Two weekends ago Kim and I headed over to Everest on Grand in St Paul for dinner. We had originally planned on using up one of the “gift certificates” we had from a restaurants.com deal but realized that it was Saturday and it was not valid that day. We only ate two small dishes and while it was a fantastic meal, I didn’t feel that we ate enough to give a well rounded review. So after talking to Kim’s cousin Laura on Friday when we had her over for dinner at our house, we decided to meet for a Sunday lunch at Everest on Grand for the official review.
We arrived at the restaurant just after noon on Sunday and it was setup for their lunch buffet. It appeared that the majority of people eating on Sunday were there for the buffet as I only noticed one or two other dishes being delivered to the tables by the waitstaff. While Kim and I had a basic idea of what we wanted, we waited while Laura took a look over the unfamiliar menu and made her choice.
Kim and I had decided that we would try their combo meals as they offered a nice selection of food as well as some sides to go with the main courses. Kim went with their Ramtoria (okra) and their Palak Paneer and I went with the chicken-tikka-masaala and the kabuli chana (chick-pea curry). Laura, not being a fan of curries in general, decided on their vegetable Chau-Chau (more or less stir fry) instead. While on our first visit we were waited on nearly hand and foot by the staff, on Sunday we were not. In fact, if I hadn’t gone there once before I would have said that the service was a joke. On our Saturday visit my glass was constantly being filled and our meals arrived quickly. Unfortunately yesterday we had exactly the opposite experience. After waiting over 40 minutes for our food to arrive (they didn’t deliver any of the sides either which would have been a good idea IMO) I assumed that it was due to the buffet setup they weren’t prepared for two people to come in and order such large meals. I suppose that YMMV there.
Our meal came out and it’s served family style which made it easy to share dishes between us. As I said above, I wished they had brought out the daal and achar first as both would have saved room on our table and tided me over before the big meal!
Laura’s dish looked and tasted very much like stir fry and she said that she enjoyed it. Both Kim and I tried it and while it was good, it wasn’t something I’d order in the future as it’s something I could get at any Asian restaurant in town. As I have mentioned before, you can tell Laura’s interest level in a dish when she asks for a box to take it home with her — something that she did after we were done eating.
Kim’s palak paneer was good and when we had it the week before she said that it was even better than what she had at Sambol in Eagan several months ago and she said that her okra was also very good as well. When I tried the okra I found it to have very hard and sharp pieces of stem in the dish, something which was not pleasant to bite down upon without any warning. Kim never once complained about so I guess I was just being punished by some external forces ;-)
My dishes were fantastic. On our first visit when I asked for it to be “very spicy” (their hottest offering) the waitress said something along the lines of, “I don’t want you crying when it comes out and it’s too spicy.” Kim assured here that I wouldn’t have any problems eating whatever they had to offer. It certainly wasn’t too hot and I asked for extra heat this time to which they provided me with some sort of habanero hot sauce on the side. The chicken masaala was very good but the meat was a bit on the dry side even though it was sitting in the curry sauce. It wouldn’t be something I’d have again just due to the price and the fact that their vegetarian options are so very good but it’s something I’d recommend you have if you’re not a vegetable person. Both the kabuli chana that I had yesterday and the Chinese eggplant dish I had on our first visit were absolutely awesome. After eating them I said to Kim, “I want to go back right now and eat some more.”
The combo meals also came with the choice of dessert which we took one of each. Kim’s dessert (I don’t remember what it’s called) was explained to us as resembling a pretzel which is coated in a sweet syrup. I went with their rice pudding. After a short wait both came out. Kim’s did indeed look something like a pretzel and she said it tasted like a sweet funnel cake. My rice pudding was what I expected but it had some additional spices which made it a bit different than what I had when I tried it at various other Indian-style restaurants. We were both quite pleased with the desserts and even Laura, who tried Kim’s, said it was good.
Because we had so much food we had plenty of leftovers which we were happy to take home with us. Kim ate hers for lunch today and I had mine for a snack yesterday during the Vikings game. They were just as good as leftovers as they were for the actual meal so don’t worry if it’s just too much food for you.
I have to say that Everest on Grand comes very highly recommended by both me and Kim. According to the article in the Pioneer Press, she gets three words and for Everest on Grand they are: “Yummy, yummy, yummy.” I think that sums it up pretty well…
Have you ever eaten at Everest on Grand or have you tried Tibetan or Nepalese food anywhere else and have a suggestion of another location we can try (I know of Namaste Cafe’ and the Himalayan)? What did you think? Comment on, I’d love to hear your suggestions and thoughts!
