Author: Matt Ingersoll

Gurung’s Kitchen opens inside Bunny’s Superette

You won’t see it right away when you step inside Bunny’s Superette in Manchester’s North End, but walk all the way across the store and you’ll find a new Nepalese takeout restaurant.

Gurung’s Kitchen, which opened for business on June 27, features a menu of authentic Nepalese dishes like steamed or fried momos, thukpa (noodle soup) and shapale (fried meat pies), all cooked to order. Owner Sarmila Gurung opened the eatery with the help of Pramod Nyaupane, her friend and former landlord, who owns Bunny’s Superette and Bunny’s Convenience on Elm Street. Both Gurung and Nyaupane are natives of Kathmandu.

“I used to cook for [Nyaupane] and he loves my cooking,” said Gurung, who remembers always helping her mother out in the kitchen growing up. “When I told him I was thinking I wanted to open a restaurant, he said, ‘If you’re really interested, I can help you.’ So that’s how we ended up opening the restaurant here.”

Because her restaurant’s space was formerly a butcher shop, Gurung said, it went under all kinds of renovations, including the introduction of new stoves, fryers, a freezer and a warmer.

Gurung’s Kitchen accepts takeout orders via phone or walk-in, as well as delivery through either DoorDash or GrubHub. Among the most popular items, Gurung said, have been the momos, which are dumplings filled with chicken, pork or vegetables. She said she has also offered bison meat, but said it’s been difficult to get regularly due to the pandemic. One order of momos yields eight dumplings, which are either steamed or fried, with the option to have them served in a homemade tomato sauce or chili sauce. You can also customize your order with a momo platter.

Other big sellers have been the chicken, pork or vegetarian chow mein, or the fried noodles with turmeric, cumin, coriander and other spices; the chicken, pork or vegetarian fried rice; and the thukpa, or noodle soup. When it’s available, Gurung will also make each of these dishes with bison meat as a protein option.

Some harder-to-find dishes available at the restaurant are shapale and pakoda. A common street food in Nepal, according to Gurung, shapale (pronounced sha-PAH-lee) features half-moon-shaped meat pies stuffed with either chicken or pork and deep fried. You get two pieces per order with a side of homemade sauce.

Pakoda, which Gurung described as being similar to hash browns, is also a Nepalese street food or snack featuring a mixture of potatoes, onions, flour and spices that’s deep fried.

“We have different kinds of customers right now,” Gurung said. “Our customers who come from Nepal … usually come here for the shapale and the pakoda, because they know it and they can’t easily find it here [in the United States].”

Gurung’s Kitchen offers a small selection of non-traditional items like french fries, chicken wings and chicken nuggets. There is also black tea, masala tea and mango lassi, a smoothie-like drink featuring a blend of fresh mango, yogurt and ice.

Since between 700 and 800 people usually come inside Bunny’s Superette every day, according to Gurung, she hopes her restaurant will continue to see new customers.

“We try to offer really fast service,” she said. “People come here first and order their food, then they go [shop for] their groceries and when they come back here their food is ready.”

Gurung’s Kitchen
Where: 75 Webster St., Manchester (inside Bunny’s Superette)
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week
More info: Call 316-1540 or search “Gurung’s Kitchen” on Facebook

Bistro 603 to open soon in Nashua

A new eatery coming soon to Nashua, Bistro 603 will offer an eclectic menu of scratch-made appetizers, entrees, cocktails and weekend brunch items when it opens in the coming weeks.

Owner Jeff Abellard and chef Jason Duffy refer to its environment as upscale yet casual. Both men are part of a close-knit restaurant team that has run Bistro 781 on Moody Street in downtown Waltham, Mass., for the past five years.

Bistro 603, Abellard said, is nearly double the size of its Massachusetts counterpart, with bar seating, table dining, an outdoor patio and space for two private rooms. The menu, while similar to that of Bistro 781’s, remains diverse, ranging from small shareable plates to larger meals with optional wine pairings.

