Everest Nepalese Restaurant and Bar

Can't say I agree with Ferox one bit. The Nepalese provides a wide range of interesting dishes - many of which I couldn't find on Cowley Road.

Although situated close to Cowley Road, the restaurant is well away from the noise and bustle usually associated with the area. The staff were incredibly friendly and I was very impressed with both the wide selection of food and drink (ales on tap!) and the prices of their meals. I thoroughly recommend the Lamb Momo for a starter and the Chicken Jaljala as a main - very well spiced without being overpowering - delightful!

I'll definitely be visiting the Everest Nepalese again and recommending it to others.

JohnT (Unverified), 06/11/11

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Fantastic fresh spicy food. Had a takeaway from Everest and was expecting the usual standard brown goo with everything and was very pleasantly surprised. Great to find somewhere where you can taste the spices properly.

CA (Unverified), 16/10/11

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What a disappointment this place was. Good, sensible reviews etc but the reality was another bulk standard Bangladeshi joint with chicken in red sweet sauce and chicken in yellow sweet sauce. I actually asked about the possibility of a typical Nepali thali and they offered the set meal saying it was the same thing. Which it isn't.

You can get a very passable thali elsewhere in Oxford. The bloke I spoke to said he was from Badgaon (near Kathmandu) but he seemed to have a very shaky grasp of the basics of Nepali food. The one and only highlight was the lamb momo - very good. The rest was standard Cowley Road fare. Lacklustre service which didn't rate a tip and I really should have asked for a reduction on the bill. Dhal, rice, spiced chicken, spiced veg, yoghurt. This isn't rocket science, it's gorgeous Nepali food.

Ferox (Unverified), 03/10/11

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I’d forgotten how much I like Everest. I’ve been a couple of times previously, but always with a slightly rowdy work group where conversation and wine tend to overshadow even the nicest food. A small, comfortable restaurant occupying half of the old converted Donnington Arms (the other half is still a slightly quiet neighbourhood pub), it offers good quality Nepalese and Indian cuisine, so you can go for the traditional British curry experience or branch out into the similar but subtler Nepalese menu, which features mouth-watering options from chicken stuffed with cashew nuts and dried fruits to a range of noodle dishes.

Starters are varied and interesting. We had the chilli chicken; highly spiced pieces of meat with sping onions and soy sauce, and the wonderful momo – succulent minced lamb dumplings with a tasty and unidentifiable red dipping sauce (stone-ground chutney according to the menu). It’s hard to choose a main course from such a wide range; the tandoori mixed grill comes sizzling to the table; marinated lamb, chicken, salmon and king prawns; a large portion certainly, but not so huge it feels like a waste, bearing in mind that you’ll lose a few pieces to other people at the table. It’s a bit hard to tell the difference between the chicken and the salmon until you bite into it, which adds to the fun, and all is tender and nicely spiced. The Trisuli Jhol Macha red snapper curry from the list of fish specialities was delicious, light and fragrant with a hint of sweetness. Everest do a really good range of vegetable and side dishes (make sure you investigate both sections of the menu) and it’s fun to mix and match, though you might end up over-faced. We indulged with Aloo Daam (potatoes with red onion and chilli) and Palungo Aloo (potatoes with spinach), and have in the past also enjoyed bean and jackfruit dishes, and been intrigued but defeated by the bitter gourd. You don’t really go to an Indian, and by extension a Nepalese, restaurant for the puddings. Everest do the usual line in fancy looking Kulfi ice cream and offer some nice fruit and fritters, but if you still have room for these, you quite frankly haven’t been trying hard enough.

Service is attentive, friendly and ever so slightly lugubrious, adding a slightly piquant sense of dignity to the whole affair. A lovely, leisurely and interesting dinner, coming to £67 with poppadoms, rice, wine and service. We’ll be going back soon.

Susie Cogan (DI Staff), 22/08/11

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It's the best place to dine in Oxfordshire. I had the best meal ever! Super!

20/08/10

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I would thoroughly recommend Everest for a party. We booked for 12 but changed this to 14 with very little notice, and were still greeted warmly. We were then a wee bit excitable, and still made to feel welcome!