Address:
Everest on Grand
1278 Grand Ave
St Paul, MN 55105
Phone:
651-696-1666
Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Friday and Saturday: 11:30 AM – 10:00 PM
Sunday: 11:30 AM – 9:00 PM
See all the pictures from Everest on Grand on Flickr here.
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December 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Been to Everest on Grand and loved it! You should try the Himalayan for sure. I wrote about it at the link below a few months ago.
http://camachowatcho.com/?s=himalayan
December 16th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Katie, I knew I saw a review of it somewhere I just couldn’t remember where. I probably should have searched my RSS reader before posting (*slaps forehead*). Thanks!
March 31st, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Everest on Grand was a major disappointment for me and my son last night since I had enjoyed the buffet previously. The lamb curry was tasteless and also the veg. curry. We ordered the medium spice—maybe shouyld have ordered the extra spicy. The yak balls were good– and we saved the spicy sauce which we added to the curry to make it edible.. Maybe will try it again but not motivated to do so. After such good reviews I wasn’t impressed.
April 1st, 2009 at 8:34 am
I’m sorry, did she just say “YAK BALLS?”
*falls over dead*
April 1st, 2009 at 9:42 am
You’re just mad because they don’t serve them at Chili’s.
April 1st, 2009 at 9:50 am
That is because they only serve GOOD food at Chili’s ;)
April 1st, 2009 at 9:55 am
Or they serve you Yak Balls already but call it Big Black Bean Tortilla Wraps With Salty Sour Cream instead.
April 1st, 2009 at 9:57 am
Like I would even eat THAT. Have we met?
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Thank you all for trying out Everest on Grand and your ‘honest’ critique of food and services helps us improve.
I just wanted to clarify to Joan Mayaa that if you find curries tasteless because they were not hot enough, you can always ask to make it more hotter. We do have hot and burning house ‘habernero’ sauce you can add on the curry. Only thing we can not do is to reverse the process, we can not make it milder when the curry is hotter than you expected — unless you add yogurt or Raita (salad dressing made with yogurt) in your curry.
And this ‘Yak Ball’ thing… is it supposed to be joke or a ridicule on an item which we do not offer on the menu.
We hope to see you and serve you again.
Owner
October 9th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
[...] This is definitely something that I recommend for groups of three or four. I ate way too much and I seriously did not even want to eat lunch the next day. The service was phenomenal, the meal was some of the best ethnic food I have ever had and it was another place where I wanted to go back and eat more as soon as we were out the door and driving home–much like when we tried Everest on Grand. [...]
February 1st, 2010 at 1:22 am
Our family stopped at Everest on Grand Saturday evening. I’ve been wanting to try the yak meat there for sometime and finally made it up there. We got there about 5:30pm and there was still parking available in back and the front room was empty. The rear room was full. I’m glad we got there when we did. 15 minutes later the front room was full and folks were starting to fill up the space between the door and the register. Thankfully we were at the table farthest from the register as I hate it when we get crowded by folks waiting for a table. Not much choice in a place this small though. My first tip would be to avoid the table closest to the register at all costs. I would rather give up that table to wait for another table further back to open up. I felt sorry for the two gals there last night. They were crowded by those waiting to the point of being uncomfortable.
Service was great when we first got there and there was no line. We were seated promptly, given water, had our drink orders taken and they came back several times as we tried to make up our mind. We got our orders in and then the place started filling up and service became rather sparse.
For an appetizer we ordered some plain naan ($2) and some Yak Kothe (fried dumplings with yak, onions, cilantro and other spices. We paid $6.60 for a half order, or 6 dumplings). On the side was a dish of momo achaar, a sauce of cilantro, tomato and other spices. The yak kothe was on the plain side, but still very good. When the sauce was added it was fantastic. I’m not good at describing flavors but I recall the sauce having hints of mild curry but with a sharper tang to it. I could make a meal out of these alone.
The naan was very good. Warm, soft and with a chewy texture. It also had a unmistakable sweetness about it that surprised me. Does naan normally have a sweet component?
We also were served our beverages. I had the Kathmandu Coffee which I’m guessing is similar to a spiced latte. I rarely drink lattes so I’m just guessing here. I loved it and was happy to hear that at $3 it included refills. The kids each had cans of pop for $1 each.