“You can have a special dinner with your family … or you can just sit and have a drink with your buddies at the bar,” said Duffy, who has more than two decades of experience in the kitchen. “Anything you want to do here, we can accommodate you.”

Appetizers will include seafood options like fried oysters, clams and crab cakes, as well as potato and ricotta mushroom gnocchi, sweet and spicy barbecue rubbed chicken wings, and steak bomb spring rolls served in a Parmesan peppercorn dipping sauce. The menu is further divided into sections for salads and bowls, for burgers and sandwiches, and for tacos.

“We do a Cuban sandwich, a quinoa burger, and a burger with fried oysters on top of it that’s delicious,” Abellard said. “We also do what we call a Crunch Wrap burger, so it’s actually a burger with a crunchy taco shell around it.”

Tacos will be available with either braised pork belly, braised short rib, tuna tartare, batter-fried haddock, or as vegetarian options with either crispy cauliflower or sauteed vegetables. In addition to house and Caesar salads, there will be a strawberry and watermelon salad; a Mediterranean grain bowl with grilled artichoke and hummus; and a seasoned street corn bowl.

The larger plates will include several staples, like the seafood paella with chicken, chorizo and shellfish; the braised short ribs with potato and ricotta gnocchi, truffled mushroom cream sauce and roasted Brussels sprouts; and the steak frites with smoked tomato chimichurri. There will also be a number of pastas, all made in house, like the Bolognese with veal, pork and pancetta and the sauteed chicken fettuccine with white wine garlic cream sauce.

A separate brunch menu will be available every Saturday and Sunday, according to Abellard. That will include several savory options like omelets, Benedicts and breakfast sandwiches. Other featured items will be the short rib or duck hash with eggs and challah toast; and the shrimp and grits with chorizo, aged cheddar and bacon and sweet pepper relish.

Some of the more notable changes specific to Bistro 603’s menu, Abellard said, have to do with the weekly specials it will feature, as well as its beers and wines. There will be almost twice as many lines on draft, with more options from New Hampshire breweries. A complete brunch cocktail menu of mimosas, espresso martinis and other drinks will be available too.

Two dining areas within the restaurant — one small room and one larger room — are separated by large sliding wooden doors. Abellard said that while tables in these rooms can be reserved for private parties or functions, they’ll be otherwise open to all diners.

“If you’re just having a small little get-together, you can use the smaller room … or, if it’s a larger party, you can open it up and kind of share both rooms,” he said. “We’d also like to build a night crowd … where we bring in some acoustic music, and we’ll have a late night menu.”

Bistro 603
An opening date is expected in the coming weeks. Visit the website or follow them on social media for updates.

Where: 345 Amherst St., No. 1, Nashua
Hours: TBA
More info: Visit bistro603nashua.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram, or email owner Jeff Abellard at [email protected]

Taste of the Region returns to Derry

EVENT UPDATE:
Just after going to press on Tuesday, July 14th, Taste of the Region organizers announced that they have made the event virtual. For updated details, visit http://derry-chamber.chambermaster.com/events/details/taste-of-the-region-gone-virtual-11796

