Dining at the Edge of the World: Inside NAAR, India’s Most Ambitious Himalayan Restaurant

Writer Salman Rushdie once described the Himalayas as “land’s attempt to metamorphose into sky.” Even at its foothills, the world’s tallest mountain range feels otherworldly and awe-inspiring, long serving as the backdrop for mythical tales of spirituality and wonder. But peel away the Orientalist mysticism, and a much more grounded yet no less sublime picture of the region emerges, one rooted in rich agricultural traditions and pristine, foraged ingredients.

In recent years, the epicenter of this culinary renaissance is NAAR (the Kashmiri word for "fire"), a 16-seater restaurant perched at the edge of a cliff above a pine forest in the remote village of Darwa, Himachal Pradesh. Despite its secluded location, a 45-minute drive from Kasauli and a winding two-and-a-half-hour journey from the nearest airport in Chandigarh, NAAR has rapidly become a pilgrimage site for food enthusiasts, recently claiming the No. 1 spot in Condé Nast Traveller India’s rankings and securing No. 30 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

The Chef’s Mountain Gambit
NAAR is the brainchild of Chef Prateek Sadhu, a Kashmiri native whose pedigree reads like a culinary hall of fame. After training at the Culinary Institute of America and honing his craft in the kitchens of global titans like Alinea, The French Laundry, Le Bernardin, and Noma, Sadhu returned to India in 2016 to open Masque in Mumbai. There, he introduced diners to deeply regional cooking, earning the title of India’s best restaurant in 2022.

Yet, at the absolute height of Masque’s acclaim, Sadhu made a radical pivot. He quit and headed into the Himalayas in search of deeper inspiration. A year later, NAAR was born. “It was a gamble,” admits Aashina Kaul, Sadhu’s wife and the restaurant’s operations head. “We were afraid that nobody would be crazy enough to come all the way out here for a meal.”

Today, the 16-seat dining room is consistently full, drawing affluent travelers from across the country who are eager to experience Sadhu’s vision.

A 14-Course Journey Through the Himalayas
The dining experience at NAAR is not just a meal; it is an immersive, three-hour expedition through the region’s terroir, priced at 6,800 INR (approx. RM287). The journey begins in the "salon," a separate, intimate space for cocktails and preliminary snacks. Here, the menu showcases the restaurant’s inventive use of local flora and fauna. A standout is the charcoal-filtered tequila infused with smoked trout bone, stone fruit pickle, and trout bone bitters, a drink that goes down with the complex, smoky satisfaction of a guilty-pleasure cigarette and a filthy martini.

This is followed by a bhangjeera (perilla) leaf fritter with tomato jhol (a thin gravy) and tomato seed chutney, perfectly balancing the leaf’s distinct anise flavor with bright acidity.

The menu is a love letter to the region’s staples, particularly trout and buckwheat. Though not native to India, trout has thrived in Kashmir’s glacial streams since its introduction in 1900, and it features prominently across five courses. Early highlights include a "trout belly sandwich," where cubes of trout dressed in sorrel and fresh chilli chutney are tucked into a crisp, traditional buckwheat flatbread. This is followed by NAAR’s take on tujj, a classic Kashmiri grilled skewer. Using lamb rump brined overnight and glazed with mustard and chilli, it is served with a rich onion emulsion that cushions the char and heat like an "allium pillow."

Innovation meets tradition in the askalu, a Himachali snack resembling a mini deep-fried doughnut. NAAR elevates the traditional rice flour version by using tapioca, stuffing it with duck, and topping it with golden raspberry and mountain pepper masala, offering a sweet, peppery crunch.

The Main Event: Playful Mastery
Guests are then ushered into the main dining room, where the atmosphere shifts from the funky screeching of James Brown in the salon to the moody, dark synths of Depeche Mode. Despite the lofty reverence for foraging and hyper-seasonal produce, the service is refreshingly playful. The team moves with the earnest, curious energy of skilled cooks at the world’s best summer camp, putting guests entirely at ease.

The centerpiece of the meal is a quartet of trout courses. The most mind-bending of these is a layer of glistening, smoked trout roe served on an unlikely bed of salted banana custard and banana honey. The interplay of the roe’s briny pop and the banana’s lingering sweetness opens the palate to an entirely new paradigm of sweet-and-salty harmony.

This is followed by trout trimmings in a crisp, refreshing broth of raw mango and green apple, crowned with a light dill foam. Then comes the iconic "Dirty Toast," a dish that has been on the menu since day one. Named for the glorious mess it leaves behind, it features a wedge of Ladakhi khambir-inspired sourdough laden with apple-chilli chutney, onion jus, and Himalayan mustard sauce, all crowned with a thick, lightly charred hunk of trout.

The savory progression continues with sundarkala, hand-rolled buckwheat noodles from neighboring Uttarakhand. Served in a bright, citrusy timur (Himalayan pepper) broth alongside gyurma (Tibetan blood sausage), the dish is a masterclass in balancing meaty depth with a numbing, citrusy tingle.

A Grand, Family-Style Finale
As the meal nears its end, the service shifts to a communal, family-style presentation. A large pot of rice infused with tomato chutney is flanked by a mild, cream-colored yoghurt curry featuring foraged morels, and tender barbecued pork with a rich pumpkin seed sauce. Sadhu intentionally leaves the plating to the diner’s discretion, inviting guests to spoon the tender pork and spongy morels over the rice, allowing the rich yoghurt curry to pool across the plate, finished with a few teaspoons of NAAR’s fiery house hot sauce.

The palate is finally cleared by a sharp, invigorating sorbet of sea buckthorn (a fiercely sour Himalayan berry) paired with timur custard, orange oil, and honeycomb. The grand finale is a delicate, sharp, and satisfying dish of pickled peach with almond cream.

The Lingering Awe
By the time the meal concludes, three hours have passed in what felt like minutes. NAAR takes the diner’s taste buds on a whirlwind tour through a famously mythicized region, one specific ingredient and tradition at a time. You touch the berries, smell the shrubs, and eat the leaves. Even without full context for the centuries of history and millions of people behind these flavors, the sheer brilliance of the execution leaves you sinking into awe.

Stepping outside afterward, all you can do is look up at the vast Himalayan sky, which feels only slightly out of reach, and let your mind wander and wonder.

NAAR
📍 VPO Darwa, Sub Tehsil-Kishangarh, Kasauli, District Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
🕒 Open Tuesday to Sunday: 12:30 PM – 3:00 PM & 6:30 PM – 11:00 PM
📞 Tel: +91 88004 22053
🌐 Website: restaurantnaar.com
(Reservations are highly recommended and should be made well in advance due to the restaurant’s 16-seat capacity and remote location.)