Hotel Yak and Yeti�s famed Sunrise Restaurant is no more and in its place is the all-new Spice Room; an Indian fine dining restaurant by night and a buffet during the day. The Spice Room which is housed in the same space as its predecessor retains much of the old charm and has kept those famed hand-carved wooden ceilings that pay homage to the traditional Newari architecture. Their buffet which was located centrally in the restaurant is now moved towards the back-end providing more open space while also helping add a more fine-dining feel to the place.
Spice Room has two distinct seating areas both of which have their own unique feel. On one side is a very modern space, with warm and bright colors and a new d�cor that focuses on minimalistic wall patterns; while the other half provides a much more intimate experience with candle lights and a rustic wooden setting along with a view of the garden. Each space does not take anything away from the dining experience and contrast each other perfectly.
As you walk into the Spice Room, you are quickly seated and presented with the menu. Upon placing your orders you are served a complimentary helping of amuse bouche, an aloo tikki with a grain of pomegranate, which acts as a palate cleanser. While they are not meant to fill your stomach in any way, they do have combined the taste of the pomegranate and the aloo tikki very well.
While your food is being prepared, you can�t help but notice the music being played. It is subtle but way too fast for a fine dining setting. They did notify me that a new playlist was on the way.
Their service is quick, as you�d expect out of a five-star hotel and the first round of orders flow in. A murgh kali mirch shorba and a sweet pea soup with goat cheese croute made its way onto the table. Both are soups with very different flavors. The former has a very familiar taste of bone broth but with added spices that enhance the flavor of this common dish further. The sweet pea soup is not very common in restaurants or even homes in Nepal. It has a hint of sweetness as expected but not so much that it overpowers that entire dish. The sweet pea is complimented by a small piece of naan and some goat cheese.
As soon as the last drop of soup cleared the bowl, the server asked if he could bring out the next dish. Two plates of succulent kebabs arrived at the table. The first was a timmuri chicken tikka which is a different take on the classic chicken tikka that we see everywhere else. The chicken is well-cooked giving away that juicy taste when you bite into it. Of course, no chicken tikka is complete without squeezing a bit of lemon juice on top of it. The second was a gosht seekh gilaf, a mutton kebab that is just as good, if not more as its chicken counterpart. This kebab could have been more juicy and tender as the chicken. It did well to hold its own identity with well-balanced flavors, but a bit dryness was there.
They also provide you with two different chutneys of tomato and fig with the fig chutney particularly standing out.
All the dishes up to this point have had quite different flavor patterns and all came in generous serving portions that will definitely leave the customer satisfied.
When we were done with the starters, the main course arrived after a small hiatus. Two different curries, garlic naan and a bowl of rice were brought to the table. The butter chicken is a very popular dish everywhere and this one too didn�t disappoint us. The chicken was tender as expected but the gravy was what stood out. It was thick, well-seasoned, has that hint of buttery taste; everything you�d expect from this classic Indian dish. Most of us have eaten butter chicken at some point and this one is not that different from the other butter chickens out there. The pind da kukad, another chicken curry, was fairly similar to the butter chicken in terms of taste and appearance. Large pieces of chicken are well-arranged while the gravy isn�t as thick and uses slightly less seasoning to set itself apart. But, the stand out dish of the main course was the garlic naan. Being so used to eating regular naan, garlic naan offers a different perspective towards this popular flatbread. The garlic naan isn�t anything new but it helps compliment the dishes on the table very well. Garlic naan needed another additional order as the first one ran out quickly. It is worth noting that the second order of garlic naan was crispier and flavorful than the first. A little more consistency on that front could be desired.
By this point, there was hardly any space for additional food but the server mentioned their unique kulfis which were apparently a must-try. Came the pistachio kulfi and the guava chili sorbet along with a regular kulfi. They also have an orange kulfi which was unfortunately unavailable for that evening. The pistachio flavored kulfi wasn�t anything new but the guava was a delight to the taste buds.
The end of the evening left us satisfied overall and a few minor inconveniences were quickly forgotten by then.
