Restaurant Review :: Everest on Grand

When it comes to certain restaurants, I'm a creature of habit.  Everest on Grand is one of these places.  This restaurant gem is on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, right in between Lexington and Hamline.  It's a small, quaint place serving Nepali/Tibetan/Indian food featuring lots of cilantro (yay!) and they even have yak meat on the menu.  When they offered up a Groupon for their delicious food, I immediately snapped it up and proceeded to wait until the very last day to redeem.  Thankfully, Leigh and I got there for our work lunch before the HUGE Groupon rush.  Usually it's pretty quiet, especially for lunch, but it was a crazy fest that day.  Luckily I knew exactly what I was going to order.

We started out with vegetarian dumplings of the deep-fried variety.  They are called Kothe, which is a deep-fried dumpling stuffed with a mixture of vegetables (or chicken or yak!), onions, cilantro, and delightful spices.  It was served with this amazing sauce on the side that perfectly complemented these little deep-fried pieces of heaven.  I did not intend on eating my entire half of the serving, but I just couldn't stop and after about 5 minutes, the plate was totally empty!  These dumplings are just too good.



I ordered my favorite main dish as well -- palak paneer.  Sometimes I feel bad not mixing it up at my favorite restaurants and trying some new things, but if you have the option of eating something this tasty, why would you NOT order it?!  I love the palak paneer.  A creamy mix of spinach, spices, blocks of paneer (which is a cheese), with some tomato and cilantro as a garnish.  Mmmmm, LOVE it.  I spoon a generous serving of palak paneer over a bed of rice and chow down!  The best part is that the portions are so big, you can take half of it home and eat it for lunch the next day (or dinner that night...). 

Of course, it wouldn't be a full Everest meal without their garlic naan.  A warm, chewy piece of naan bread, sprinkled with bits of garlic AND cilantro.  Tear it into pieces and either use it as another way to eat the delicious palak paneer or just sample it plain.  Either way, it's super good. 

This place rocks.  The food is top notch and the menu is stacked with awesome-sounding meals.  And during the summer, they have outdoor tables so you can enjoy the eats with some Grand Avenue people watching.  I don't know if I'm ever going to venture away from this A+ meal, but I invite you to go and try out something new!  Maybe your comments will inspire me to deviate!