This restaurant in Andheri serves comfort food from Himachal Pradesh, Nepal and China

Crispy chicken open bao

After almost a year in Bandra, Mountain Goat opened their second outlet in Andheri's Lokhandwala area four months ago. We dropped by on a Thursday night for dinner with friends. Done up in light cabin-wood and spruced up with Tibetan paintings and prayer flags, and colourful seating and cushions, the café invokes nostalgia from any of your trips up north. Forget air freshener, there's a gentle aroma of bhut jholokia in the air, marking its flamboyant presence that teases our throats.

Pork thentuk

Co-founder Sourabh Shikhare later tells us the backstory of Mountain Goat that makes him rewind to his biker days. "I am a trekker and mountaineer, and was part of a biking group called Devils on Wheels in 2012, when I rode the Himalayas. I loved the Nepali and Tibetan fare that we ate in the cafés across Bhutan, Leh Ladakh and Himachal," he recalls.

We remove our footwear, and settle into the low-seating table. To keep up the mood of the gentle, steady drizzle outside, we begin with a well-steeped honey ginger lemon tea (Rs 150) and savoury bho jha (butter tea; Rs 150) with a briny finish. Vegetarian jhol momos (Rs 300) hold a textured vegetable mash including cauliflower, cabbage and carrots within it. They come floating in a red chilli oil broth which has the refreshing sweetness of lemongrass. It makes us crave more mountain food.

Chicken gyoza momos

The chicken gyoza momos (Rs 350) are slightly low on salt but sweet chilli condiment holds the missing punch. We wash them down with a chilled cucumber lemonade (Rs 120). The gyozas are pan-fried and drilled with a glazed balsamic soy glaze.

By now, the restaurant is packed and service overwhelmed. The kitchen prepares everything from scratch, which delays our food. The authenticity of the food keeps us in our best spirits. The crispy chicken open bao (Rs 350) crusted chicken fries have a sweet and spicy kung pao flavour but the mayo is an overkill. By now, every table is occupied and we see people queuing up outside as well.

Butter tea and gud pak

We are towards the popular thukpa but pick the pork thentuk (Rs 450), a Tibetan hand-pulled noodle soup that comes in a corn-flour thickened soup cooked in the water used to steam the pork. The fresh veggies such as broccoli, corn and carrots with slender strips of pork meat make it a soupy meal. Cottage cheese sekua (Rs 400) was a hurried job of paneer, sautéed in garlic, coriander with a hint of mustard. The cottage cheese has a stale aftertaste.

The gud pak (Rs 400) is a generous slab of mithai, which makes us smile. Made of whole wheat flour in ghee, cardamom, sugar, grated coconut, almonds and edible gum (gundh) that adds a toffee finish. The balanced hit of soonth is powerful. This is simple, homestyle fare, and ends the meal on a good note. We pack the leftovers to nibble on for our next meal.

The cosy interiors of the restaurant

Mountain Goat
AT Shop no 2/3, Melbourne Building, Shastri Nagar Lane 1, Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri West.
TIME 12 pm to 1 am
CALL 9076348898

'''' Exceptional, ''' Excellent, '' very Good, ' Good, Average. Mountain Goat didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals