Gorkha Palace – North Strathfield, NSW

With very little knowledge about Nepalese food, I accepted the invitation from Gorkha Palace and looking forward to experience a whole new culinary adventure without having to travel thousand miles away but finding myself and the gang in North Strathfield.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Sandip, the owner of Gorkha Palace who has been expecting us tonight. He is kindly leading us upstairs to show us the floor sitting cushioned room with colourful Tibetan prayer flags strung along from wall to wall. It would be a great space for a birthday party, but tonight we are dining downstairs at the table that already nicely set up for us. When comes to ordering, we are all a little apprehensive and indecisive on what to order since it is still the first time for most of us having Nepalese food. Eventually we let the boss owner to take the initiatives and select a few dishes that can truly show us what Nepalese food is about.

A basket full of crispy pappadums with mint yoghurt dip are complimentary starters to every table. The pappadums are wafer thin and crisp. Everyone is happily snapping the pappadums into bite size, dipping into the minty yoghurt, snacking and chatting away while waiting for the food to come. Mango Lassi here is surprisingly good and probably one of the best I’ve had. The thick mango yoghurt shake has a distinctive hint of spice which we later find out that it is actually ground cardamom that gives the lassi a mellow spicy undertone.

Clockwise L to R: Bara - 6.00; our table all nicely set up ready for us;

As Nepal lies between India and China, a lot of the Nepalese food are derivatives of Chinese and Indian cuisines. For entree, we are offered a few house specialties. The Bara is like a flattened Indian aloo chop, but packed with lentils instead of potatoes. Bara is a traditional Newari dish from the Capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, made with lentils, garlic, ginger and spices and served with a spicy Nepali dip. Then we are introduced to Momocha, it is the Nepalese version of Chinese dumplings. The home made dumplings are flavorsome, stuffed with minced meat and fresh herbs, and served with spicy home-made momo chutney. However, I found the dumpling skin is a little dry and chewy especially around the edges.

Sekuwa - Tender pieces of lamb marinated in roasted cumin and coriander seeds enriched with yoghurt, lemon juice and a hint of Szechuan and chilli powder served with fresh salad, 8.90

I particularly like the Sekuwa, the tender lamb pieces are beautifully marinated and simply an explosion of flavour in my mouth. From the aromatic roasted cumin and coriander seeds, to a soury tang of yoghurt and lemon juice, then ends with a fiery Szechuan and chilli powder finale. I can have a whole plate to myself with a nice cold beer, me think.

Khasi ko Masu - Traditionally spiced Nepali style goat curry with fenugreek, cinnamon, tomatoes, coriander, bay leaves and mustard oil - 16.90

Before the main is served, we kindly told Sandip that the food is not as hot as we’d have hoped for. Hence, he make sure one of the dishes in our mains will be served as hot as how the Nepalese local would eat. The Khasi ko Masu is a traditional Nepali style goat curry that has been slow cooked for hours if not overnight as the meat is so tender that it simply falls off the bone. It took me almost 30 years to slowly liking that acquired gamey goat meat taste. The gaminess of the goat curry here is quite acceptable, mostly covered by the fragrance of herbs and spices used in this dish. A nice dish to introduce yourself to goat meat if you never try it before.

Aaloo Bodi Tama - Potato and black eyed peas cooked in a low heat with Nepali herbs - 11.90

The Aaloo Bodi Tama is the vegetable curry dish of the night. The small golden bowl is filled to the brim with soft potato chunks and tender black eyed peas in a rich spiced yellow curry sauce. There are also slices of bamboo shoots to add the crunch but it also strongly infused and influenced the flavour of the dish.

Piro Kukhura chilli chicken - Lightly battered chicken fillet cubes pan-fried with onion, banana chilli, capsicum, and seasonal vegetables flavoured with soy sauce and vinegar and garnished with fresh spring onion - 15.90

We’ve been warned that the Piro Kukhura Chilli Chicken is the hot dish among them all. The battered chicken pieces are pan fried then smothered in a thick sticky sweet sauce that resembles the Chinese version of sweet and sour pork. Great flavour with tender chicken pieces but so much for a hottest dish as promised, it is disappointingly mild after all. Soon I realised the hotness of the dish is actually from the chopped banana chilli in the dish, that really gives the tongue a nasty burn makes one crying for water (or lassi, milky drink is best to counteract and subdue the hotness). Overall, I still believe it is a mild dish in general, because the banana chillies doesn’t really affect the overall hotness of the dish and you still have the choice to opt it out.

Clockwise L to R: Aaloo ko Achar - Homemade pickle - 2.50; garlic naan - 2.50; Sandip (on the right) and his friendly staffs at Gorkha Palace; wholemeal roti - 3.00

Apart from the basmati rice to go with the dishes, we are also kindly offered some naan bread, both plain and garlic, and also wholemeal roti to soak up all the wonderful curry sauces. We’ve been told that all these soft and fluffy bread are cooked in an in-house tandoor. I prefer the aromatic garlic naan over the plain ones, and I found the wholemeal roti is much fatter with a flour dusted surface, like a pita bread. Half way through the meal, Sandip also brings out the Aaloo ko Achar, which is a cold pickled potato dish. I am familiar with the word “Achar” means pickles, as we also have our own achar varieties back in Malaysia (you can read more about it here). The potato salad is refreshingly cold with a soury tang, in a glowing tint of yellow from the tumeric used. I actually wonder how the dish is pickled since the potato is already cooked.

Kheer traditional Nepalese rice pudding and Rato Mohan fried oodles of milk curd soaked and cooked in sugar syrup

Despite most of the dishes come in small serves, we actually feeling quite full towards the end of the night. The dessert menu is rather interesting and we simply can’t walk out of the restaurant without having a small tasting roundup of the local sweets. The Kheer traditional Nepalese rice pudding is more or less the same as puddings from other regions/countries. I must admit I am not a big fan of rice puddings, unless is glutinous rice or perhaps tapioca would be my preference. The Rato Mohan on another hand, is an absolutely delight. The cheese curds are rolled into balls no bigger than a quail egg, deep fried then soaked in sugar syrup. It has the texture of a moist sponge cake with sweet syrup oozes out on every bite.

Mango kulfi - Traditional mango flavoured milk mousse dessert served with almonds and pistachios - 5.90

The mango kulfi is just like mango lassi in frozen form but much richer and creamier by adding milk into the mixture. The icy mango is refreshing and strong in flavour, which overpowers the subtlety of the almonds and pistachios.

Overall, it is a decent meal at Gorkha Palace and Nepalese food is milder than Indian in general. Each dish has its own distincive flavour and characteristic which really shows that they are thoughtfully well prepared. This is my first Nepalese meal and definitely won’t be the last.

A small group of Sydney Foodbloggers are handpicked and dined at the restaurant courtesy of Gorkha Palace. Thanks to Gobinda (Sandip’s brother) who organised it.

Gorkha Palace Restaurant
217 Concord Road, North Strathfield, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9736 3414

Opening hours:
Lunch Saturday and Sunday 11.30am-2.30pm
Dinner Monday to Sunday 5.00pm til late