Dancing Yak

Cuisine	Indian / SA
Price	$$ (16-30)
Rating	8/10
Last Visit	Aug. 18, 2024
Location	SFBA: San Francisco: South

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General Notes

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This Nepalese restaurant is truly a neighborhood gem in the North Mission. The food is wonderful; they have several Nepalese-specific dishes, as well as general South Asian classics. Definitely worth a visit. Interestingly, despite being a Nepalese restaurant, I had a better experience with their "classic" offerings that are more north Indian dishes in nature.

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Positives

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> Depending on where you sit, the ambiance can be lovely or a bit questionable (but usually leaning towards the former). It's just that the second time I visited, I got seated in a corner and there was an issue with the lighting, so it was unusually dim.

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Negatives

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> The service can be a bit inconsistent. During my first visit, the curry took quite a while to come, and in my second visit it seemed like we were invisible (we were seated in the corner) when it comes to bringing the check.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★☆ Dhading Chicken -- Roasted spices, tomatoes, onion, ginger, garlic, and cilantro, this dish is reminiscent of the local restaurants that line the highways of Nepal.
• ★★★☆ Baigun Tarkari -- Minced eggplant that is roasted in a tandoor fire and later cooked with cumin, coriander, turmeric, onion, and garlic. Nice and creamy
• ★★★★ Goat Curry -- Fresh Sacramento farm goat cooked with ginger, garlic paste, and a homemade onion gravy. Lovely flavor, and the goat is really tender / juicy!
• ★★★☆ Daal Makhani -- rich and hearty whole lentils cooked with cream, tomato, onion, cumin, and roasted coriander. Lovely flavor, well-cooked, nicely creamy.
• ★★☆☆ Pork Momo -- minced pork, chives, garlic, momo masala, served with tomato + roasted soybean sauce. Pretty nice, but not particularly noteworthy. The sauce has a nice tang to it.
• ★★☆☆ Chicken Momo -- minced chicken, chives, garlic, momo masala, served with tomato + roasted soybean sauce. Pretty nice, but not particularly noteworthy. The sauce has a nice tang to it.
• ★★★★ Garlic Naan -- Warm, fluffy, flavorful, and crisp. Wonderful naan. There was one piece which was unusually thin, but that actually worked out alright because one of the pieces was much more crisp than the others.
• ★★★★ Cashew Curry -- a creamy sauce with almond and cashew in a delicately balanced blend of spices with ginger and coriander -- the sauce is mild, making it perfect for kids and those with sensitive palates. The description is accurate -- it's relatively mild, smooth, creamy, and absolutely delicious. We got it with chicken (you can choose chicken, shrimp+salmon, mixed vegetables, or paneer)
• ★★★☆ Biryani (Mixed Vegetables) -- long-grained rice (similar to basmati) flavored with homemade biryani masala and saffron. It is layered with meat, fish, or vegetables, cooked in a thick gravy and garnished with coconut flakes, cashew nuts, and raisins. Delightful flavor, just the right level of spicy, and I'm really glad I got it with the vegetables (I definitely needed some vegetables). The raita that it's served with is also quite nice. My only complaint is that the rice feels ever so slightly overcooked.
• ★★★☆ Lamb Skewers -- herbs, spices, marinaded overnight, grilled and served with achar (pickled tomato) + some kind of other sauce. The achar (which also had cucumbers) brought a lovely refreshing balance, and the sauce it was served with was also quite nice. Lamb was tender, could have used a touch more grilled flavor though.
• ★★★☆ Lamb Curry -- Creamy, flavorful, and the lamb was (for once) actually cooked well and relatively tender. It was just lacking a touch of seasoning.
• ★☆☆☆ Onion Naan -- In retrospect, I wasn't really aware of what I was ordering and will probably go for garlic naan next time. It was warm and fluffy, but didn't have the crisp exterior that I like. The onion was a little too raw.
• ★★★★ Spicy Cauliflower -- Absolutely amazing. Light, crisp exterior on the cauliflower. It was SUPER spicy, but the chili sauce was amazing and savory.