It's a well-considered venue. The decor is clean and modern, the ceilings lofty and the whole place warm enough, even near the beginning of the evening. It's so seamless you don't really notice the details, particularly with the extensive menu requiring a lot of attention.

The food here is absolutely lovely, to the point of being addictive. When I think back over the dishes I've tried my mouth waters and I start twitching for takeaway. Our party sampled most things between us and were very satisfied. I'd say the heat ratings are also pretty accurate, and hot means hot! This is no dumbed-down chillification.

If you don't know the menu it can seem a little uninformative in places. It's always hard to distinguish in print between say Chicken Choyla (Tender breast of chicken with fresh spice and herbs garnished with lemon juice and olive oil. Served with green salad. 2 chillis) and Chicken Chat (Tender pieces of chicken with cucumber, potatoes, cherry tomato, spring onion, yoghurt and fresh herbs garnish with chat masala. 1 chilli) and this is another reason why a big party here is so much fun - getting to mix and match round the table and expand your range of dishes.

Because the cuisine is Nepalese not Indian, it's harder to go for your standard favourite (though there is a Classic Indian section of the menu). I think this is a great thing, and makes me feel much more adventurous than most meals out!

The wine and beers flowed, and we really liked the Black Shiraz which is obviously made of distilled pirate ships, and a Chilean red which I could cheerfully bath in. Ghurka beers also went down well with the assembled company.

All in all, I fear our party was probably more fun to be in than to be near, but the Everest staff were really super. A great night out was had by everyone, and this was definitely helped by the lovely location, the friendly service and the excellent food.

Jen (Unverified), 16/08/10

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Delicious food, courteous staff and simple beautiful surroundings. A real treat. Just go.

Hovis (Unverified), 03/08/10

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Me and my friend went there on Thursday night for dinner. The place is clean. The staff are very friendly and they understand what every individual's expectations are. Papadoms to start; the mains we had were amazingly nice. Well cooked. Monk fish, red snapper, paneer palungoo, dall, everything was nice. Gurkha beer. The other half of the place has stayed as a pub, where you can buy real ale London Pride, Guinness and many types of crisps and lager, play darts or relax on corner sofas.

27/07/10

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My wife and I ate there in early June. We walked from Broad Street and had worked up quite an appetite by the time we arrived. The food was worth the walk, from the chutneys that accompanied the pappadums to the mains. Even though it was Friday, the place was not very busy - a shame, since the food is very good and the prices reasonable. As previous reviewers have noted, the service seemed a little unpracticed, but everyone was friendly and helpful. I live in Summertown now but if I were closer I'd eat at Everest a couple times a month.

Brian Ogilvie (Unverified), 22/07/10

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I highly recommend this place. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, good service, good value and DELICIOUS food (with too much choice!) So chuffed to live so near-by and am recommending this to all my friends!

Kat (Unverified), 25/05/10

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Everest is a hidden gem, fantastic service, beautiful food, love everything they have on the menu. I'm starting from number one on the menu, trying everything. Every dish tastes different, lovely flavours. Everest is my favourite eating place. Good luck you guys - keep this place going forever.

tiffney (Unverified), 04/04/10

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Everest are the best. They tower over all the rest. Their veg is fresh and crisp and green (not over-stewed, as might have been); the meat is tender, full of flavour; the sauces packed with spicy savour.

For me, most dishes are too hot (I am a wimp), but this is not a problem, for they'll change a dish to fit in with your every wish. The tandoor's good, and more specific: the momo dumplings are terrific.

The home delivery is swift and there's a bag as a free gift. In short, as Oxford Indians go, this is the finest one I know. The food's delish, the price is right - I'd like to go there every night.

Sheepface (DI User), 30/03/10

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The service is fairly amateur but friendly; the prices are good (£3.50 for a starter, £7.50 for most mains), and the food is amazing!

The best korma I've ever had: fresh and lively and just the right level of sweetness (I discovered bits of pineapple amongst the lamb). The tandoori options are excellent as well - very full-flavoured, but with the flavours carefully balanced so that you can actually taste what's going on rather than just being blasted with heat. I'm also very fond of the momo (chewy dumplings stuffed with meat or vegetables, served with an aromatic sauce as a starter).  

