Best Nepalese Restaurants in San Mateo

This is one of my favorite spots, you walk in the door and you are hit with the amazing aromas of the wonderful dishes. The food here is always delicious and if you like spicy, they can make the dishes to your liking. My experiences here are always top notch at Dancing Yak.

Our go to place. Everything is so good. Owners are very friendly.

A new place with a delightful owner. He guided us on the menu and we were pleased with our meal.

Tried Rara for the first time with my family. I’ve had Nepali food before, they have not. All of us enjoyed Rara. Service is casual, so it can take a bit of time to flag down a waiter, but it’s on par with other similar restaurants. Cozy ambience. Some of the food is very spicy, and not always clearly marked as such, so definitely ask before you commit. Standouts for us were the gorkhali lamb shank (fell off the bone and the rice was great too), the momos (we didn’t think there was a need to get the sizzler, so we just got the regular momos), and the very spicy mushroom chhoila. We also enjoyed the goat taas (also pretty spicy) and the paratha. The lassi was also good (and helpful with the spicier food). We didn’t try the curries but they also looked very good; it seems like they do a really good job with slow cooked meats or really anything that has to braise/simmer. Definitely a good place to order family style so that you can try everything (they don’t make it obvious that you can do it that way). Flavors were rich and deep, but the food wasn’t overly heavy either - really well-cooked. Will definitely go back!

The variety on the menu is amazing which allowed us to have a wonderful dinner that entertained our tastebuds. Would definitely recommend to others. Local neighborhood gem.