Nepali Kitchen

I've been to restaurants in Akron that are as good as Nepali Kitchen. I have never been to one that is better. I've gotten through about half the menu at this point, and haven't had a miss yet. The momo are excellent in any iteration, though the lack of certain iterations of them is the restaurant's weakest point. (Goat. We need goat momo. Please.) If you get the hot version of the dipping sauce, take it from me, don't slather it on the first time. The thukpa is fantastic. Smaller portions than you'll get when ordering pho, but just as filling. The roti is sturdier than one finds at Indian restaurants, and every time I've gotten it it comes out piping hot. This combination of factors makes it bloody well perfect for wrapping up a big portion of tikka masala, dipping in hot sauce, eating as is, just about anything you put your mind to. The kheer is great, but in the interest of full disclosure, I'm extremely easy to please when it comes to kheer. If kheer could be made nutritionally complete, I'd never eat anything else. My one failing here is that I've no idea how the appetizers are. Who has room?

It's difficult to find good ethnic cuisine in the Cleveland-Akron area. Not because it doesn't exist, but because most of the food blogs in the region are industry promoters, and the one magazine that regularly reviews restaurants sticks almost entirely to Cleveland's trendy northwest and downtown regions. Everything is seen through these cultural spectacles, and when the reviewers move outside the frame, they take all their expectations for flavor, service, and appearance with them. So...having come back from a trip through Columbus recently, where a local blog twigged us to the presence of a great Nepali/Tibetan food bar inside an Asian-Latino grocery store, I began to wonder whether we have anything like that in our neck of the woods, unsung though it may be.

And yes, there was one. Nepali Kitchen looks to be a former one story home, off the road in a mixed low-to-middle income housing and commercial area of Akron. But we didn't go for the neighborhood (which certainly appears safe), or the rut-filled parking lot. We came for the food.

We ate in. This isn't a bad experience at all, but if you're looking for sustained atmosphere, you're better off with one of the ersatz Chinese-American restaurants that dot the landscape. The room had seven 4-seater tables. Though scrupulously clean (which is true, too, of the kitchen, which you can see while on the way to the gents and ladies), it had a pair of low-end touristy silk screens and a poster of New York City, all hanging crooked. On the fourth wall was a painting of Gautama Buddha, with a lengthy, wide crack in its frame. A monitor was showing Bollywood videos.

Our waitress was courteous, though, and answered well whatever questions we had about some ingredients. We ended up getting three dishes, as we typically do: Pork Nepali Spaghetti, Chicken Momos, and Dhai Bhat Tarkari--the last being eat-in, only. (It comes with separate dal and meat or vegetable in sauce dishes, as well as a rice dish with other condiments, so it's not available for takeout. We assumed they'd had complaints about everything falling together in the usual styrofoam takeout containers.) All dishes came with 1 to 5 star heat. We went with a universal 2, in fealty to my wife's delicate stomach.

The mix of flavors was excellent. The momos came 12 to a dinner serving, with a delicate but savory sauce that didn't overwhelm the pasta contents. The spaghetti was indeed spaghetti, but the sauce was a meat one with no trace of tomato in the flavor. It blended well with the tender morsels of pork, which were numerous. The Dhai Bhat Tarkari, to which we added chicken (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options are available) was arranged Nasi Ghoreng-alike, with a few larger cups around the flavorful, very light rice. Again, the blend of each add-on to the rice was first rate--though keep in mind this is authentic cooking, so not tamped down for Midwesterners who think spice means salt, and heat means black pepper. We had plenty left over; in fact, enough for two more meals. And the prices were quite reasonable.

While we were there around 2 PM, Nepali Kitchen kept doing a good takeout business. I suspect it gets quite brisk during lunch and especially dinner hours, so if you're interested in that, you might want to get your order in on the early side.

All in all, we were very pleased with this restaurant. We didn't go to it with atmosphere in mind so we weren't unpleasantly surprised, but it's not the kind of place you'd ordinarily go for casual conversation in a soothing or sporty environment. It's serviceable, but the food's great. And with ethnic cuisine, that comes first.

First off, I was not a giant fan of Indian food. After about a year or two of hearing people that work or live in the North Hill area raving about Nepali Kitchen I finally decided to stop in.

When I first saw it you could tell it was a hole in the wall place (especially after hearing how good it is). I decided to go with chicken curry because that's one of the most basic Indian dishes I know of. The smell of the dish was not a distinct curry smell that I've always associated with Indian food. It is an interesting mix of Asian meets Indian (where Nepal falls). The rice was light and fluffy unlike most takeout rice. Within the curry sauce I could taste curry and chilies but the cilantro is what stuck out to me. I ordered it spicy and it was a little less than I expected.

After eating this meal I now want to continue to explore the Indian cuisine, specifically the Nepali Kitchen menu.

Very tasty! Went twice and both times it was very, very delicious. Some of the dipping sauces you can't choose a spice level and they're pretty spicy, so be warned if you're not a spice person, but I was and it was delicious!

I came with two others, we all ordered bhatura and the curry gheeu. I got paneer gheeu. It was very wonderful. I ordered a spice level three which was very spicy for my liking but very tasty. I will order it again. The air conditioning was not on, sadly, but the heat was not unbearable. My only complaint is that they are skimpy on the refills and you have to ask. The food takes awhile to make but it is well worth it.

Wonderful food and very helpful staff. We have now eaten there 6 times and can't make up our minds what the best plate is. Will try to discover one this weekend. Visited a higly ranked Nepal restaurant in Orlando last week and it couldn't hold a candle to Nepali Kitchen.