Chomolungma restaurant in Canberra
Located in a little cobblestone lane in a suburb of Canberra is a Nepalese restaurant. I wanted to try eating there as I had not eaten Nepalese food before and as it was a friends birthday we decided to celebrate here.
It’s a quaint little restaurant which is quite nicely decorated inside. There was only one other couple dining when I arrived and when they left only one other arrived, so a quiet night for a Wednesday at this restaurant.
As their website says…Chomolungma is Tibetan and means ‘The Goddess Mother of Mountains’ and refers to Mount Everest. When my friend arrived, we ordered some Roti bread [which was pan fried and tossed with ghee] and a main course each. We decided not to share as my friend wanted to order a meat dish and of course I only eat vegetarian food.
We were given complimentary pappadams before our meal arrived which were great to suppress our hunger as neither of us had time for lunch that day. Then pretty much straight after that our meals arrived. I also ordered white rice and a mango pickle dish.
Our waitress told us that Nepalese food is influenced by the Tibetan cuisines from the North and Indian from the south which makes extensive use of spices like cumin, Himalayan pepper, chillies, garlic, coriander and many other spices. I must say with my meal I didn’t find there were enough spices and my friend said the same about her dish. My dish was the green beans, potatoes cooked with tomatoes, onion and garlic which was nice but I just thought it needed a bit of spice to liven it up.
My friend, the birthday girl ordered the beef with vindaloo sauce…
After our main courses were served, our waitress told us a little bit about the chef who was born in Nepal who when he was growing up had an interest in how his meals were prepared by his mother. This interest then led the chef to commence work in the hospitality industry in 1996 in Nepal and is now an expert in Nepali cuisine.
(photo courtesy of http://www.tripadvisor.com.au)
Something interesting I learnt about the restaurant is that if you order the Nepali Thali which is a meat or vegetarian meal made up of a selection of dishes, it comes in a tray with little dishes. Really Thali means a round platter used to serve food and that is exactly how the meal is served. The idea behind a Thali is to offer six different flavours of sweet, salt, bitter, sour, astringent and spicy on one single plate. The plates looked great. I wish I had ordered this!!
(two photos courtesy of http://www.mapsofindia.com)
Lovely night, probably would return just to try some other dishes, especially the Thali.
Sophie said:
Sue, I also find the concept of Thali highly interesting AND entertaining! Maybe the flavors are deeper in the Thali that they were in your dish taht lacked spices? I had Nepali food only once in my life, in Shanghai, but I remember tasting quite different dishes, mostly based on melted cheese, which I love. I guess Nepali cuisine is as diverse as other cuisines 🙂
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Amy said:
Looks so delicious! I love Indian food, flat breads are so wonderful.
You always post the best food photos, Sue! 🙂
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Little Miss Traveller said:
The food looks delicious even if it was lacking spice. I’ve eaten in Nepalese restaurants in England and found the food to be delicious.
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carentaylor said:
The Thai platters look amazing…I’m sure it will be worth another visit to sample them ~ Hope your friend had a lovely birthday this time as well 🙂
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sidran said:
Mostly thali also has some dessert.
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feralc4t said:
Looks great, shame it needed more zing..
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vinneve said:
I never had a Nepalese food before so hope I can taste one someday. Is it the same taste or similar to Indian or more of Thai or Malay?
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
It’s funny how in Shanghai you can have any food if the world really. Good to know about the melted cheese as I didn’t know Nepalese food had it. I have also learnt from you it’s ‘Nepali’ food. Thank you Sophie.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much Amy. Lovely comment.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Good to hear Marion I will definitely return and order something else now I know there are some delicious dishes.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you Caren. My friend did with some nice presents I bought her. Always nice to have little surprise presents to open I think.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Oh I didn’t know that. Thank you!!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
The vegetarian curry I had was similar to Indian but not as spicy. And my friends meat dish seemed to be a little more similar to Malay.
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sileas said:
I agree, the Thali looks mouthwatering and it’s nice to get a little bit of variety. So far what I know is that Nepalese food tends to be milder than Indian which might be a little surprising for those who expect a super spicy experience…
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vinneve said:
That is good to know… seems I can taste it like that haha! 🙂
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Leyla said:
Looks yummy 🙂
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carentaylor said:
To receive a surprise gift on your birthday is always amazing…no matter your age, I’m so pleased she enjoyed it! 🙂
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you Leyla.
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