A glass of rosé costs £3.25 and the wine list is well-chosen and reasonably extensive; they also have Gurkha Beer and will apparently let you bring through beer from the attached pub next door if you want to! Soft drinks include mango lassi, salted lassi, strawberry smoothie and various juices, teas and coffees. The desserts are also in keeping with the rest of the menu (this is exciting because a lot of Indian-style places give up on the authenticity at that stage); there's a creamy pistachio thing in a pot which is pure heaven.

The room feels spacious, elegant and bright and has, on all my three visits, appeared sparklingly clean. You will need to order rice separately (unless you're having a biriyani or a noodle dish); I can recommend the lemon rice, which, strangely, has a flavour I associate with popcorn, but is perfectly cooked, each grain moist and separate, and is thoroughly addictive.

The waiting staff don't have professional slickness, but they do seem to make an effort to make sure you're happy, which is all you really want. And the cooking is beyond professional - thoroughly delicious! It's now my favourite Indian-genre restaurant.

They deserve to do well. One feels they're a bit off the beaten track, and certainly if they were on Cowley Road itself they'd be more packed than they are - but they're less than 10 minutes' walk from the heart of Cowley Road (turn right at the Regal) and well worth it.

Lovepuppet (Unverified), 23/02/10

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Have been back several times since my last review and this place goes from strength to strength. Great service, great staff and the food is still fantastic. The momos are amazing as was all of the rest of the food we had.

A must if you like spicy food and are in East Oxford! The other half of this place is still a pub and it's pretty popular now. They'll even serve food for you in there if you prefer. As a bonus they also serve Fullers London Pride.

Tony Brett (DI User), 18/02/10

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An excellent local restaurant which we highly recommend and use frequently. Food is fresh and deliciously spiced. Well worth the trip into the side roads between Cowley and Iffley Road for the uninitiated!

Simon (Unverified), 05/02/10

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You're right Mark. I ordered from that extensive offer menu. Food arrived on time. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. There are loads of selections of food. You can order momo's dall soup or chicken chilli as a starter or many more. And as main course Himalayan lamb. Very nice lamb. We often have takeaways from many other Indian restaurants - never find this kind of lovely texture of meat. Very nice. They have good quality.

Staff seems to be very kind and friendly. They're trying to do many right things there. I wish them good luck. Keep your standard up. You will build your business over the years; we need good quality restaurant in east oxford.

Call you soon for another takeaway meal. Thank you Everest team!

tamsin (Unverified), 03/02/10

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This is a hidden gem, right in the heart of East Oxford. The food is always freshly prepared, and Prakash and his team are very courteous, you really feel that, as the customer, they are out to ensure that you enjoy our food, something sadly lacking in many other restaurants today.

Go on, just try it once, I'm sure you'll be back. They also currently have a very extensive set menu deal, 4 dishes for a very reasonable £9.95 until end of March.

Highly recommended.

Mark (Unverified), 27/01/10

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The best food I have ever tried, best in Oxford! Must try the momos.

18/01/10

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I posted a cross review on this site about my card being declined and my delivery being late and after all of that the manager came to my house and brought my food personally! THANK YOU. And I must say that the Dal Soup (no. 1 on the menu) was the best I have ever tasted. VERY GOOD! Thanks  :)

veryhappy (Unverified), 02/10/09

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Food was nice and obviously fresh as it took quite a while. But having spent some time in Nepal, it wasn't very authentic - more like Indian food with a slight twist. The momos were not at all like Nepalese momos but nice enough.

Service was fine but nothing special really. Was interesting to try but wouldn't go back.

02/10/09

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I'm really pleased this place has opened. I have visited about 6 times now and had two take aways. The food is very fresh - be warned it takes a little time for the food to come BUT its because it's all freshly made - no pastes or bought in Patak sauces here. I hope they keep these standards as it is the very best Indian subcontinent restaurant we have in Oxford. The service is also excellent and run by Nepalese. Every time we have been made to feel very welcome. The momos are amazing!

