Yeti - Restaurant Review

OVERALL RATING - 

Address- 50A, 2nd Floor, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi-110016
Tel - 011-406 786 49
Credit Cards-Yes
Average Price - 900/- (Without Alcohol) plus taxes (VAT, Service Tax) and 10% Service charge
Alcohol - Yes (Beverage Menu attached below)

Try asking many a seasoned foodie about Nepalese, Bhutanese or Tibetan food in Delhi and chances are you will only hear them say Momos or maybe Thukpa, thanks to an overflow of eateries and roadside stalls selling these. But the cuisine from the Himalayan states is much more than Momos and much, much tastier. And it took me a visit to Yeti, the Himalayan restaurant in Hauz Khas village complex to discover it.

Now this visit to Yeti almost didn't happen. Personally, my experience with the Hauz Khas complex hadn't been to great before Yeti. Till last year, I had never been to the Hauz Khas Village side and my friend and ex-colleague Mojo (yup that's what we call him) got me to visit the Complex for the first time. Mojo is a foodie when it comes to eating out and knowing the best places to grab a bite in Delhi or having a nice drink. So, when Mojo volunteered to take me to this great restaurant that he knew, I jumped and grabbed on this opportunity. We went to this shack of a place on the rooftop and I ended up having the spiciest of food at prices I wouldn't call Value for Money. Apparently the place was a big hit with the expat population and as I roamed around Hauz Khas Village, I found that the entire place was full of the snooty so called chic crowd looking for ethnic pieces which had driven almost everything sky high on price. Burnt Tongues and a bad stomach made me vow never to step inside the complex again. A few months and one Old Delhi Nihari visit later, Mojo and I decided to go to Hauz Khas Village complex again. This time we decided on Yeti. I expected the worst and how wrong I was. This 50 cover restaurant is an experience waiting to unfold and take you on a journey to the Himalayan Kingdoms via the culinary route. Last Sunday, I took my better half, kids and my old college buddy Abhineet and his family. We had a blast stuffing ourselves with food and each dish elicited more oohs! and aahs! than the previous one.

Yes, they do have momos on the menu (Thukpa too) and much more. As you are seated, your steward serves you with a complimentary starter of fried chickpeas tossed in spices and also places two bowls of chutney, one absolutely fiery red one full of chillies and an orange one which is less spicy but spicy for sure.

We ordered the veg snacks platter (300/-) which consists of Wai Wai Sadeko  (dry wai wai noodles- a brand of noodles, tossed with onion, tomato, green chillies and lemon) , Aloo Sadeko (sauteed potatoes marinated in tangy Nepali spices) and Bhuteko Chana (Stir fried chickpeas in Nepalese spices). This is served with Tingmo (steamed Tibetan Bread) and chutney. If you want you can order these starters separately, but I just order the platter as I loved each one of them and the Tingmo has been a revelation. Apparently, they serve Tingmo with everything, and it goes just great with the spicy food.

For us meat lovers, we ordered the Shapta (300/-) which is thinly sliced buff (buffalo for the uninitiated) sauteed with onion, garlic and spices served with tomato and greens and a plate of Gyuma - Tibetan Sausages (350/-). Gyuma are the finest things I have tasted in a while now. Buff sausages wrapped in membrane and fried till they are crispy and yet retain their solid bite, they are the perfect accompaniment to cold beer. They were perhaps the reason Abhi and I had a few pints extra. And oh yes! we did order chicken momos (250/-) too, which I found a little tough and below standard. All these starters except the momos come with tingmo, so you can stuff yourself with more bread.

Our main course consisted of Kokra Ko Ledo - Chicken curry (350/-). We ordered plain rice (100/-) with it and this aromatic and delicate curry goes so well with plain rice. We also ordered crispy fried spinach (250/-) and it was heavenly, melt-in-your-mouth, like no one has ever done before preparation. Now please be sure to order "crispy" fried spinach and not fried spinach. We ordered fried spinach (thinking it to be crispy) and all we got  was a blanched tossed spinach preparation that tasted bitter. We pointed this out to our server and he promptly replaced it with the heavenly dish I wrote about a few lines earlier.

The service was good and the setting neat. The portion sizes are huge and considering the cost per dish it is not only a value for money but a steal. Be sure to book in advance, if you plan to visit during the weekend as this place has a huge waiting, especially during Lunch hours on weekends. We booked an hour in advance and we still had to wait for 15 odd minutes. Luckily the place is open throughout the day, so you can always land up for brunch or late lunch. Believe me you will not be disappointed ... I haven't been on three occasions...and going by Abhineet and Suparva's look, they weren't either :)

FOOD - 

SERVICE - 

AMBIENCE - 

Note: They have apparently also opened an outlet in Malviya Nagar, I haven't gone there so I cannot comment on how much their standards are compared to the Hauz Khas outlet and this review shouldn't be taken as a blanket review for all Yeti outlets.

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