Hungry Badger Cafe
Nepalese dumplings come stuffed with chicken, veggies, potato or bratwurst.
Since becoming empty nesters about five years ago, Archana and Deepak Shrestha have been thinking about opening a restaurant. Natives of Nepal, they wanted to share the cuisine of their homeland and provide healthy, affordable options for UW-Madison students.
On Dec. 1, the first-time restaurateurs opened Hungry Badger Cafe at 540 State St., in the second-floor space that formerly housed Kabul. Open Tuesdays through Sundays for lunch and dinner, the restaurant specializes in momo, a type of steamed dumpling traditional in Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. The restaurant offers four types: a classic version stuffed with ground chicken, a vegetarian option with zucchini, broccoli and almond butter, a potato dumpling similar to a pierogi and a “badger” momo filled with ground bratwurst.
“It’s comfort food from everywhere around the world,” Archana Shrestha says. “We’re not only focused on Nepali [cuisine].”
Deepak Shrestha went to school at UW-Madison, but the couple met in Nepal when he was home on summer break. They settled in Madison in 1988, and Archana says her family has felt “really welcome here.” She and her husband both work other jobs — he’s an engineer, she works for UW-Madison’s University Research Park. Adding a restaurant to the mix will keep them busy, but they’re up to the challenge. “We’ll see how it goes,” Archana says.
Neither Archana nor her husband have formal culinary training. “I didn’t know anything about cooking until I got married,” she says, laughing. But they have experience feeding their kids and have developed kid-approved recipes that are now on the menu at Hungry Badger Cafe. Beyond momo, the restaurant offers vegetable fritters and samosa, a rice bowl topped with spiced chicken or tofu, homemade chili with rosemary bread, and an eight-bean soup inspired by Archana’s family — she’s one of eight sisters.
Nepalese food is characterized by spices like garlic, ginger and cumin, but Archana goes easy when she seasons her dishes. “For me, the lighter the better,” she says. “It brings out the flavors of other things.” Everything is made from scratch, and nothing on the menu contains lard or MSG.
Says Archana: “We want [the students] to eat right.”