I hope people try it and come back again so this restaurant stays - we don't have enough decent places to eat in Oxford and we need to keep those that are.

Tracy (Unverified), 25/09/09

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9 of us had dinner today, food was fresh, tasty, worth visiting Everest! We will be back soon. I am glad to hear that they do takeaway home delivery! Momo delicious yummy yommy. Hakka bhuteko noodles one of the best noodles I ever had, go for it. Chef special, one of the dishes my mate had, delicious and complete meal. Combination of noodles and veg, chicken breast stuffed with minced lamb. It will be my next visit. Friendly staff, beautiful room, lovely painting and posters from Nepal. Book table if you're planning to go there in the weekend. I heard thay get really busy!

chris and friends (Unverified), 02/09/09

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Delicious!! Momos to die for...

j (Unverified), 19/08/09

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Having opted for the takeaway service, the food is presented in properly sealed containers (no gee/oily seepages over the kitchen) and the food was exceptional, proper bases, interesting spices, very aromatic and the meat was tender and from good cuts. In my opinion, easily the best in oxford, and at a reasonable price. recommended.
(WARNING: but HAD to try another three days later!)

westy (Unverified), 05/08/09

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Went here Thurs 23rd July - evening. Was not full but a nice number of people there. Staff were very good. Food was lovely - definitely recommend it. Indian with a twist! very nice flavours - fresh and well cooked. Momo were good.

sarah (Unverified), 29/07/09

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Myself and boyfriend visited Everest with our neighbours on Friday night. We had already heard good things about this new restaurant and we were not disappointed.

First impressions were very good, with modern decor and efficient, friendly waiters.

We enjoyed the vegetable momos and lamb momos to start which as mentioned below were a delight.

There is a wide selection of main courses, including various vegetarians options. All were very happy with their chosen dishes, the monkfish was particularly delicious.

An excellent new restaurant and reasonably priced. Go try it, we will definitely be returning!

Clare (Unverified), 29/07/09

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Absolutely delicious and great value - highly recommended. Try the puri!

dr c and the dobster (Unverified), 24/07/09

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The hub and I just tried this place last night. Fantastic curry--sort of similar to Sri Lankan style flavors and everything was obviously really fresh.

They said they'd only been open about a month, which was astonishing, as the dining room was nearly full and it was only a Wednesday night! Anticipate this place becoming a local favourite in no time.

Highly recommended. Friendly service and great food.

JuliaSG (Unverified), 23/07/09

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I just had lunch at the Everest. Brilliant food. Best curry I've had. And it was a really good price. Definitely a regular haunt now.

Steve, Essex Street (Unverified), 19/07/09

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We live just round the corner and thought we'd try our latest neighbourhood restaurant. We were very impressed by the standard and value of the food, and the service. The waiting staff were highly attentive and friendly, and justifiably proud of their cuisine.

I had dahl soup to start, which was packed full of fresh coriander and chilli and had a wonderful sweet-sour aroma. My friend had lentil pancakes, which were heart-shaped and very moreish.

For main course, I had Himalayan Lamb, which was rich and malty-sweet, stewed with courgette, chilli and peppers. We also had a vegetable side-dish of green jackfruit cooked with spices - a new experience for both of us, and, we're happy to say, delicious. My friend's main course came on a sizzling hot plate - spicy chicken kebabs.

We also had four Gurkha beers between us and two spiced teas to round off the evening, and all this came to only £38.50. It's rare that such lovely food is so fairly priced. Our teas even came on the house!

Highly recommended, not just for locals but for anyone in East Oxford and beyond.

14/07/09

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I had a wonderful meal at the Everest last night. Truly delicious food in a friendly atmosphere. As another reviewer mentioned, the momo dumplings are a real treat. The mains were excellent - fresh ingredients, beautifully cooked - and the naan bread was one of the best I've had. After being open only a few weeks, the Everest gives Aziz a run for its money!

I can whole-heartedly recommend the Everest to pretty much anyone.

