Santosh Thapa wanted to open a Nepali restaurant for years, but it took last year’s Canada Post strike to give him the push he needed.
While working as a postal worker, Thapa brought in 100 momos – Nepali steamed dumplings – for his coworkers to enjoy on the picket line.
They were gone in minutes.
“Everyone was loving it. Some of my buddies said, ‘You know what? You should open up a restaurant here in Sault Ste. Marie,” Thapa told SooToday.
That’s the story of how Soo Spice Yeti, the new restaurant at 241 Trunk Rd. where Hong Kong was located, came to open its doors a couple months ago.
“This was one of my dreams moving to Sault Ste. Marie. My dream has come true now,” Thapa said.
“From that moment on, I started getting my research and everything all together, and it happened so fast.”
The restaurant’s menu features a combination of Nepali and Hakka cuisine – a fusion between Chinese food and Himalayan spices and flavour.
Featuring a variety of soups, appetizers like chicken lollipops and garlic beef, to several rice and noodle dishes, the menu also has strictly Nepali offerings for customers to enjoy.
“We bring the taste of Mount Everest straight from Nepal to Sault Ste. Marie,” said Thapa, who runs the restaurant with his wife, Soniya Bhandari.
In many ways, Thapa and Bhandari have done just that. One example of this, the copper steamer that they use to make the restaurant’s momos was brought to Sault Ste. Marie all the way from Nepal.
When the couple first opened the restaurant, they were reluctant to offer strictly Nepali food given the rarity of Himalayan cuisine in Canada – and opted to include Hakka options on the menu.
But after their first two months in business, Thapa said he keeps a close eye on how certain items are selling – which has resulted in the restaurant expanding from six types of momos to eight varieties in the near future.
Business has been great so far.
“The community here has been really supportive – and they've loved the food,” Thapa said.
“We've been getting a decent amount of people in our restaurant, and we've seen so many people who come back so many times. That makes us feel like we're doing something right.”
The restaurant’s momos, noodles, and more are handmade in house, and Thapa tries to offer good portion sizes for a decent price.
He said one of his goals is to make sure a family of four or five could come in and “have a full dinner under $100.”
“It's something you would want to come back again and try,” he said.
