Mt. Everest Kitchen

You should really just skip this whole blog post and head over to Mt. Everest Kitchen immediately because it's awesome. It's also under new management, so if you've been there in the past, now would be a good time to give it another try. I hadn't been there before, but our server, who just took the restaurant over from his uncle, said that he had redone the interior and was in the middle of revamping the menu.

Not only did my friends and I get to try tasty Nepali food, we also got to learn about the culture. Our server (and the new owner) - I think his name is Amrit - kept bringing out complimentary dishes for us to try as he taught us all about the food, how it is made, how it differs from other similar cuisine, etc.

We started out the meal with Mo-mo (dumplings) - one order of meat dumplings, one veggie. Each order came with one soup. There were four of us and only two soups that were supposed to come with the dumplings, but our server generously threw in a couple extra soups so we could all have one.

We also got several orders of rooti, which we thought was like a "croissant-y naan." It looked and tasted like naan but with an extra flavor, sort of buttery.

While we were filling up on tea, bread, soup, and dumplings, Amrit also brought out some veggies in an orange sauce for us to try. I think the dish is called "achar" and it was a flavor I've never encountered anywhere else. If I'm looking at the correct dish on the menu, the sauce is a roasted sesame seed paste with cilantro, chili, and turmeric.

Finally, we moved on to the main dish, even though I think we were all pretty full already. Ben had a flavorful goat stew. He enjoyed it, but would have liked it to be a little more tender. Meredith had a chicken curry described as "typical Nepalese style" on the menu. It was similar to Indian food, but the Himalayan spices lent a unique flavor. Julia had a vegetarian dish of bamboo shoots and potatoes cooked with Himalayan spices, and I had a delicious lamb and potato curry.

Just when we thought we could not eat another bite, Amrit gave us yet another dish to try - a pumpkin dish. Did you know pumpkins grew in the Himalayas?? I'm not normally a pumpkin fan, but I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. It had the consistency of baby food, but we all found ourselves enjoying it immensely. "It would be a travesty if the baby food went to waste," said Julia as we were all on the verge of giving up on finishing everything.

The ambience was very cozy, featuring nice music and a mouthwatering smell. It was sadly empty the night we were there - no one else came or went throughout our entire meal. Please go check this place out! I really hope it succeeds.

There is a weekend buffet - I'm not sure if it's lunch, dinner, or both - so try a weekend if you're not sure you like Himalayan food. If you like Indian or Pakistani food, though, you'll almost definitely like this too.

Here's a fun fact - I was too busy stuffing my face to pay attention, but Julia recalls Amrit saying that in Nepal, they churn butter using bamboo stalks.

On our way out the door, Amrit gave us some sinus-clearing cloves which we chewed (and some of us spit out) as we walked down the street to the White Horse Tavern for pub trivia.

Address: 182 Brighton Ave in Allston (a pretty short walk from the Harvard Ave stop or the Packard's Corner/Brighton Ave stop on the Green Line B)
Phone: 617-254-4912

What do other bloggers think? Check out:
Les Gourmands du South End: At the peak of good eats at Mt. Everest Kitchen!