Himalayan Wild Yak - a newly opened Nepali restaurant in Northern Virginia

Rating: 4/5 

Wild boar appetizer

Price for two: $60-$100.  

On a crisp fall afternoon, we planned a visit to this newly opened Nepali restaurant in one of Northern Virginia's suburbs in Loudoun county, VA. 

Partially due to the preceding hike in the town of Middleburg, Virginia and it being the only big meal of the day, I think we did justice to the pretty diverse menu of the Himalayan Wild Yak. I have had Nepali food in the past, and it has always seemed to be a simpler version of Indian cuisine- lighter on spice and simpler preparations.

For appetizers, we had a spicy wild boar cooked perfectly well with spice and mustard oil and served with sauces on the side. They also had a variety of momos and we chose chicken momos that were steamed, stuffed with a moderately spicy chicken mix and served with a delicious dipping sauce. The generous portion was made up of 8 large dumplings at $11 a plate. 

Crispy yak with chilli sauce

Chicken momos

Goat curry thali

As the name of the restaurant suggests, its yak (a mountain cow native to the Himalayan mountains, similar to bison or buffalo meat) dishes make its menu quite unique when compared to most desi or South Asian restaurants in the region. It offers a few yak appetizers (including momos and yak korma), along with main course dishes. Of which, we tried their yak chili served with fried rice. It was our first time trying yak. Gamey like the bison meat, it was cooked in an Indo-Chinese style with copious amounts of chili sauce and went well with the fried rice. Also, as one of our main course meals, we tried a Nepali set meal, or what we call a "thali" in India - an assortment of several dishes. I chose a goat curry set meal that came with lentils or dal, cauliflower, blanched spinach with a lovely flavor of whole spices (tadka) and goat curry cooked with a strong cardamon flavor.

All in all, a good dining experience. The restaurant is spacious and open all day with a single menu. I would recommend going at least once if you are a lover of meat and South Asian spices used in moderation.