Albert T.
Yelp
This is a really intriguing Nepalese/American restaurant located right outside the west end of Mt. Rainier National Park. It's owned by a famous Sherpa, who has a small section of the restaurant as kind of a museum to display his accomplishments and allow guests to purchase merch.
The restaurant offers free wifi, which was unexpected! I thought it would be empty when we visited for linner at 3PM, but they actually had a decent number of customers inside.
Chicken Thali ($22.99) - Quite an array of small dishes comes with this meal. Firstly a bit of lentil dahl, taking inspiration from the link with India. Flavorful with turmeric, allium, curry, cumin, and other spices, smooth and easy to eat. There's a kind of carrot and pea slaw, quite spicy actually, and also pleasingly piquant. Fresh veggies fill another side tray, and finally we run into the main two dishes. Firstly, perfectly cooked basmati rice, moist but with a nice tender yet firm texture. There's then boneless chicken thigh chunks in a very flavorful gravy that seems to be tomato based and seasoned very well. This is stewed, so it's a bit dry, but the gravy and rice make a great accompaniment. (4/5)
Sherpa Stew ($15.99) - Very vegetal and meaty tasty stew. It's a thick stew with tons of ingredients packed inside, including carrot, onion, and celery hand chopped into larger chunks. They veggies are softened but not mushy at all and instead still have a bit of a body. There are also green beans to round out the veggies, and then for the meat a good number of beef chunks. The soup is thickened into almost a gravy. I think it's mirepoix and tomato based, but I'm not certain. Regardless of ingredients, it's very flavorful. Overall, it's a very hearty homestyle stew, which seems especially great for after a long winter hike. (4/5)
Pork Momo ($15.99) - These seem to be homemade dumplings, with a thicker chewy wrapper, not doughy, and with a great pleating technique that ensures an even cook throughout. The filling is a compact, dense meatball, juicy, with the flavor of cumin, pork, and aromatics. The momos are served with a tomato chutney that also seems to be homemade. It's blended but still a bit chunky. It tastes a bit like garlic, full of balanced umami, without any of the strong acidity from fresh tomatoes. The momo pleats catch the sauce perfectly when dipped in upside down. (4/5)
Wildberry Restaurant was certainly a fun place to stop by for linner after hiking near Mt. Rainier! Considering that it's one of the very few restaurants in the area, it seems like a no brainer to visit for some good grub.
Bathrooms - Two rooms that require code, which can be found on the back of the drink menu.