Half & Half: Nepalese Cuisine #smartphonephotography

Half &Half's Mutton Thali or Mutton Curry Set with Steamed Chicken Momo (Chicken Dumpling)

Here is my Saturday's contribution to @juliank's @photocontests under the category #smartphonephotography.

Photo taken by Vivo Smartphone.

This is the first #Nepalese restaurant that opened here in Baguio City and the Cordillera. Half & Half is a joint venture between Juilan and Andria Shakya and Bernie Figer. They just opened last year but not one year yet in operation. They serve meat-based (mutton, chicken, pork) and vegetable cuisine.

The origin of the restaurant's name is derived from the Nepal or Buddhist part of the gesture when greeting someone. With palms pressed together, fingers pointing upward, you bow and utter the words "Namaste." Each hand is part of a whole, two halves make as one. Thus, Half & Half came about.

However, that is just one meaning.

It also connotes integrating one culture to another by bringing Nepal in Baguio City through the palate and stomach of the residents and visitors alike to the City of Pines.

The establishment is adorned with objet d' art made of metal, wood, gold and copper. There are knick knack of traditional Tibetan and Nepali crafts, masks, and other treasures. It is like walking in to a museum.

Feast your eyes to every corner. Fill your nostrils with the aroma of different mixtures of spices like coriander, bay leaves, curry, onions, ginger, garlic, and incense, too. Treat your taste with these herbs and spices mingled in their cuisines. Thus, almost satisfying all your senses.

Half & Half is located in Outlook Drive, Baguio City and situated where you could have a view of multi-hued mountain ranges to maximize your experience, giving you a sense of venturing into a different place.

In addition to Filipino dishes, Baguio City is abundant with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, American, Malaysian, Indian, Pakistani dishes to name a few. Thus, upon learning that Nepalese cuisine has made its way to the highlands of Luzon, there is no other way but try it.

We do not know what to order or what is good so we settled with what we are familiar with. We decided to order the Mutton Thali. The chicken dumpling is not included in the set but we would like to try it still so that is an additional to the set that we ordered. The picture above consists of mutton, potato salad, spinach, lentils, rice, yogurt, roti and chicken dumplings. I would say it is very different taste than I have ever tried. I must be trying to find similarity in other cuisines I have tasted (which are very limited). There are lots of things going on with my senses that must have interfered with my eating experience. It is not something I would be eager to go back to again but it is not something I can cross off my list.

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You can read more about @photocontests here

The schedules for other categories for @juliank's photo contest are:

Monday: #foodphotography and #animalphotography
Tuesday: #landscapephotography and #cityscapephotography
Wednesday: #architecturalphotography and #vehiclephotography
Thursday: #macrophotography and #colourfulphotography
Friday: #streetphotography and #portraitphotography
Saturday: #sportsphotography and #smartphonephotography
Sunday: #goldenhourphotography and #longexposurephotography