And the Tallest Mountain Award Goes To...

Everest Cafe started off in 2003 in what was then a non-descript section of Washington Ave between Jefferson and downtown. Now, various lofts and other bars and restaurants have sprung up. But, as the area was attempting gentrification, Everest up and moves to another down-on-it's luck area then known as Forest Park SouthEast. However, this strip of Manchester Ave between Kingshighway and Vandeventer, in the six years I was gone, brought in several bars, restaurants, and the like. They renamed it "The Grove" (as there is still Forest Park SouthEast), put up a few banners, and unofficially dubbed it the gay district of St. Louis.

The Everest probably was onto something with this move. For the lunch buffet on Saturday, there wasn't an empty seat. Since the cafe is named "Everest," they tout their dishes as Nepalese, but somewhere along the line, they added Korean and Indian dishes to the menu. Obviously, Nepal shares a border with India, so the food and flavoring are similar to North-India (although the spice was tame), but Korea? I just Google-Earthed the distance from Kathmandu to Seoul and it's over 2500 miles. And that's the way the crow flies. In addition to the hodge-podge of regional selections, the proprietor/head chef, wrote this letter to "his customers" telling us all about himself (he was adopted from Nepal by an American family) and how he wants everyone to be healthy so his food is such and also, since he is such a magnanimous public servant, he wants everyone to come in on Sundays for a free health screen.

The buffet was just ok. The butter chicken was awesome, but it's always awesome. In fact, I'm not even sure if it's something you can get in the region (think General Tso's chicken) but who cares? After three servings, I wondered how this fit into the "healthy dishes" and I was pondering getting one of those free health screens. The other dishes were hit or miss with the other star being the glass noodles prepared Korean style (tasted like oyster sauce maybe?)

The Everest Cafe has a menu at nighttime and of course the buffet at lunch. One other note-they open at 11:30 (odd) even during the week. They wouldnt let us sit down at 11:25 (I'm not kidding)-the waitress made us go back out to our car and wait until 11:30. Tim also wanted me to mention that the people that look as though they're regulars are quite ugly.

http://www.everestcafeandbar.com/