Ed U.
Yelp
I so wanted to love this place because I found out about it from a Nepali Lyft driver who was taking me to SFO. I shared with him that I had been to Nepal, enjoyed exploring Kathmandu, and that I was always in search of great momos (steamed Nepalese dumplings). We really enjoyed our conversation which of course, ended with me asking where the best Nepalese restaurant in the area was. This was his answer, and months later, I happened to be in El Cerrito to give it a try. Mind you, I've suspended my ingestion of momos for the time being in search of better nutritional health, but that didn't stop me from coming here for a quick Friday evening dinner even though this stretch of San Pablo Avenue gets mighty thick with traffic.
On a relatively nondescript block next to a popular taqueria and a nail salon, it turned out to be a square room painted in mustard yellow with some native accents on the walls. Since I was begrudgingly bypassing the momos, I decided to order the $6 Nepali Salad only to find out they were out of it (...sounded like just a regular house salad but oh well), so I splurged a smidge and went for the $9 Beet Salad, which was described as having roasted beets, baby spinach, goat cheese and parsley dressing. It was fresh for sure, but I doubt the beets were roasted since they had that unmistakably chewy flavor of raw beets. The cheese also tasted more like shredded jack than crumbly goat (photo: http://bit.ly/2z9r4ak), and yet, I rather liked it just the same.
I momentarily considered the $11.99 Vegetable Tandoori but got turned off by the prospect of a "light cream sauce", so I figured for the same price, I could get the Chicken Tandoori, which was a half chicken marinated overnight and arrived on a sizzling hot plate (photo: http://bit.ly/2ANnVtt). All of that was to be expected including the bed of onions and peppers that the pieces sat on, but what bummed me out was how charred and dried out the poultry was. I've gotten used to that with tandoori chicken breasts, but for a drumstick and thigh to be in the same arid state, that takes some effort even though I can't believe it was deliberate. I'm guessing their momos, curries, or one of their masala dishes would have elevated the rating for me but alas, it was not meant to be.
FOOD - 3 stars...the tandoori was disappointing but I should try other dishes sometime
AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...a popular spot though a bit crowded but not overbearing
SERVICE - 4 stars...the server was friendly, attentive and taking care of pretty much every customer
TOTAL - 3 stars...I probably should have asked the Lyft driver what to order here