More than two dozen local restaurants, breweries and other businesses will be vying for your vote during the annual Taste of the Region. After its initial cancellation in April, the festival will return to Derry’s Tupelo Music Hall on Tuesday, July 21.
Normally held inside the venue, the Taste of the Region is moving outdoors this year to accommodate social distancing regulations.
“Exhibitors will be set up in the parking lot similar to guests at a show at the Tupelo, so people can pass by in both directions without being too close to each other,” said Ashley Haseltine, president of the Greater Derry Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the event.
Whenever possible, all foods will be packaged individually grab-and-go style, while beverages will be offered in single-use sample cups. Each sample falls under one of three categories — “savory,” “sips” or “sweets” — and vendors can opt to participate in one, two or all three. “‘Savory’ is more of an entree-type food option,” Haseltine said. “‘Sips’ can be any beverage, alcoholic or non-alcoholic … and then ‘sweets’ is any type of dessert. It’s always a great variety. … The fun thing with this event is that sometimes restaurants bring something that people didn’t even realize they offered, and then for the breweries it’s usually whatever kind of specialty brew they have at the moment.”
If you’ve attended the event in the past, you’ll see some returning vendors and a few new faces. Kiss the Cook Macaroni & Cheese, a Derry-based business offering homemade macaroni and cheese; The Nutrition Corner, a Derry shop offering protein smoothies and teas that opened late last year; and the Daydreaming Brewing Co. of Derry, which was launched earlier this year by Andy Day and Alana Wentworth of Cask & Vine, are all among this year’s newcomers.
Casa Java Cafe of Derry, which has participated in the event previously, will be returning this year, offering multiple flavors of crepes. They’ll have their warm cinnamon apple crepe, their fruity Nutella crepe with strawberry banana, and their house Casa Java crepe with blackberry and arequipe (Colombian caramel sauce).
The Grind Rail Trail Cafe, also of Derry, will be serving a savory option and an entry into the “sips” category, most likely a cold brew or other coffee offering. Rig A’ Tony’s Italian Takeout, another returning participant, has in the past featured a display of desserts like whoopie pies and coconut macaroons.
All exhibitors and tasters are asked to wear a mask or face-covering while in the event area in the parking lot. Instead of stopping in front of each booth to try their samples, Haseltine said, everyone is asked to use one of two designated tents with tables to sit down and eat at. Members of Servpro of Derry and Londonderry, one of the event’s sponsors, will be regularly sanitizing tables and chairs throughout the evening.
Each taster will be given a paper ballot on which to write their votes for each category. Haseltine said winners will be announced on social media within a week.

Taste of the Region
When: Tuesday, July 21, 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Where: Tupelo Music Hall parking lot, 10 A St., Derry
Cost: $35 admittance per person (includes full access to food and drink tastings; purchasing tickets in advance is encouraged, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Kyle B. Ross Memorial Scholarship Fund)
Visit: gdlchamber.org

Participating food and beverage vendors
• 603 Brewery (Londonderry, 603brewery.com)
• Amphora Restaurant (Derry, amphoranh.com)
• Aroma Joe’s Cafe (Derry, aromajoes.com)
• Casa Java Cafe (Derry, casajavacafe.com)
• Clam Haven (Derry, clamhaven.com)
• Daydreaming Brewing Co. (Derry, daydreaming.beer)
• Doire Distilling (Derry, doiredistilling.com)
• Fody’s Tavern (Derry, fodystavern.com)
• From the Barrel (Derry, drinkftb.com)
• Gabi’s Smoke Shack (Londonderry, gabissmokeshack.com)
• The Grind Rail Trail Cafe (Derry, thegrindnh.com)
• Halligan Tavern (Derry, thehalligantavern.com)
• Kiss the Cook Macaroni & Cheese (Derry, kissthecookllc.com)
• Long Blue Cat Brewing Co. (Londonderry, longbluecat.com)
• Moonlight Meadery (Londonderry, moonlightmeadery.com)
• The Nutrition Corner (Derry, thenutritioncorner.business.site)
• Pasta Loft Restaurant (East Hampstead, pastalofthampstead.com)
• Pipe Dream Brewing (Londonderry, pipedreambrewingnh.com)
• Prime Source Foods (Londonderry, primesourcefoods.biz)
• The Red Arrow Diner (Londonderry, redarrowdiner.com)
• The Residence at Salem Woods (lcbseniorliving.com)
• Rig A’ Tony’s Italian Takeout (Derry, find them on Facebook)
• Rockingham Brewing Co. (Derry, rockinghambrewing.com)
• Talia’s Eatery (Londonderry, taliaseatery.com)
• Troy’s Fresh Kitchen & Juice Bar (Londonderry, troysfreshkitchen.com)
• Zorvino Vineyards (Sandown, zorvino.com)