8848 , Aberdeen
Hey, Foodwala’s first thing you are wondering is why is a restaurant called 8848, well ponder no more, 8848 is the hight of Mount Everest in meters?
What occurs in a Nepalese Kitchen?, what is Nepalese Cuisine?
I have always wondered what keeps those amazingly fit Sherpas and Gurkhas going like the proverbial Duracell Bunnies, and it is Dall Bhat Tarkari, its the national dish of Nepal and is a high protein mix of lentils, spices, grains, and rice.
The rest of the Nepalese cuisine is a hybrid of Punjabi and Indian food, due to the fact that there is the scarcity of arable land in Nepal due to those pesky mountains.
Poverty also has a deciding factor in how your cuisine develops, Nepal is one of the poorest nations on earth, the population has other things on their minds…like surviving rather that developing exciting new things to eat, unlike the Punjabis in India and Pakistan who have a rich and decadent culinary history first started by the Moghul Empire and carried on by the relatively well-off Punjabis. Punjab is the breadbasket of the Sub Continent so that lends a hand in evolution of one’s culinary palette.
I visited 8848 with Mokee Foodwala on a freezing Aberdeen night, the restaurant is an anonymous modern nondescript dining room, which in no way one could tell was Nepalese if the Sign outside did not say it. Possibly a sign of lack of imagination or the restaurant game in Aberdeen is behind the likes of more cosmopolitan cities like Glasgow and London.
We kicked off the proceedings with the rack of lamb recommended by the knowledgeable waiter, the presentation was good, but the lamb cutlets were slightly under seasoned and fatty. The yogurt and mind sauce was a little sweet which did not let itself to the lamb chops.
The chicken Pakora had an overwhelming flavour of Ajwain (ground Carom Seeds) which distracted from the other spices in the Pakora.
The Darjeeling inspired lamb Momo dumplings were unusual and imaginative, lightly spiced and with a jus was delicious.
The waiter also recommended the 8848 signature dish of lamb Shank with Nepalese spices and winter vegetables, I suspect the Lamb shank was frozen hence the stringy texture of the lamb shank and the spices were overpowering with detracted from the flavour of the shank.
The waiterwala also suggested the Chicken in a chilli and fenugreek sauce, he warned it was hot but we had steam billowing from our ears Tom and Jerry style!!!!
We could not tase anything due to it was so hot.
We decided that we needed something sweet to counteract the crazy hot chicken, we ordered the Masala Chai Creme Brule, again this was surprisingly imaginative and with a subtle cardamom custard and the hand blown brown sugar crust was on point and crispy.
In conclusion, 8848’s heart is definitely in the right place but the execution in some respects lets it down, The Lamb momos was delicious and imaginative, however the Chicken Lassoni was hot but without any redeeming flavours.
Food –6 out of 10
Atmosphere – 6 out of 10
service – 7 out of 10
Cleanliness – 8 out of 10
total score – 27 out of 40