While in Kathmandu, Nepalese restaurant opens in Glen Cove

Nepalese momos, or dumplings, are back on Long Island: Kathmandu’s Glen Cove is serving hard-to-find Nepalese delicacies since it opened Everest Himalayan Cuisine The one in Bellmore closed two years ago.

Momos here ($14 to $17) are filled with chicken, shrimp, buffalo meat or vegetables; all are available steamed, fried, or in a creamy, tomato-based broth (jhol momo). You’ll also find sekua, a Nepalese-style grilled skewer (chicken, goat or shrimp, $28 to $22) served on a bed of chiura, which is rice pounded flat and then dried for preservation, as owner Bikash Kharel explains. BT.

“In Nepal,” he explained, “not everyone has the means to keep rice intact. It lasts longer when treated this way.”

Kharel is a great source of information about Nepali food. You might not expect to find fish on the menu — mountainous Nepal is 600 miles from the Indian Ocean — but Kharel said freshwater fish is very popular here, especially in the town of Malekhu, where the local specialty Malekhu macha (fried whole) is found. fish) is served “at every pit stop”. An order for two here is $9.99.

Some of Kharel’s dishes bridge the gap between Nepali street food and food from other nations. “It’s traditional with a twist,” he said, “not tacos,” made with masala fries, masala wings, freshly made roti and garlic naan, and choila (spicy) chicken or jackfruit served with hummus. He’s also trying his hand at Nepalese-inspired buffalo burgers and fried chicken sandwiches.

While in Kathmandu took over the old Tavadecorated with bold murals; Kharel studied graphic design at university. Unusually for a South Asian restaurant, it has a full bar where you can sample three Nepalese beers while nibbling on momos.

The Glen Cove restaurant is Kharel’s second location; The original opened in Ridgewood, Queens, in 2017. Although he is from Chitwan, about 180 miles west of Kathmandu, he named the restaurant after the country’s better-known capital city. When he returned to Nepal, his father was a journalist and he fled with his family to New York and opened a Nepali-Indian restaurant in Maspeth, Queens, where Kharel started working in 2013. Kharel was joined in Glen Cove by his brother Parash Kharel and his cousin. , Bipin Bhatta.

It was his confidence in Nepal’s culinary heritage and his ability to popularize it that inspired him to open on Long Island. “I think people who haven’t had Nepali food will really love this.”

When in Kathmandu, 61 Glen St., Glen Cove, 516-277-1684. Open from Wednesday to Sunday 12:30 – 21:30, closed on Tuesday.