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Open any Nepalese menu in Sydney and you’ll see the same things – momos, chowmein, dhal, rice and curry and a few other things. Open the first page of Heshela’s menu and you’ll find a trio of dishes that are hard to find anywhere in Sydney, let alone on a restaurant table. Where else can you find yomari, dense rice dumplings shaped like a pastry chef’s piping bag and filled with either molasses and sesame or a rich milk reduction? Shrijan and Sonam Shrestha are proud Nepalis, but they don’t call their Rockdale restaurant Nepalese. It’s a Newari restaurant. It’s one of Nepal’s ethnic groups, one particularly famous for its cuisine. Outside Nepal, it's not very well-known, and the Shresthas want to change that.
The vibe
There are two spaces and two experiences. The downstairs space feels like many other South Asian diners in Sydney. There’s a takeaway counter spruiking fried snacks at prices that’d fit a school recess budget, just a quartet of tables, and little decoration besides a soundtrack of Newari music and a TV above the counter, which mostly serves as an advertisement for the local Heshela Newar business empire. Upstairs, wrap-around windows and bolder furniture make it feel less like a diner and more like a destination for local family birthdays.
That’s the first impression. If you order a bowl of noodles and call it there, that’s probably where your impression will end. But order a hefty range of dishes and drinks, and you’ll find more Newari touches: rice wine (it’s difficult to import Nepalese rice wine, so they did a taste test of Korean makgeolli until they found a similar flavour) is poured out of ornate, brass jugs; masala tea served in traditional terracotta cups; and traditional Newari recipes are plated on glistening brass.
The food
Newari cuisine is bold, texturally diverse and occasionally quite spicy. A meal here will work out your jaw, palate and, unless you're Nepalese, your culinary education too. A hungry solo diner should look for bara set, so their crispy lentil pancake is supported by a cast of punchy extras, like choila (soft, mustardy stewed meat) and alu sadehko (silky, spiced potatoes). Two is just enough stomach space to fit in every taste and texture in the nanglo set, a ring of nine recipes that includes fun dishes like tass (heavily spiced, crunchy, almost jerky-like fried pork) and tama (a pungent fermented bamboo soup) and pairs them with cheura (a crispy, almost brittle form of flattened rice).
Of course, any Nepalese restaurant in Sydney can’t get away without selling the basics, and Heshela Newar is no different. A momo platter sees the iconic Nepalese dumpling treated four ways – steamed, fried (crunchy all over, not just on the bottom), covered in chilli sauce and done choila-style. Some might complain about the size of the momos, but take that as a sign they’re not coming from a factory.
The drinks
On top of the aforementioned rice wine and tea service, there’s a short menu of beers (both Nepalese and generic) and spirits, including a Nepalese dark rum.
Time Out tip
They’re known to pump the air con in the summer. It’s a refuge from a blistering summer but also a challenge to anyone who hasn’t spent a winter at the base of the Himalayas. If, like me, you have no resistance to cold at all, bring an extra layer.
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