Pune on My Plate: Why Yeti & The Monk’s dumplings keep Pune waiting

Opened on April 24, 2019, in Khadki, an unlikely location for a Tibetan and East Asian restaurant. Yeti & The Monk was founded by Biki Gurung, Saurabh Mane, and Prasad Jadhav. The idea was simple but ambitious: to present Himalayan comfort food with the discipline of a professional kitchen, without diluting its soul. In 2024, the restaurant expanded to Viman Nagar, drawn by what the founders describe as Pune’s openness to eating out and experimenting with food.

“Pune’s weather complements this cuisine, and people here almost always step out to eat on weekends,” says Prasad Jadhav, co-owner.

All three founders had backgrounds in hospitality before Yeti & The Monk. Biki Gurung, who grew up around the food of Darjeeling and the eastern Himalayas, brought an instinctive understanding of Tibetan flavours shaped by home cooking rather than trends. Saurabh Mane and Prasad Jadhav came from professional kitchens, where consistency, hygiene and process were non-negotiable. In the early days, with no staff, they cooked, cleaned, shopped and served on their own.

The menu focuses on Tibetan and East Asian comfort food, with dishes that have quietly become cult favourites. (Express photo)

That early discipline still defines the restaurant. Every dish is cooked to order, contributing to the waiting period but ensuring freshness. The kitchen serves close to 3,000 customers a month, maintaining strict cleanliness standards, a detail that many diners notice as soon as they enter.

The menu focuses on Tibetan and East Asian comfort food, with dishes that have quietly become cult favourites. The Darjeeling-style chicken and pork dumplings are among the most ordered items, their thin skins and juicy fillings drawing comparisons even from travellers who have eaten across the Himalayas. Thukpa, the warming noodle soup, anchors the menu as a year-round staple.

For some regulars, the food goes beyond taste. “When it’s raining or I’m feeling under the weather, I like to have thukpa,” says Tripti Singh, who has been visiting Yeti & The Monk since its early days.  She begins most visits with pork or chicken dumplings, followed by either thukpa or pork chops, and says she has tried nearly every dish on the menu.

“I recommend the dumplings to everyone,” she says. “The last time I was here, I met Prasad after I’d just travelled to Sikkim. Even there, I couldn’t find dumplings this good. Now I’m going to Bhutan, and I’ve told him I’ll come back and give him a review.”

Innovation at Yeti & The Monk often comes from accident rather than planning. The now-popular chicken buns at the Viman Nagar outlet were born when pork buns were accidentally flattened under a heavy tray. Instead of discarding them, the staff steamed and pan-seared the buns, a version that eventually outshone the original and earned a permanent place on the menu.

Another dish emerged from staff meals. A simple chicken scramble prepared for the kitchen team caught the attention of a regular diner. It was served as a one-day special, with customers invited to name it. The dish stayed as Le Monk though as a special one, off the menu.

While the food draws first-timers, it is the relationships that turn them into regulars. Customers send the founders wedding invitations and birthday messages. Some plan their visits around quieter hours to avoid queues.

“This is kind of like a regular spot for us,” says Carolyne. “We mainly come here for the dumplings.” She recalls bringing her aunt once. “She really liked the Vietnamese coffee and then got her daughters to come too  now they’re all big fans.”

For Sanika Mate, Yeti & The Monk has long been a constant. “If my friends come from Mumbai, this is the place I bring them,” she says.

Tripti Singh echoes that loyalty. A long-time fan of South Asian cuisine, she says the restaurant filled a gap Pune didn’t earlier offer. “They’re like a family,” she says. “In the beginning, when the kitchen was very small, they would customise dishes for me. I’m allergic to eggs, and they always make sure that’s taken care of. That really matters to me.”

Her order rarely changes. “I start with dumplings, pork or chicken and then it’s a tie between thukpa and pork chops,” she says. Even while following a quantified diet, she returns. “If I’m cheating, I only come here.”

Over time, Yeti & The Monk has built its reputation quietly not through trends or reinvention, but through consistency. Tibetan and East Asian comfort food is served warm, patiently, and without shortcuts. In a city that moves fast, the restaurant asks its diners to slow down and keeps them coming back when they do.