The stars are bright on a clear night in Dehradun — fitting, for a meal at a new and ambitious all-women run restaurant called Beyul, which means a beautiful valley of clouds. It is partly al fresco, partly done up with handmade Tibetan carpets and bric-a-bac. It is also the country’s first big Tibetan restaurant, tapping into a growing interest in the cuisine of the Himalayas. And it has come up here right in the heart of the hills, not in the so-called food capitals of New Delhi or Mumbai.
With its offerings of eight different types of momos, stir fries and rich thukpas, this is one of the most unique fine-dining eateries to have opened not just in Dehradun, but anywhere in the country this year. And while you may be nostalgic about the charms of a less urban Doon, the fact is that the bar is raised as far as food goes, much above Ellora’s éclairs and indifferent steaks of the erstwhile boarding school-goers.