While looking up the last restaurant in the 52 Meals Project, Lassi , I came across a review by a disgruntled restaurant-goer who found that place’s food O.K. but its lassis laughable, chiefly for their size-to-cost ratio. He reported that for truly tasty and inexpensive lassis, one needed to go to the Lower East Side to the Himalayan Cafe. So I did.
The place is small with four four-chair tables and, in the corner by the window looking out onto Houston, a couch draped with a regal purple cover flanked by two low chairs and a small table. It adds coziness to an otherwise scuffed and bare bones decor.
I sat facing the counter and to the right in the corner was a tall, ill-lit cooler containing cans of soda and what appeared to be some of the restaurant’s ingredients: a 25-pound cardboard box of Rome tomatoes, two gallon jugs of milk and assorted metal and plastic mystery containers. On the wall at my table was a small, framed poster of Shri Kalachakra Mandala, a Tibetan representation of the Wheel of Time, featuring a blue, four-faced deity with 24 hands and two legs.
I ordered a menu special from the large chalkboard above the counter, the shapta, a Tibetan spicy beef dish sautéed with ginger, garlic and onion, served with rice or bread. While waiting, I enjoyed the pleasant chopping noises, followed by sizzling coming from the kitchen, which I could see from my seat. My dish was made with both sautéed and fresh green onions and was nose-runningly spicy, which was fine by me. It was a generous portion that I thought nonetheless expensive at nearly $10, although the menu’s many vegetarian dishes are much more reasonable at nearly half that price.
And my mango lassi was refreshing and cheap. Served in a pint glass, it was only $2.50, compared to Lassi’s eightish-ounce serving for $4.75.
Himalayan Cafe
- 78 E. 1st St. (between First and Second Avenues)
- (212) 358-0160
- Meal 25/52: large lassi ($2.50) and shapta with rice ($9.99).