A Nepalese restaurant owner is looking to make his mark in Guelph with his new southeast Asian fusion restaurant downtown.
Hakka Guelph opened May 16 at 20 Wyndham St., the former home of K-Bop Korean chicken. Hakka Guelph will have a grand opening celebration Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Hakka is fusion food with a mix of Indian, Chinese and Nepalese cuisine.
Suresh Karki came to Canada from Dhading, Nepal, 13 years ago. He came here for a chance at a better future.
“Canada is the best place to start,” he said.
He lives in Kitchener and wanted to open a restaurant in Guelph because he felt there was a lack of hakka food in the city.
He took over the restaurant location on May 1 and renovated within a couple weeks.
Karki has been working in the restaurant industry for over nine years as a cook. This is the first restaurant he has opened. He’s cooked hakka for as long as he can remember.
He loves to cook and he loves to eat. “I'm a foodie too,” he said.
He wants the restaurant to be inclusive and draw in people from across Guelph. “Hakka is for everyone,” he said. The menu’s meat options are halal and it has a variety of vegetarian options too.
The signature Nepalese dish on the menu are the momo dumplings. The chicken butter masala dumplings is one of Karki’s favourite dishes.
Since opening people have been ordering the chili chicken, Manchurian chicken, spicy garlic chicken, lollipop chicken and royal deep fried spicy tiger prawns.
“Everything is fusion,” said Karki. The reason he chose to have a fusion inspired menu is because regular food lacks spices and Hakka Guelph plays with spices in the food it makes. Spices like cumin, coriander, black, white and Szechuan pepper are the spices typically used.
As for heat the food can be customizable to the customer's spice preference from non-spicy to mild, medium, hot and extra hot. At the table there is house-made hot sauce and chili vinegar in case people want to add more spice to their meal.
Karki wants to keep the menu prices affordable because people should feel full when spending under $20 for a plate of food.
“I want to make less money and I want to feed the people,” he said.
His favourite part about the restaurant is seeing people enjoy the food.
Hakka Guelph is a sit-down restaurant. Takeout is also an option and there is delivery through the usual online platforms.
