Saturday, January 22, 2022
Four of us brave diners tonight at the "tibetnepalhouseresturant.com" in Pasadena. CJ picked this out because they serve Yak and none of us had ever tasted Yak before. No parking lot, very limited street parking and CJ had to park in a structure a couple of blocks away. At least restaurant patrons got a discount. A very small restaurant but after 6:00 they became busy. I am glad we had only four people at the table. Any more would have been way to crowded with bottles of wine, glasses etc., In this case fewer was much better. This restaurant is not set up for large groups of people.
We started out with Potato Pickle Salad. Potatoes, spring onions, cilantro, chili, turmeric and roasted sesame seed paste. We forgot to ask for mild. Very hot, my back palate was really feeling it. The white wine helped to tame it a bit. Flavors were very good but way to spicy for the rest of us.
Cj then went back and told the waiter that we needed mild on all our dishes. He could handle to heat but the rest of us could not.
Next was a plate of Vegetable Samosas with peas, potatoes and Tamarind paste. These were good. But I have had better and then again I have had worse. Just standard Samosas.
A plate of Yak Momo's appeared. Momo's are like dumplings. The Yak meat was ground and it tasted a bit like very lean, grass fed beef. These had good flavor but a tad on the dry side.
Then cane a large bowl of Yak Stew. Had potatoes, caraway seed, onions, garlic and spices. Flavor was excellent. The Yak meat was sliced, a light grey in color and a tad bit chewy. I would say similar to grass fed beef that never saw a corn finish. We are spoiled in this country because our beef is finished off the corn and grains before slaughter. No where else except maybe Japan with it's Wagu beef does this happen.
Next was a plate of Vegetable Phling. Mushrooms, vegetables, tomato, spices and very, very thin transparent bean noodles. Again excellent flavors.
Tandoori chicken was exceptionally good. Moist and tender.
I did not try the Lamb Tiki Masala. It was made with onions - tomato creamy sauce with Himalayan spices. Fellow diners said it was good.
We had two types of bread. Garlic Naan and Dhopzi which is a stone ground wheat bread similar to Naan.
Topped off the dinner with a "Masala Teapot". Himalayan herbs, tea and cooked in milk. Very good.
All the wines were good. The 2005 Chateau Montelena, Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon was outstanding. I brought the 2012 Clos Pepe, Sta Rita Hills, Pinot Noir which was exceptionally good also. The two other wines were a 2015 Tercero Verbiage Rouge which was good with the real spicy dishes and a 2014 Roco, Private Stash # 12, Pinot Noir. I believe this was from Oregon. A light pinot but very good.
A very good, interesting dinner. Always looking for a new adventure.
