Bajeko Sekuwa Nepalese & Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Aurora

FOOD: The signs outside say "Himalayan," but also "Indian / Nepalese." I think the clearest way to think about it is as a good Indian restaurant with a lot of Nepalese starters and sides.

So one side of the menu is all sorts of skewers, dumplings, and other shared dishes, of that Himalayan bent, often with a choice of meet (lamb, goat, chicken, beef). All of them looked interesting, though too many were just differentiated by the "chef's secret blend of spices." The menu had a lot of typos, but was professionally produced.

The other side of the menu is most of your standard Indian fare: curry, roganjosh, vindaloo, daal, etc.

The dishes we ordered had options for Low, Medium, and High spiciness. We have a pretty decent heat tolerance, so we went with Medium ... and, to be honest, it was a tick too high for me. Next visit: Low.

We ordered some garlic naan, some yummy fried goat dumplings (with very tasty sauces), and a curry and a roganjosh ... and we ended up taking half our entrees home. Generous portions, very filling.

The restaurant has a full bar and an extensive cocktail list. My only disappointment there was very little -- from the beers to the cocktails -- had the regional flavors, though what we got (my wife had a toddy with interesting spices, I had a Mule) were good.

SERVICE: Warm and friendly. A bit slow in places, esp. since there were not that many guests there. But certainly worthy of a full tip.

AMBIANCE: The place is new and is decorated in a western modern -- lots of warm wood tones -- coupled with some Himalayan decorator accents (prayer wheels, etc.). All the kit was new and high class as well. Quite a nice place.

OVERALL: Bajeko Sekuwa is a bit too far away for it to become a regular dining spot, which is a shame, because if it weren't it would. Dinner came to around $50 each -- which given the volume and quantity of food and drink was quite reasonable. As an Indian restaurant, it's a solid pick, and the inclusion on the menu of some more "exotic" northern elements makes it interesting. Definitely worth a try if you have not...

I’ve supported Bajeko Sekuwa for since you guys are open. I drive a long way just to eat here with my family because I believe in supporting Nepali businesses and love the food. But after today’s visit, I’m seriously disappointed — and honestly, hurt. We came in as a family of 6 — father, mother, me, my wife, and our two kids. That’s just a normal family dinner. But when we got the bill, we were automatically charged 18% gratuity — over $33 — without any heads-up. When I asked the server about it, she told me that any group with more than 6 people gets charged this. So let me get this straight — if I come in with my own family, I automatically get penalized just for showing up with my kids and parents? That’s ridiculous. In our culture, most families have 5–6 people. That’s not a large party — that’s just dinner. This isn’t the first time either. We came before with a big group of 18 people, spent over $1,000, and were charged $180 in gratuity. Even then, we didn’t complain — because we wanted to support a Nepali-owned restaurant. But now it feels like this place is just taking advantage of people. Gratuity is supposed to be a choice based on service. Forcing people to tip no matter what — especially loyal, regular customers — is just greedy. You’re already making more money when more people come in. Why do you need to squeeze us even more? It’s not about the $33. It’s about how you made us feel. Unappreciated. Taken for granted. Used. I’ve brought so many people here over the years, recommended this place, supported it proudly — but after today, we’re done. This is not how you treat your own community. Good luck to you, but we...

We went as a group of four for dinner tonight with high expectations, as two in our group used to frequent a Bajeko sekuwa location in New York (and raved about it). Unfortunately, this did not come close to the experience. I originally did not realize that this restaurant had recently opened We ordered four entrees, an order of momos, and some naan. The timing of the food left a lot to be desired. The entrees trickled out one by one, with the second and third coming a solid ten minutes after the first. We had to ask numerous times for the momos and the fourth entree - the fourth entree came last - probably 20 minutes late. The naan was so late we asked to cancel it. Food wise, the momos were quite good - nice flavor, good size and nice, flavorful dipping sauces. The goat rogan josh, albeit extremely late, was a tasty dish. The other entrees left a lot to be desired. We had a veg platter that consisted of extremely dry, overcooked items. The fried paneer was almost inedible. To add insult to injury, it apparently included a (fairly tasty) dipping sauce that they didn't give us until most of the food was gone. The goat sekuwa was an extreme disappointment for a signature dish. There were 9 or 10 very small, quarter sized chunks of goat meat. It was overcooked, tough, and had almost no sauce whatsoever. Not only was it poorly cooked, but the portion was extremely lacking for a $19 entree. That being said, this restaurant has potential, but some large improvements need to happen before this would be worth visiting again. I hope they figure out their operations and turn this...