KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * *
Spanish food is going to be the next big thing, I'm told. I've been told this every year since some year now consigned to the past century, and in the meantime Thai, Nonya, Mexican, Latin, Thai, Goan, slow food and molecular gastronomy have been the next and then the last big thing.
There was even a brief flirtation with Portuguese cuisine, but only brief: the stirring of lust tends to quake at the thought of 365 varieties of salted cod.
Well, if Anshu Thapa knows his lentils, la gente espanola are out of luck again. He recently opened "New Zealand's first Nepalese fine-dining restaurant" - Himalaya - on the gentler slope of Parnell.
"For many New Zealanders, this will be the first time they can experience the real taste of Nepal," says Thapa, a statement few could argue and which sent me to my reference books.
Molecular gastronomy again: squeezed between the nuclear powers of India and China (Tibet, to be politically incorrect), Nepal's cuisine is naturally influenced by Tibetan themes in the north and northern Indian dishes in the south. Central food is a unique mixture of the two.
Rice and lentils are staples; cumin, fenugreek, coriander the favoured spices. Southern food differs from the Indian we know because it's easier on oil and spices. Northern tastes include bamboo shoots, pickled and dried vegetables.
And although 80 per cent of Nepal's 28 million are Hindu, cultural and religious affiliations muddy the clear soups further.
To re-create this, Thapa has imported herbs, spices and a chef.
To knock the bastard off, we decided a four-person team would set out from base camp and attempt to trek through as many platters as possible. Tom and Sue, who are not really Tom and Sue but have asked us not to use their real names, or Tom and Sue because all their friends have figured what their real names are, were our most experienced culinary trippers.
They had been to Nepal for a long weekend and Tom brought the photos to prove it.
There are eight Bhok Lagyo (entree, for those who don't speak Nepalese) and by asking for a couple of Ganje-majhe (assorted platters) we managed a round-trip ticket.
Highlights: Sadeko Masu, shredded chicken seasoned into a saffron-esque yellow by light oil and herbs, served cold. Malekhu ko Machha, not too far removed from our own shark without the taties, fish nibbles dipped in spices and fried. Mismas Tarkari ko Pakoda, lightly spiced vegetable patties akin to pakora.
Less enthused with: Phool Bhitra Parikaar, eggs, stuffed with chicken, deep-fried in pickled mint chutney ("like curried egg," Tim thought) and the slightly greasy Piro Aloo, pan-fried dices of potatoes coated in herbs.
Momo take the highest point on the Khaas Khana (mains) menu. The signature dish of Nepalese cuisine, they're little dumplings like pot-stickers or dim sum. Bite through the outer layer of bland, steamed dough to a filling of minced meat - pork, lamb, chicken, not beef because of the Hindu and Buddhist beliefs - mixed with ginger, garlic and coriander and served with achar, a relish that is to Nepal what Watties ...
Second campfire favourite travels under the impressive ticket of Jhinge Machha ko Tarkari, which translates as "marinated prawn meat in piquant Nepali gravy and garnished with fresh spring onions".
Not so taken with Ledo, a southern dish with Indian connections: lamb cooked in a thick curry, not as spicy as we've come to expect. Meatballs, served with nine different kinds of beans stewed in their own juices, lacked flavour to our Western palates. Like several dishes on the night, we felt they cried for more ... well just a pinch more, oomph.
We finished with desserts - Kheer, or rice pudding garnished with roasted, dried fruits, and Haluwa, squares of semolina cooked in milk and dry fruit - and compared.
Were we moved? Yes, some items were unique, other dishes less so. Would we come back? Yes, but probably to share the entree platters rather than the fuller meals. For as the Nepalese proverb has it, "Anything tastes good when you are hungry, but when you are full even the sweetest of foods is unappetising."
Address: 123 Parnell Rd
Phone: (09) 362 0215
Web: www.himalayarestaurant.co.nz
Open: 7 days, 11am lunch, 6pm dinner
Cuisine: Nepalese
From the menu:
Prawn coated in light herbs and spices, crisp-fried $10
Pork, chicken or lamb in thick Gorkhali curry $18
Icecream flavoured with herbs $6
Vegetarian: Options a-plenty
Wine: Limited
