A small restaurant called Himalayas Newa Cafe (211 McGuinness Blvd.) opened in late November, replacing the Greenpoint outpost of 787 Coffee, which now only operates one Brooklyn location in Williamsburg at 595 Metropolitan Avenue.
Himalayas Newa Cafe, named after Nepal’s famous mountains and inhabitants, offers a small menu of reasonably-priced coffee, pastries, breakfast items, ramen, and a few Nepali specialties. There are not a lot of local restaurants that offer Nepali cuisine, so this is a unique and welcome addition to the neighborhood.
The cafe’s owner, Asha Maharjan, told Greenpointers that although this is the first business he has opened himself, he is no stranger to the food industry. Maharjan worked in an Italian restaurant in Manhattan for 14 years.
“It’s been a long-standing dream of mine to one day own a cafe or restaurant,” Maharjan said. “When I saw this opening in Greenpoint, I figured this was my chance, so I went for it.”
Maharjan explained that he and his family are originally from Nepal and are excited to incorporate some of their culture’s food into the menu at Himalayas Newa Cafe.
Maharjan said that the most popular dish in Nepal is called momo, which are a type of dumplings. Two types of momos are on the menu at Himalayas Newa Cafe, including one with chicken and one with beef. “I would most recommend our momos. We spent countless nights figuring out the ingredients that would give it that perfect flavor. It is one of our best sellers,” Maharjan said.
A local woman named Rose told Greenpointers that she visited the cafe and Maharjan gave her chicken momos to try. Rose said they were “so good,” noting that they were “a bit different from other dumplings, but very tasty.”
Maharjan said that another popular dish at the cafe is Thali, which is a platter of rice, meat, lentils, saak (which are green leaves), aloo tarkari (which is potato curry), and aachar (which are spices).
He also advises customers to try the ramen. “All of our customers have given high reviews on that,” said Maharjan.
“We’re still adding more items to the menu as we settle in more,” Maharjan said. “In fact, just yesterday, we added momo soup upon the request of one of our customers.”
The menu currently includes other things like avocado toast and egg breakfast sandwiches.
Himalayas Newa Cafe is open Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m., Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., and Sunday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
The owner’s name is Asha MAHARJAN not Maharaja. These names aren’t interchangeable. Please have some understanding and respect for the owner’s culture and heritage.