Tom (Unverified), 12/07/09

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Just eaten here as it's just opened around the corner from where I live. Amazed to find it so delicious - easily one of the best Indian restaurants in Oxford and very reasonable pricewise - 3 of us ate 2 courses each & had drinks for £50.

Vegetarian starters really tasty and unlike anything I've had before - highly recommend the Momo dumplings. Each of us dug into each others' food and all the main courses were very nice.

All the food was very fresh, very tasty and while we've left full from the ample portions we aren't bloated - the food is really light on the stomach, not oily at all & obviously good ingredients expertly cooked.

Alex (Unverified), 01/07/09

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Just dined at The Everest with eight friends and was very impressed. The menu has the standards of Indian cooking, but lots of Nepalese variations and specialities as well if you're looking for something a bit different.

I had the £11.45 set menu (three courses) which I would recommend as particularly good value.

A surprising highlight was the initial popadoms and chutneys - probably the best I've ever had in fact, particularly the lime pickle as a previous reviewer mentioned.

The vegetarian options I had for starter and main were very good, though not substantially different from what you'd get in a good Cowley Road Indian restaurant.

For dessert we had spiced rice pudding and a kind of condensed frozen milk whose name escapes me, though I highly recommend it as something quite new - a bit like spicy ice-cream.

The staff were very obliging and considerate, especially the proprietor Prakash, who was happy to recommend menu choices for us.

michael of essex st. (Unverified), 01/07/09

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I've just eaten at the Everest, which has just opened up in my neighbourhood, and I'm glad to say that I was impressed by the food. The Everest was as good, if not better, than the food on the Cowley road, where I eat often.

I started with an enjoyable dahl soup, which was slightly more spiced than the plain dahl that my English mother makes. For mains, I ordered a dish of Himalayan lamb with lemon rice, and a side-dish of blackbeans and potato. This style of cooking seems a lot less oily than some Indian cuisine and the food tastes lighter as a result. The blackbeans and potato had a fantastic texture, tasting authentic and carrying their flavour without being too rich. The rice was cooked properly, although the 'lemon' was so understated as to be invisible.

I would have happily settled for the rice and the blackbean and potato with my glass of lassi, so I ended up taking the Himalayan lamb home with me, and was very happy that the staff put it in a takeaway container for me without any fuss. Having tasted a morsel before packing I found that lamb was perfectly tender, however the sauce didn't come with many of the courgettes that had been described in the menu. Given that the Restaurant is so new, this was possibly a problem with supplies. The staff were courteous, and they where quick to offer me a replacement meal, but given that I was already satisfied I just thanked them.

One of the advantages of the Everest is that you are in a smart room within a pub, so I started my meal with a pint of draft Guinness, and ended it with a glass of brandy. Howard Street is a respectable, leafy East Oxford side street, close to but somehow far from the bustle of the Cowley Road. At the end of my meal I sipped my Brandy and felt rather at peace with the world, as the soft evening light streamed through the casement windows. No, this isn't food tourism. A little trek to The Everest is given its purpose by the quality of the food and its tranquility as a place.

markyhearts (Unverified), 29/06/09

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We dined here last night and were very impressed. The restaurant is in what was the old public bar of the Donnington Arms on Howard Street but you wouldn't recognise it as such now!

We had popadums on arrival with some extremely tasty and very fresh chutneys. I particularly liked the variant on lime pickle with other vegetables in it. Our starters were chilli chicken salad and lamb dumplings - both excellent. Our main courses were Himalayan Lamb and Chicken Chilli Mirch - both also delicious. The Chicken Chilli Mirch has a lovely cardamom flavour. We had cheese naan and Pilau Rice and these were fine.

We drank salted lassi, which was delicious and a Ghurka beer which is also nice!

The food and the service were excellent (particularly so for only the 3rd day of opening) and the surroundings were clean, tidy and smart. The toilets were also clean and well-kept. The owner was careful to ask us how the food was throughout the meal and he gave me a complimentary rice pudding desert which was nicely spiced with cardamom and cinnamon.

I'd definitely recommend visiting Everest. If you like Indian food then I think you'll like Nepalese. It is similar in many ways, but subtly different.

Tony Brett (DI User), 29/06/09

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