What to Order at a Nepali Restaurant: A First-Timer's Guide

If it's your first time, order a plate of steamed momos, then one main: thukpa if you want something warm and mild, sekuwa if you want grilled meat, or chowmein if you want something filling. Most of the chilli heat sits in the achar sauce on the side, so you decide how hot it gets.

That's the short answer. The rest of this is the detail: what each dish is, which words on the menu are worth knowing, and how much to order for one person, two or a group. It's based on our menu at Snax, but most of it applies to any Nepali menu.

Start with momos

Momos are steamed dumplings, and they're the easiest way in. There are three fillings. Chicken is the mildest and the most familiar. Buff is buffalo, richer and juicier, and it's what most Nepalis order at home. Vegetarian is cabbage, carrot and onion with the same spices, and it's a proper dish rather than an afterthought. If you're with someone, get a plate of chicken and a plate of buff and compare.

They come with achar, a tomato and chilli dipping sauce. Dip each one, eat it in a bite or two, and go easy on the first because there's hot liquid inside. If you want to know more first, we explain what momos are in a separate post.

Then pick one main

• Thukpa if you want comfort. It's a Himalayan noodle soup in a spiced broth built on ginger, garlic and tomato. Warm, mild and hard to get wrong, which is why it's our usual suggestion for a first visit. We do chicken, buff and veg.
• Sekuwa if you want meat. It's marinated meat grilled over high heat until the edges char and crisp, Nepal's answer to a barbecue skewer. We do buff and pork.
• Chowmein if you want a big plate. Nepali chowmein is smokier and more heavily spiced than the Chinese version. Our buff sukuti chowmein is the signature, with air-dried buffalo through the noodles for a deep, smoky chew. Chicken and veg are the gentler options.

Menu words worth knowing

• Buff: water buffalo meat. Richer and denser than beef, and the traditional momo filling.
• Sukuti: air-dried meat, usually buffalo. Smoky and very savoury, a bit like jerky.
• Sekuwa: meat marinated and grilled over high heat.
• Sadheko: cooked meat or vegetables tossed cold with mustard oil, lemon, raw onion, coriander and a lot of chilli. This is the hot one.
• Achar: the dipping sauce. Ours is tomato and chilli.
• Timmur: Nepal's cousin of Sichuan pepper. It gives a faint numbing tingle rather than heat.

How hot will it be?

Heavily spiced, but not always hot. Ginger, garlic, cumin and coriander build the flavour, and the real chilli heat mostly lives in the achar, so you control it. The exception is sadheko, which is built around raw chilli and is properly hot. If you want to stay safe, steamed momos and thukpa won't catch you out. Our guide to ten Nepali dishes goes into the heat in more detail.

How much to order

A rough guide, not a rule:

• Just you: a plate of momos is a light meal on its own. Add a thukpa or a chowmein if you're properly hungry.
• Two people: one plate of momos to share to start, then a main each.
• Four people: two plates of momos (chicken and buff), then a sekuwa, a chowmein and a thukpa shared across the table.

What about dal bhat?

Dal bhat is what Nepal eats every day: lentil soup over rice with a vegetable curry, greens and pickle. If a Nepali restaurant has it on the menu, it's worth ordering. We don't serve it at Snax. Our menu is the momo-shop side of Nepali cooking, so it's dumplings, noodles and grilled meat. If dal bhat is what you're after, read about the Thakali khana set, the most celebrated version.

Where to try it in Auckland

Snax on Commerce Street in Auckland CBD is two minutes from Britomart. Have a look at the full menu, or order for pickup or delivery.