Lali Guras

NEPAL
TIBET

I had not been here for years and recently returned because of the Bhutanese flag adorning the awning alongside the Nepalese and Tibetan. Sadly, like most of the places in and around this enclave of Himalayan in Jackson Heights, no one is serving food from the Kingdom of Bhutan.

In all of five seconds, I was over it though, and sat down for a beautiful Nepalese thali. The namesake of the restaurant is the rhododendron, the national flower of Nepal and according to some sources the reason for the red color in the flag (the other being the sign of victory in war). If the name is about Nepal, I guess I should be eating Nepalese.

Somehow "Bhutan" translates as goat head. The Bhutan thali ($10, below) has chewy fatty pieces that are small and fried enough that it is edible for even the most squeamish, despite being composed of cheeks and jaw. Our server grabbed her own cheeks like you would grab a cute child to demonstrate where the meat of the goat "head" comes from.

The metal plate you eat from is where the name "thali" comes from. They will give you a spoon, but the free area with rice is really designed for you to dig in and start mixing the ingredients together with your hand. The thalis here are standard and include a green vegetable, lentil dal, chutney, and achar. The small dollop of orange peppery sauce is great when used in small portions.

There are two tables at this restaurant, and a group of larger than six might not work. People share and usually the turnover is pretty high, they might need you to leave if you had ideas of lingering. This is not at all unfriendly, they just need the space.

JACKSON HEIGHTS Queens

37-63 76th Street