If you come to Siliguri ever, ask anyone about the best Momo shop around. For the uninitiated, many options may arise, but for the ones who know the city well, ‘Dimick Momo Shop’ undoubtedly the reply is.

‘Dimick Momo Shop’, fondly known as ‘Dimick’, is situated in the western fringes of the city. Siliguri is well known for the large number of Nepali population thronging all through out the city. These Nepalis are an extension of the huge numbers of the same community living in the nearby hills. The majority starts from Sukna, and spreads upwards to the hills. As is well-known, Momo is a famous snack of the Nepalese as well as Chinese countries. And little wonder that it has become such a sought after food item to us too, thanks to the Nepalese people who have migrated to our country for good. Siliguri being the gateway of business as well as other sorts of transactions with North-Eastern India as well as with the northern neighboring countries, namely Nepal, Bhutan etc., it’s natural that the trend will be picked up from this place. And now, every city and metro of our country has a famous Momo eatery. And people crowd to these places, not even aware of whether they are having the original recipe Momos or the Indian adaptation of the same.

Whenever I return to my native city Kolkata, this confusion about the cooking procedures bothers me the most. And most of the times, I end up avoiding having momos from places where:
Firstly, I don’t find any Nepali or Chinese cook preparing it,
Secondly, I don’t get enough convinced about the ingredients even after talking to the proprietors.

Dimick’s speciality are their original recipes. With two Nepali cooks from the same family, being helped by four-five helpers making the doughs, Dimick is the place if you want to have a taste of what momos should ideally taste like. Every evening the same picture gets repeated in front of the eatery, which is a small shop with an outlet in the front and few benches stuffed against each other inside. The benches inside can hardly make places for more than seven-eight people, and most of the times are kept occupied by young couples slogging their ways through the many dishes available at Dimick.

Momos are found in two varieties – chicken and mutton, among which the chicken ones are more sought after, and naturally the ones which are finished within two-three hours of the opening of the shop. The mutton variations are as tasty as its chicken counterpart, but the smaller size of it with respect to the chicken momos places it in the second position in popularity among the eaters. Other than momos, the popular orders are for noodles, thukpas (another pro-Nepalese/Chinese soupy dish), chicken fried rice, chicken manchurian, chicken chilli etc. If you want to have Thukpa in Dimick, you will need to have a taste for soupy dishes, and more importantly, will need to know exactly what amount of add-ons of salt and sauces suit you. The original recipe they supply are the ones prepared with a little amount of salt and sauces, keeping in mind the large numbers of Nepali people visiting the shop on a daily basis, who prefer to have the original recipes in an original way.

The price range of the dishes in Dimick are easy on the pocket. But the worst part of this eatery is the huge crowd always thronging the shop, making the place not suitable enough to hit on a daily basis. If only the Dimick owners can think of an extension of the shop, or a proper seating as well serving system for the visitors, Dimick will be a much better place. The food quality, if not outstanding, of course is one a higher side of the city. And if you only consider momos with a bowl of soup with it, Dimick may be the place you will like to have a taste of!