Everest Brings Nepali and Indian Cuisine to Plano

We happened upon Everest during a recent quest to sample and describe as many forms and types of dumplings as we could in North Texas. The attraction was the momo, a dumpling native to Nepal. This brings up an interesting question: Should these dishes be referred to as Nepali or Nepalese? The preferred term seems to be Nepali, with Nepalese, as a noun or adjective, used only in proper names that have not yet changed to the current usage — the most common example given being “Royal Nepalese Army.” With such linguistic minutiae out of the way, let us dive in and find out what we discovered after summiting all that Everest in Plano had to offer.

We started with some bullet naan and mixed vegetable pakoras. The naan, stuffed with hot green chilies and bits of potato, was hot in both Scoville units and temperature and perfectly cooked with a slightly charred edge. The pakoras were described in the menu as as gobi, potato, onion and jalapeño stuffed with basin pepper and deep fried, but they arrived on our plate in a deconstructed state with some chutney for dipping. Not what we were expecting, but it was serviceable nonetheless.
This was followed by some vegetable chili momo, the original reason for the visit. These were round rather than crescent-shaped, pan-fried and covered in spicy chili sauce and garnished with parsley and green onion. They were OK, but the sauce was a bit overpowering and the texture a bit off-putting; we were left wishing we’d ordered the chicken momo instead.
For our mains we went with gobi Manchurian and an order of choila, a Himalayan tiffin. The cauliflower dish was attractively presented in a not-too-spicy chili sauce garnished with red bell pepper, green onions and parsley. This was really a side dish, and the serving size reflected this, but it was just enough.
Choila is a more traditional Nepali dish that has a lot going on. The main component is chicken that's been marinated in herbs and spices and is served with flat rice, roasted soybean and aloo achar (a potato/pea mixture with mustard oil and fenugreek). The chicken had a strong, unique flavor that was definitely different. The flat rice was also interesting, a room-temperature offering like a crunchy rice snack, which created an interesting contrasting texture to the rest of the dish.
Everest has another location in Irving that we previously visited, each has its own website and different (though overlapping) menus. We’re not really sure how connected they are, and while neither location quite reach the heights of their Himalayan namesake, we appreciate the effort and variety they bring to the area and are thankful for the chance to sample the cuisine of Nepal at a much more comfortable elevation.

2300 McDermott Road, No. 570, Plano. Tuesday – Sunday, 12:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
3310 W. Rochelle Road, Irving. Daily, noon – 11 p.m.