One of the most wonderful things about Bath is that due
to its age, there’s one or sometimes even two storeys hidden away under today’s
street-level, making a warren of little stone-walled rooms with vaulted
ceilings and arched openings. Most of the city’s best bars and restaurants are
tucked away down here, including the fabulous Yak Yeti Yak, and it makes for a
great atmosphere.
This wonderful Nepalese restaurant is easily visible at
street level, from the tattered prayer flags lining its red-painted railings
and the wooden staircase which leads down through a tiny garden of hanging
baskets and shrubs towering in big earthenware pots. Inside, there’s a series
of small, cosy rooms, where you can either take a seat in one of the
cushion-lined alcoves along the wall or go for a more unusual experience and
eat from a low table, sitting on the floor. The whole place is lit by candles
and decorated with beautiful works of Nepalese art, and the tables are laid
with bright woven cloths and gleaming brass tableware.
My friends and I ordered pork momos to start, which are
delicious soft dumplings with a spicy pork filling (click here to get my recipe
– they were so good I had to have a go at making them!), as well as some
amazing salmon, coated in a rich mixture of spices and deep-fried. So often,
salmon seems to be served in exactly the same unimaginative ways, so this was
really original as well as completely mouth-watering.
For our second course, we ordered the restaurant’s two
signature dishes – beautifully tender lamb stir-fried with cumin, and a rich
beef dish with sweet, juicy peppers – as well as poppadums and natural yoghurt.
The flavours complimented each other fabulously and we scraped our plates
clean.
This is a charming little place – the service was very friendly
(and although it wasn’t as swift as it could’ve been, the restaurant was very
busy) and the prices are pretty reasonable, considering the high quality of the
food, although you do have to buy your side dishes (such as rice) separately.
Yak Yeti Yak has a fantastic atmosphere and the food is heavenly – try it soon.
