Yak the Kathmandu Kitchen

To say I was pleasantly surprised by Yak the Kathmandu is an understatement. I invited my brother and a couple of friends to try it out and had no clue what to expect.  I knew Yak was a Nepalese restaurant but what I learned was it serves up all kinds of food from the region including Indian, Tibetan and Bhutanese.  You can either choose to order from a menu or eat at the buffet. My friends and I decided to go for the buffet and boy were we happy with that decision. 

This will be the toughest part of this particular review.  I have no idea what anything is called! There with a curried chicken rice dish that was absolutely delicious.  I thought the chicken may be a little tough sitting on the buffet but it wasn't.  The rice was kept soft thanks in part because of a cover.  It keeps a little steam/moisture in while the dish stays hot. 

I also had some of the chicken tandoori.  It's chicken that been marinated in Indian spices, yogurt, lemon juice and probably a ton of other things.  The chicken had a little bit of a char on it that I really enjoyed.  Again, surprised that the chicken was not dry at all.  I think we cleaned them out of the chicken tandoori at least once if not twice.

There were also a couple of curries and soups on the buffet.  You can eat them alone in a bowl or over some "flattened" white rice that's also on the buffet.  I think I saw a chicken curry, a vegetable curry, one with chick peas in it and tikka marsala.  I tell ya, I was chowing down on that tikka marsala.  It has such a flavorful sauce.  It's like the chicken tandoori but dumped into a tomatoey sauce. I also really liked this cream spinach looking dish with chicken in it.    

There was also a stirred fried noodle dish, naan bread, tempura fried vegetables, and probably a couple more items.  There's another buffet bar on the side with some fruit, one or two desserts and several sauces including a yogurt sauce and a mint chutney thing.  For about $10, I think the buffet is a great deal.  My friends was so impressed with Yak that they went back the very next day.  They told me, there was several different items on the buffet that was not there the day before.  I couldn't help myself.  I went back about a week after my first visit and everything was just as delicious as I remember.  This time there was also a lamb stew type of dish.  It's very good.

Yak had to be weirdest service I ever.  After we were seated, our waitress brought out silverware, went back got empty cups, set the cups out and preceded to pour water on it.  She didn't ask if we wanted something else to drink at all.  I could clearly see a fountain machine behind the register so I just don't understand.  Odd.  She was very quick to clear out dirty dishes though and was pleasant enough.  I will overlook weird service for good food any day. Yak does have a website but appears only the homepage is working and not the menu.  Yak is located in the shopping mall behind the Chick-fil-a on Dauphin Street.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• I just heard the Hopjacks' owner, who also owns Tin Cow, is opening a third restaurant in the Downtown Pensacola.  It's suppose to be a seafood theme. 
• Greekfest in Mobile is coming up at the beginning of November.  I can't wait for lamb shank, spanikopita, lamb burger, and grilled lamb.  And, oh! the pastries. It's always a delicious time.
• WARNING.. SOAP BOX AHEAD..
• Someone recently commented on a post and asked why I ever would call myself a "food critic."  I don't.  I call myself a blogger.  These reviews are solely my opinions and those I get to write me a blurb.  It's no different than those snippets on Urbanspoon or Yelp, only my reviews are accompanied by pictures and are more structured.  I don't want to come off as someone who knows everything there is about food because I simply don't.  Please take these reviews as they are... one person's opinion.  Thank you.