we’ve enjoyed curries from both restaurants on a few occasions, and each time our loyalties seem to shift with the meal. But no longer! Last night, we had a terrible Himmo’s experience! Lea and Dean were around for dinner, and we’d sold them on the promise of some excellent curry – and Himmo’s failed to deliver! Firstly, they told us the meal would be ready in 25 – 30 minutes, yet it was closer to an hour before I was walking out with the curries. Secondly, they gave us the wrong curries, which I didn’t discover until I got home! I promptly called them, and they advised we should bring the curries back in, and they’d swap them over for us (which I did). But when I got there, there was no apology – other than a very fleeting, “sorry”. And no compensation either -not even freshly prepared curries! They’d been sitting in their “warmer” (read “esky”) the whole time! And the straw that broke the camel’s back? All the dishes were sub-par. I mean, they were okay, but far from the glorious curries that we recalled from our first experience.

And so, that’s it for me. To be honest, Moti was slightly in front as my preference to begin with – I think their curries are less oily, and they’re slightly better value – but I was lured by a “buy one get one free” voucher for Himmo’s. (Actually, they didn’t even let me use it, since we hadn’t ordered an entree – which was part of the fine print that I didn’t read before ordering). But like Alanis says – you live, you learn – and I’ve learned that for the best curries in the Everton Hills area, Moti Mahal is the way to go.