MOMO CHAA — Restaurant in Melbourne

A recent addition to the Nepalese restaurant scene in the CBD, this is one of the best we have come across. From their nice ambience depicting Nepali cuture to the authentic Nepali food, the highlight is their open momo which comes with three varieties of chutneys and super juicy fillings.

But what truly sets them apart from the rest is the genuine hospitality of the owner, Puja Didi. It was our first time visting the venue and we arrived very close to closing time. But she welcomed us with a huge generous smile and got us seated. She also gave her food recommendations and even advised us to have our first round of food before ordering more as she felt it would be more than enough for the two of us. She reassured us that she would keep the kitchen open. She also brought our toddler rice and daal which was on the house. Very rare to see such genuine care from business owners these days.

If you are in search of some tasty authentic Nepali food served with genuine Nepali hospitality, then do yourself a favour and give this...

A friend and I had dined here and in summary our experience to say was not very pleasant. It felt as if our waiter was rushing us to order and kept interrupting between my friend and I’s conversation on the menu. We asked if we were able to get all our food out all together and she said it was fine. One dish came out and our next dish didn't come out until roughly 20 minutes later. Our waiter had realised we hadn't touched that dish, she came over and kept insisting we eat it but like we said in the beginning, we preferred to have all our dishes out at once. Once our meals had come out it felt as if she was rushing us once again. When it came to paying for our dinner the same waiter tried to rip us off by not giving us the correct change. After going back and forth with her she finally gave us change but she was still short. Luckily for us, there had been a couple behind us who were insisting on the waiter to give us the correct change too. I will not be returning back here and I do not recommend...

We stumbled upon this restaurant by chance and were instantly drawn in by the warm, inviting ambience. The bamboo menus, kettle and copper glasses were such a beautiful touch!

Before we even ordered, we were already impressed by the extensive menu. There’s a wide variety of momo and authentic Nepalese dishes. The owner, Pooja, was incredibly welcoming- she struck up a lovely conversation with us and offered spot-on recommendations.

We ordered the Wai Wai Sandeko, open momo (hands down the best momo I’ve ever had), chilli chips, and veg chowmein. Every single dish was an explosion of flavour in our mouths! We were so busy obsessing over the food that we kept losing track of our conversation. We ordered everything medium hot, and that was a good level of heat even for our Indian tastebuds, so defs recommend not overestimating your spice tolerance here.

The music took it to the next level, and the hospitality made it feel like we were dining at a friend’s house. Cannot wait...