Buffet Spread at Mount Everest Nepalese Restaurant

Mount Everest Nepalese Restaurant is the newest (and 2nd) restaurant to bring the food, flavour and culture of Nepal to Calgary.

Nepalese cuisine is a unique cuisine with heavy influences from both its neighbours India and Tibet. You’ll find lots of curries (masalas), rice, dumplings (momos), dairy and bread. Nepalese dishes can also be quite carb-heavy and fat-heavy primarily because they are located at such a high altitude, where cold weather is often observed.

There is one other Nepalese restaurant in Calgary, which is very popular—The Himalayan. Going up against such a heavyweight is always daunting, especially when Mount Everest just opened last year.

Not knowing much of the eatery, I ventured off to Mount Everest on midday Wednesday, where a lunch buffet was being served.

The lunch buffet wasn’t super big, but it they had both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. They had several curries and the staple, daal. They also had veggie samosas, veggie spring rolls, papadum, vegetable salad, tons of pickles & sauces and some dessert options (gulab jamun and rice pudding).

Vegetable salad and a bunch of pickles and sauces.

On my plate, I grabbed the saffron rice, veggie spring roll, veggie samosas, mushroom mutter, veggie korma, daal, pickles and mint chutney. I was also served a basket of naan as part of the meal. 🙂

Like I mentioned above, the food is quite carb- and oil-heavy, but they were flavourful! The naan was chewy, freshly-made and delicious! The veggie samosas & spring rolls were a bit plain, but you can dip them in the sauces provided.

Saffron rice, veggie spring roll, mushroom mutter, veggie korma, daal, pickles and mint chutney with chewy naan.

One thing I did not like was the ambience—it feels very dead. The restaurant is clean, but it looks old & dated and it is dark inside.

There are some Nepalese decorations, photos & paintings, and even prayer flags on the ceiling, but it still feels lifeless somehow. It’s not horrible per se, but I think they could do more to spruce up the place.

Prayer flags are strung along the Himalayas, in Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal

The restaurant is pretty simple with some Nepalese decorations.

If you want some good Nepalese food, come to Mount Everest for a cheaper and closer alternative to The Himalayan (those who live in the north). However, don’t expect particularly excellent service nor a great ambience.

Recommended? Your choice.

COST: Moderate. For the lunch time buffet, I paid ~$15, which isn’t a bad deal for a buffet. The Wednesday dinner buffet is ~$20. À la carte can vary between $8 – $20.

TASTE: Good. The food is good, albeit a bit heavy and oily. The vegetarian options included the mushroom mutter, veggie korma, daal, veggie samosas and spring rolls, and were flavourful. The pickles added a nice contrast of tangy flavour to the carb- and oil-heavy masalas.

ACCESSIBILITY: Moderate. Mount Everest is located along 16th Avenue and Centre Street, so it’s centrally located. There is some parking in the back, but it can get pretty cramped. Numerous buses also service the area.

ATMOSPHERE: Okay. Honestly, the restaurant looks outdated and lifeless. While there are some Nepalese decorations and even prayer flags on the ceiling, it still looks so dead. It also doesn’t help that it’s so dark inside, when it was a sunny day out.

SERVICE: 6/10. The service is just okay, but they will fill up your glass when needed.