Meat lover's haven

Almost every restaurant menu has chicken wings on it. And every restaurant has one version of this popular dish. Some serve their dish spicy while some do a basic fried rendition of it with a tangy dip on the side. House of Wings at Jhochhen, Thamel, that opened its doors about five months ago, does things a little differently. This eatery focuses on serving a variety of chicken wings, catering to all kinds of taste buds.

Ayusha Shrestha, manager of House of Wings, had the idea of launching an eatery focusing on varieties of wings when she returned to Nepal after completing her bachelor’s degree in the US. She shared this idea with a few of her family members who liked the concept and the entire family started prepping for the launch of the restaurant – which took them a few months.

Even though Shrestha looks after most of the aspects – especially the marketing – she states that House of Wings is a family run business and that a lot of members from her mother’s side of the family are involved in it. She names her uncles Niraj Shakya, Firoz Shrestha and Robin Shakya as the co-owners and the main investors of House of Wings.

The restaurant looks like a standard modern eatery with its woodsy furniture and pseudo-bohemian decor. Shrestha mentions that she wanted the eatery to have a casual vibe but also wanted it to be comfortable for customers to pop in during their lunch hour, grab a quick meal and go.

“We mostly based the interior and decor on things young people would like as they were our initial target customers,” says Shrestha adding that unexpectedly a lot of families also visit the eatery for lunch and dinner. The walls of House of Wings are also adorned with multiple paintings – all of which are for sale. The restaurant will change this collection of art pieces every few months and customers can consult with the staff if they are interested in buying any.

According to Shrestha, they are azand quality of the food they serve. She states that she thinks this is one of the most important aspects of running an eatery and is quite proud that House of Wings has been able to maintain this standard since its opening. She further claims that this has helped the eatery gain a lot of regular customers in a short while.

The menu of House of Wings is quite concise but it still features almost every other food item we generally tend to order while eating out. A third of the menu is taken up by the variety of flavors, types, and portions of chicken wings that is served at House of Wings. Besides that, they have included dishes like momos, appetizers like meatballs, fries and pizza, meals like rice bowls, noodle bowls, spaghetti and salads, and there are even some really good desserts. There is a separate smaller menu for drinks and the eatery also offers value pack combos during lunch hour (12:00 pm to 3:00 pm).

I had a total of six food items when I visited House of Wings – starting with their House Bread Pizza (Rs 200) that is listed under the appetizer section of their menu. This is a vegetarian dish based on the recipe from Shrestha’s mother who has been making this dish for years. It’s mildly flavored, covered in cheese, air-fried and served alongside ketchup. This is the first bread-based pizza I’ve tasted that I actually liked. It’s definitely meant to be shared among three to four people because, with eight pieces, it’s quite huge and filling.

I also tried two of their wings – the Lemon Pepper Wings (Rs 300 for six pieces) and House Special Wings (Rs 300 for six pieces) – both of which were served with ranch dressing. Apparently, these are the two most popular flavors for wings among their customers. The Lemon Pepper Wings have a very fresh taste – they are sour with a hint of sweetness and the simplicity in their flavoring makes this dish very palatable. The House Special Wings are super spicy (although a non-spicy version of this is also available) and rich in flavor and, as a fanatic of all things spicy, I personally liked this one better.

The Chicken Spaghetti Arrabiata (Rs 300) – listed under the meals section of the menu – was my favorite out of everything I tried at House of Wings. I’ve only recently warmed up to noodles and food items similar to it and trying this Chicken Spaghetti Arrabiata has definitely given me a new reason to like these kinds of dishes. It’s creamy, full of contrasting yet complementing flavors and has big chunks of chicken hiding between the strands of noodles. It’s again very filling and can be shared between two to three individuals, if you’ve ordered enough side dishes.

I washed down all of this food with two smoothies: the Oreo Frappe (Rs 210) and the Blueberry Smoothie (Rs 225). The consistency of both of these smoothies was very satisfying as they were thick but smooth. (This might be a strange gripe that only I have with smoothies and milkshakes served at a lot of eateries around Kathmandu but I don’t enjoy getting solid bits and pieces of fruits and other condiments while drinking smoothies.) The Blueberry Smoothie also had a very interesting flavor as it was both sweet and sour.

Overall, I was really satisfied with the taste of the food items I tried at House of Wings and with their service too. I also thought everything was reasonably priced, especially considering the quality and portions of their dishes. I will certainly visit this restaurant again as I want to try out more dishes, and I recommend you do too.