Himalayan Yak

Writing our post about Dhaulagiri Kitchen recently reminded us about another Himalayan restaurant we visited a couple of years ago - Himalayan Yak in Jackson Heights. We started a post ages ago but never finished it, so we figured we'd finally get around to it now. We had a Groupon when we went there, and after perusing the menu, we ordered a few dishes which were all from the Tibetan sections of the menu, but Himalayan Yak also had dishes that were of Nepalese and Bhutanese origin.

Our Groupon entitled us to two drinks (either beer or house wine), one appetizer, and two entrees. This was definitely enough to eat for two on a hot summer night. We started with a couple of Heinekens.

For our appetizer, we split the fried gyuma which came with three condiments. Gyuma was their homemade Tibetan style sausage filled with beef blood and ground beef, and was supposed to be one of their specialties.

We got the gyuma fried (instead of steamed) based on the server's recommendation. It was spiced really nicely, and if you didn't know beforehand you most likely would never guess that this was a blood sausage. The sausage itself was mostly nice and tender, but the ends were a little tough to chew at the tie-off point. Because they were fried, the skin also had a little bite to it, but it paired well with the tender filling.

The first entree to arrive was the sha-bhaley, Tibetan beef patties filled with beef, onion and ginger, which was served with a small side of dangtsel, a classic Tibetan salad of cabbage, carrot and tomato tossed in vinegar.

The salad was delicious, very light which was perfect for the weather. It was a good accompaniment to the patties. The patties themselves were obviously heavier. They were like little hamburgers encased in a doughy, fried pastry puff. They were spiced nicely and were quite filling.

For the second entree, we got the steamed yak sha-momos. At the time, A hadn't had momos before (but had plenty of similar dumplings), but M had gotten Tibetan food once before and had some really good momos. It was the first time for both of us to eat yak though.

All the sha-momos were dumplings filled with ground meat, cabbage, onion, scallion, cilantro, garlic and ginger. We got one of the last orders of yak, as we heard many people trying to order it during our meal and being told they were sold out. We had good timing!

If we hadn't known the meat was yak, we might not have known. The main thing was that they weren't that greasy at all. We're not sure if it's all yak meat or just the meat they used for the momos, but it was very lean. Despite that, it was still very moist, and very flavorful. The momos were pretty good, but we also just really love dumplings so are reasonably easy to please when it comes to them.

We liked our meal at Himalayan Yak and planned to return, but we don't get out to Jackson Heights as often as we should. The cuisines of the Himalayan region are definitely some that we want to investigate and learn more about.

Potala

Another place we stopped at during the Viva La Comida festival (previously here) was Potala, a Tibetan street cart usually located in Jackson Heights that sells momos. We love all sorts of dumplings and Potala had been on our list of places to try, so we were definitely going for momos.

For a very affordable $5 (their regular price), you get 8 momos, and the momos are not tiny. We got 8 beef momos and they came in one of those large styrofoam boxes with a small container of hot sauce (not pictured for some unknown reason).

I forgot, when biting into my first momo, that they can be really juicy and sometimes a little closer to soup dumplings in that respect, so it sort of spilled a bit before I realized it. The momos were so juicy and good. The meat itself was so flavorful that it didn't really even need hot sauce, but we added it anyway because we wanted to see what it tasted like. It was definitely hot, a lot more lingering heat than we were expecting, but it was good. The outsides of the momos are chewy and doughy, but just the right amount and not too thick.

The momos were quite filling, especially after the arepas (which we'll get to soon, hopefully), so it was a good thing we got the 2 things we wanted most at the start of our eating extravaganza. We would definitely pick up a box of momos again from the Potala cart. They were delicious!

Momos and Manchurian Sauce

The Chinese Mirch truck has been roaming the streets of Midtown for a bit, but I never had a chance to try it until today.  They specialize in Chinese-Indian fusion cuisine, offering momos (Tibetan dumplings), rice bowls (momos over basmati rice and vegetables), thukpas (momos in noodle stew), and sliders (baos).  The truck is apparently an offshoot of a restaurant, which has multiple locations in the Northeast area.  I haven't tried the restaurant but was excited to try something new from the truck!

I decided on the rice bowl with chicken momos.  Each bowl comes with Manchurian sauce or garlic sauce.  They suggested Manchurian sauce if you can take spice, and I took the recommendation. The primary ingredients in Manchurian sauce are ginger, onions, cilantro and green chili, and the spice definitely comes through.  It's nice to have a sauce where they don't hold back on the spice.  

Each momo consisted of chicken mixed with chives and other herbs.  On their own, topped with cilantro, and in the Manchurian sauce, they were really flavorful. The wrapper was soft and not too doughy, allowing the chicken inside to be the dominant flavor and texture.

The basmati rice under the momos was mixed with peas, carrots, green peppers, red onions, lettuce and cabbage.  The flavor of the rice bowl part came predominantly from the sauce but it was nice to have the vegetables.  It felt like a really healthy meal.

The portion of the rice bowl wasn't exceptionally large and I was hungry again a few hours later.  But I do recommend the rice bowl.  My favorite parts were the momos and the Manchurian sauce.  Those alone make this worth getting again. (Or you could just get momos on their own.)  I'm also curious to try the thukpa but considering summer is here, hot soup may have to wait!

Sherpa

After our awesome "happy hour," we went for a late dinner. We didn't really have any destination in mind so we headed down to Leidseplein. There are so many restaurants there and it's known for having places open late, so we thought our best chance at finding something would be there.

There were so many options, many of them crowded, and then we stumbled upon Sherpa, a Nepalese-Tibetan place. It wasn't that crowded and it was different from everything else we had already eaten in Amsterdam, so we decided to try it.


There were a lot of options on the menu ranging from Tibetan pizza to different stews. I had Tibetan food in the city before at Tsampa and liked it, but had never had Nepalese food. A had neither, so this was going to be an adventure for us!


We started with mango lassis and they brought over some crackers:


Then it was on to our main courses, both of which we chose from the Nepalese side of the menu. I got chicken with spinach, and A got some lamb dish. All the dishes are served with black eyed beans, rice and salad, which you can see in the background on the table. It was good. Sorry that we don't have more color to the descriptions but it's been over 3 months now (can't believe it's been so long) so unfortunately our memories are fading...


We liked our dinner at Sherpa. We probably wouldn't make a special trip to go back on our next trip (unlike some of the others and since there's so many places to try), but if you're in the area, we recommend it. It was a nice close to the day.