Everest on Grand is a small corner red brick restaurant that carries dishes from Nepal, Tibet, and North India. For this project, we focused on only highlighting the restaurant's Nepalese dishes. Once we entered, the Hindu and Buddhist decor of the cozy restaurant stunned us - lanterns hung from the ceiling, tapestries and art covered the walls, and small statues sat on ledges. We ordered takeout and the service was fast and efficient. Our food was super hot and fresh when we got it.
We called and asked which Nepalese dishes to order from the menu, and we were told to get momos, chau-chau, and chhoyla. For each dish besides the appetizer, we chose spice levels that ranged from mild to extra hot. Their spice levels are not to be underestimated - the peppers can really burn your mouth.
Momos are steamed dumplings native to Nepal served with a chutney sauce. We got the yak momos, which were filled with ground yak meat, garlic, onion, ginger, cilantro, and spices wrapped in a wheat-flour pastry. There was a good dumpling to meat ratio. The momos were complemented well with Everest on Grand's "special momo sauce," which is a creamy citrus chutney. The yak momos are an appetizer to share - they felt comforting to eat and you could eat the entire serving and get full. Paulina has never had yak before, but she enjoyed it - it was juicy, tender, and delicate.
Chhoyla is marinated lamb cooked in a tandoor oven with onions, tomatoes, peppers, and spices. The complex sauce was a winner in this dish - there was great heat from the spices blended in with citrus, tangy, and rich flavors. The lamb was cooked well-done, but was surprisingly moist and tender. The vegetables were perfectly crunchy and cooked delicately in the sauce. When we bit into the vegetables, the spicy sauces seeped onto our tongues. We wanted to drink the sauce - it was that good! There was more meat in this dish than vegetables - it would have been better to have more vegetables, because they were so good! The lamb chhoyla was the best dish out of our selection.
Chicken Chau-Chau are lightly pan fried wheat noodles with boneless chicken strips, carrots, and broccoli. The Chau-Chau had a beautiful dark orange color and the veggies were dressed with soy sauce. This dish was underwhelming, but it is a great choice if you are looking for a neutral dish to try. We decided to have this dish be medium spicy and this elevated the flavor of the noodles. Chau-Chau is a common snack in Nepal that usually comes in the form of instant Ramen noodles.
Everest on Grand is one of the few Nepalese restaurants in the Twin Cities and it's a spot to hit for great Nepalese cuisine. The portions were large and the prices reflected that. Next time we come, we want to try the traditional Nepalese soups, such as daal and geda-gudi. We are looking forward to coming back and eating in to enjoy the beautiful decor, as well as trying the North Indian and Tibetan dishes.