The Spice Room doesn�t depend on the success of its old predecessor and provides a new dynamic to keep up with the ever-changing atmosphere of modern times. The older sunrise restaurant as popular as it was, needed a fresh breath of air and the new Spice Room helps do just that. Spice Room retains much of the older details that helped sunrise become popular while also adding new details that make this space stand out further. With its fairly priced menu and equally competitive serving sizes, Spice Room provides a dining experience that will want you coming back for more.
Spice Room has two distinct seating areas both of which have their own unique feel. On one side is a very modern space, with warm and bright colors and a new d�cor that focuses on minimalistic wall patterns; while the other half provides a much more intimate experience with candle lights and a rustic wooden setting along with a view of the garden. Each space does not take anything away from the dining experience and contrast each other perfectly.
As you walk into the Spice Room, you are quickly seated and presented with the menu. Upon placing your orders you are served a complimentary helping of amuse bouche, an aloo tikki with a grain of pomegranate, which acts as a palate cleanser. While they are not meant to fill your stomach in any way, they do have combined the taste of the pomegranate and the aloo tikki very well.
While your food is being prepared, you can�t help but notice the music being played. It is subtle but way too fast for a fine dining setting. They did notify me that a new playlist was on the way.
Their service is quick, as you�d expect out of a five-star hotel and the first round of orders flow in. A murgh kali mirch shorba and a sweet pea soup with goat cheese croute made its way onto the table. Both are soups with very different flavors. The former has a very familiar taste of bone broth but with added spices that enhance the flavor of this common dish further. The sweet pea soup is not very common in restaurants or even homes in Nepal. It has a hint of sweetness as expected but not so much that it overpowers that entire dish. The sweet pea is complimented by a small piece of naan and some goat cheese.
As soon as the last drop of soup cleared the bowl, the server asked if he could bring out the next dish. Two plates of succulent kebabs arrived at the table. The first was a timmuri chicken tikka which is a different take on the classic chicken tikka that we see everywhere else. The chicken is well-cooked giving away that juicy taste when you bite into it. Of course, no chicken tikka is complete without squeezing a bit of lemon juice on top of it. The second was a gosht seekh gilaf, a mutton kebab that is just as good, if not more as its chicken counterpart. This kebab could have been more juicy and tender as the chicken. It did well to hold its own identity with well-balanced flavors, but a bit dryness was there.
They also provide you with two different chutneys of tomato and fig with the fig chutney particularly standing out.
All the dishes up to this point have had quite different flavor patterns and all came in generous serving portions that will definitely leave the customer satisfied.
When we were done with the starters, the main course arrived after a small hiatus. Two different curries, garlic naan and a bowl of rice were brought to the table. The butter chicken is a very popular dish everywhere and this one too didn�t disappoint us. The chicken was tender as expected but the gravy was what stood out. It was thick, well-seasoned, has that hint of buttery taste; everything you�d expect from this classic Indian dish. Most of us have eaten butter chicken at some point and this one is not that different from the other butter chickens out there. The pind da kukad, another chicken curry, was fairly similar to the butter chicken in terms of taste and appearance. Large pieces of chicken are well-arranged while the gravy isn�t as thick and uses slightly less seasoning to set itself apart. But, the stand out dish of the main course was the garlic naan. Being so used to eating regular naan, garlic naan offers a different perspective towards this popular flatbread. The garlic naan isn�t anything new but it helps compliment the dishes on the table very well. Garlic naan needed another additional order as the first one ran out quickly. It is worth noting that the second order of garlic naan was crispier and flavorful than the first. A little more consistency on that front could be desired.
By this point, there was hardly any space for additional food but the server mentioned their unique kulfis which were apparently a must-try. Came the pistachio kulfi and the guava chili sorbet along with a regular kulfi. They also have an orange kulfi which was unfortunately unavailable for that evening. The pistachio flavored kulfi wasn�t anything new but the guava was a delight to the taste buds.
The end of the evening left us satisfied overall and a few minor inconveniences were quickly forgotten by then.
The Spice Room doesn�t depend on the success of its old predecessor and provides a new dynamic to keep up with the ever-changing atmosphere of modern times. The older sunrise restaurant as popular as it was, needed a fresh breath of air and the new Spice Room helps do just that. Spice Room retains much of the older details that helped sunrise become popular while also adding new details that make this space stand out further. With its fairly priced menu and equally competitive serving sizes, Spice Room provides a dining experience that will want you coming back for more.
