Located in the shadow of the elevated No. 7 train tracks in Jackson Heights, Queens, Himalayan Yak is a popular restaurant for Nepalese and Tibetan immigrants in the region. Jamyang Gurung, 26 (or 27, using the Nepalese method of calculating age), manages the restaurant for his uncle, who bought it about five years ago.
Behind the restaurant’s name: The old owner was pure Tibetan. The old name was Yak. We keep the same Yak, but we added the “Himalayan” word. We wanted to serve all Himalayans.
Do you serve yak? Yes. But not right now. We have to place an order before a week. We order it from over there — Minnesota, Colorado. Yak meat is not that expensive. More expensive than lamb. Yak meat is $7.99. Yak meat is very good and organic, and juicy.
On the menu: Typical Nepalese food. Our restaurant is famous for Tibetan food also. We have Indian food also. We are going to change a little bit. We want to add seafood items.
Is there seafood in Himalayan cuisine? We don’t have sea in Nepal. Nepal is a landlocked country. We don’t have sushi also over there.
Hometown: I was born in Nepal, in Mustang, like Mustang car, you know. Mustang is the border of Tibet and Nepal. It’s one of the famous tourist areas in Nepal. All our ancestors are from Tibet. Most Mustang people are similar to Tibetan. Our culture is the same. We believe in Buddhism. We also believe in Dalai Lama.
How many languages do you speak? Just three: Nepali, Tibetan and English. All the Mustang people speak Tibetan. Our mother tongue is Tibetan. The national language is Nepali. Because it’s a tourist area, it’s very important to speak English. You have to deal with customers.
On moving to New York in 2002: I thought New York must be very beautiful, very different from Katmandu. When I came to Queens, it looked so similar. But then I went to Times Square and that was, I thought, “Oh, my God.” There were all these high buildings. I thought, “How can they build like this? How many people can fit in one building?”
Does the subway bother you? Sometimes, but it has now become a habit. Mustang — we have wind, crazy wind. It’s a cold desert. It’s very loud. Around 12 midday, it stops everything. People stop to walk in the day.
On-location TV shoot: “Ugly Betty” was here. They booked the whole day. The location director came as a customer. He liked the environment. He talked to the main director. They ordered yak sausage.
The breakdown of your customers: Nepalese, Tibetan, Himalayan are 75 percent, 25 percent are foreigners.
Are they foreigners, if your restaurant is in the United States? We call them tourists in Nepal. Whenever you see white people, you call them tourists. So many people come from Europe and America, so you don’t know if they are Americans. That’s why we call them tourists. When you are over here, we have the same concept.