My daughter wanted some garlic naan so we ordered that. Again, very good, but at twice the price ($4), I’d rather go with plain naan and use it to clean my plate at I ate.
I had recently heard of chana daal, a soup made with a type of chick pea, onion, tumeric, cumin, and peppers and have the ingredients to make it at home. It happened to be the soup of the day at EoG so I ordered it to try it out, and to have a baseline for what I get around to making it myself. This was another dish I loved. I wish I could better remember how it tasted but at the time I hadn’t planned on reviewing it. You get a good portion for only $4. You can see a picture of it here:
http://tinyurl.com/yhhhh84
For the main course my 13 year old daughter and 8 year old son, who have a hard time venturing out of their safe zone, ordered Chicken Pakora, which…as far as they were concerned…was just chicken strips with a slightly odd breading and served with a sauce that could be described as a jazzed up ketchup. I was concerned they wouldn’t find anything they wanted here but they both liked it. I would only suggest it for those that weren’t very adventurous. $8.
My wife ordered the Palak Paneer. She really liked it but said it wasn’t the best she had eaten. $12
My 12 year old son had turned into quite the carnivore and prefers to order meat dishes where the meat is still on the bone. The Khasiko Maasu, or goat curry, fit the bill for him. He reluctantly let me try a piece of the goat which was very tender. He ordered it mild and mild it was, but very flavorful. He really liked it and I gave him high praise for ordering it.
As I mentioned before, i was there for the yak. I had done a bit of googling and found out that they get their yak meat from Hooper’s Yak Ranch near Cold Spring, MN ( http://www.yak-man.com/index.asp ). I looked over the menu for the yak dishes but unfortunately most of them used ground yak. I ordered the one that didn’t, Yak Chhoyla.
http://tinyurl.com/ygbzw3w
As they describe it, Chhoyla is your choice of boneless meat is marinated house sauce & spices, roasted in Tandoor oven, sliced and tossed with onion, green pepper, tomato, and cumin in hot oil. I found it be incredible! Fantastic even. The sauce had a certain tangyness to it that was unlike anything I have ever eaten before. For $20 the portion was very generous. I didn’t even get through half of it and imagine I’ll get 3 meals out of it. I ordered it medium hot and it had a nice lingering bite to it but nothing that made me sweat. I clearly don’t have the heat tolerance that Bill does. One thing about a dish with that much flavor, the actual flavor of the yak meat is hidden by the sauce flavor. Most of the meat was tender but a few pieces were not.
Along with all the dishes they served us, we had a bowl of rice and they told us they would keep bringing as much as we needed.
Since we were no longer being waited on due to the crowd (or lack of staff I guess), I sent my son up to get a menu so I could order a dessert. The person I took to be the owner saw this and came over to see if I need anything. I had him recommend a dessert for me and he suggested the Dudhbhari, a “fresh cheese” cooked in cream & sugar and topped with pistachio, clove, and cardamom. I didn’t care for the texture of the cheese, but the flavor of the dish was very good. I didn’t have room for it but managed to finish it while waiting for the “to-go” boxes.
After I fought my way up to the register the owner apologized profusely for their lack of prompt service and thanked me for my patience. Except for not getting enough water, it really didn’t bother me. For some reason I’m more critical of service at the chains than I am at independent restaurants.
Our total bill was $95 for the 5 of us and that was with no alcoholic drinks. I will definitely go back and I look forward to getting more Yak Chhoyla. Next time I’ll order some of their other breads, roti & poori, and try some of their other appetizers. I’m definitely sticking with the Yak Chhoyla though. It would be hard ordering something else knowing that I would be missing out on that. I’ll also order a different dessert and ask if they can cook up a small sample of plain yak meat so I can see what it tastes like.
Finally, I found a copy of their menu here:
http://www.everestongrand.com/root/ourmenu/menu_revised_feb1_2009.pdf
February 1st, 2010 at 1:24 am
Holy crap! I didn’t expect my post to be THAT long!
February 1st, 2010 at 10:33 am
Holy cats batman, what a review.
Thanks Lenny. Not sure why Yak meat sounds so odd to me.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Perhaps because “Yak” is a euphemism for “vomiting?” Just a thought (not a slam, though you all know I would never eat Yak because I prefer highly processed meats like the kind I can get at McDonalds, “I’m lovin’ it!”)