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Pearl Oyster Bar
New York, NY |
Sherpa’s Adventurers Restaurant & Bar
Boulder, CO |
THE Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA |
Tezka
Mexico City, Mexico |
Clem and Ursie's Restaurant
Provincetown, MA |
Global 33
New York, NY |
Stubb’s Bar B Q
Austin, TX |
Blue & Gold Tavern
New York, NY |
Golden Boy Pizza
San Francisco, CA |
Robin des Bois
Brooklyn, NY |
Chelsea Commons
New York, NY |
Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden Café
New York, NY |
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 According to The New York Times, Pemba Sherpa, the owner of Sherpa's Adventurers Restaurant & Bar, was raised in the shadow of Mount Everest and has been a professional mountain guide in Nepal since 1986. That sounds hot. And the food's supposed be good. I wonder if this is a good place to take someone you want to fuck…
The restaurant is in a converted house, off the touristy part of Walnut Street in downtown Boulder. At first glance it looks like nobody's there, as only two of the outdoor tables are taken. Once inside though I realize both the ground and second floors are full of crowded tables in this lively restaurant. The hostess asks if I mind if she seats me upstairs; not knowing what this entails I say I don't and she does. It turns out that upstairs is no fun.
 Seems like a cool place and all, and it's pretty popular but the upstairs has zero atmosphere, and suddenly I'm really glad I'm here alone and not, say, with a date. The upstairs looks like the unfinished rec room in someone's house, which upon reflection, it probably is. Aside from a sparse handful of Nepalese items hanging on bare walls, there's not too much to look at in the overabundance of white light flooding every corner of the room, exposing nothing more interesting than other diners, none of whom I'm particularly interested in seeing. Or hearing. But in the absence of music or ambient sound, one unavoidably listens to every conversation being cast adrift from the eight or ten tables in the room.
Yikes. So glad I didn't actually bring someone here in an attempt to climb their summit. Too bad because the menu looks great. After a lengthy fifteen minutes in which I start to think they've forgotten I'm here, I finally place an order and start with a mug of Odells 90 Schilling ($3.50), which my server assures me is the darkest beer on tap. It's great post-hiking beer, a good dark brown ale that's just a tiny bit sweet, but nutty and flavorful. While eating the complimentary Papadums and dipping sauces I try not to listen to the painfully dull conversation swimming around me, but it's really hard to avoid.
Turns out I over-ordered, and it doesn't help that they bring my appetizer and entrée at the same time, which makes me feel rushed and piggish all at once. The service here's not so much bad as a little… off. The food's great though, I have the Momo Appetizer of handmade, steamed Tibetan dumplings stuffed with chicken and Himalayan spices ($4), which is served with homemade chutney for dipping. I've had Tibetan dumplings before and found them bland, these are fantastic though; they're firm, taste fresh, and the spices give a great kick. Tastes like everything's made from fresh ingredients, which isn't surprising for Boulder. Even the chutney tastes like it's made with fresh tomatoes and I can't tell what other ingredients.
 The Chicken Tikka Masala ($11) is served with a mild tomato yogurt sauce; the tikka masala is creamy, smooth, and also has a mild kick which is both interesting and tasty. The Plain Nann ($1.50) is great, but I can't finish it given all the food that's been unloaded on me in one heap.
I'm distracted by the elderly Midwestern tourist at the next table who keeps telling her daughter that she likes the food here and likes cumin. Every sentence that comes out of her mouth involves "koo-men"; she's either desperate to convey that she knows something about Indian cuisine or her vocabulary is woefully limited to a small and strange choice of words.
Though the food's great this is the last place I'd take a date; I cringe at the thought of the awkward silence between myself and my non-existent date, knowing that anything we said would be overheard by four large families and two other couples. Plus there's nothing sexy about listening to older Midwestern women saying "cumin" over and over. I didn't get a chance to check out the downstairs dining room; I'd suggest either checking that out or heading somewhere else for your mountaineering needs. |
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| chumwater |
| October 15, 2005 |
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