Mount Everest - Taste of Himalayas

If you're ever looking for a cheap Indian buffet lunch Mt. Everest is the place to be, but if you're also looking for a questionably expensive Indian dinner restaurant, this would also be the perfect place to drop by. This is just my opinion though, since Johnny disagrees with me and thinks the dinner menu prices are average (in comparison to other Indian restaurants). 

The reason I think it may be questionably expensive is because of the location of the restaurant, near Bloor and Spadina, which is filled with reasonably decent priced restaurants, a far cry from the $40 you'd most likely spend on dinner here. (But perhaps I'm just being a cheap student?) 

With that said, Mt. Everest has very good food, especially for a $9.99 buffet lunch on a weekend.

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This is a terrible picture of the interior, but it's good enough to check out the waiters who are clad in white dress shirts and black dress pants. It's a very smart looking uniform which matches their very excellent service. They smile instead of frowning, always makes sure your glasses are filled, and answer questions odd questions like, "Are those monks or regular people humming?" 

The buffet does not have a very wide selection, just the regulars (more below), but I'm not complaining.

Butter Chicken, zucchini dish, goat curry, and Tandoori Chicken.

Aloo Mutter, mixed vegetable pokora/Indian fries, Chana Masala, and Peas Pulav.

Vegetable Jalfrajee.

Salad and Fruits.

Naan bread. They bring the naan bread to your table rather than having it at the buffet so it's always hot.

Kulfi (pistachio) ice cream:

This is a traditional Indian ice cream, and Johnny's untrained tongue said it tasted like gulab jamun. It's different from the ice cream we're used to, since it's hard like ice at first but melts and is creamy in your mouth. 

This is not part of the buffet but off of the menu.

Gulab Jamun:

Very sweet, syrup soaked balls that goes well with spiced foods. We mixed it with the rice pudding, which is good because the Gulab Jamun heats up the cold rice pudding (Kheer). Plus it's not as sweet when eaten like this. 

As you can see, we devoured the galum jamun.

I have a soft spot for a restaurant decor. They had a lot of postcards right by the front door from the Nepal himalayas since, aside from having Indian cuisine, have a bit of Nepali dishes as well. The music they were playing, which caused a great debate at my table, were of Nepali monks humming. This is a picture of the fake flowers on the table, which is always a cute touch.

Overall, I really enjoyed the food, especially the usuals like the butter chicken and tandoori chicken. There is nothing to complain about this lunch buffet, especially for the cheap price. However, since there wasn't anything extraordinarily outstanding about the food, I wouldn't go out of my way to come back for dinner and pay more for it.