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Since opening in Paradise, Paro & Co has been introducing Adelaide diners to the food and culture of Bhutan, with husband-and-wife duo Egor and Tashi behind the city’s first dedicated Bhutanese restaurant.
While the restaurant is new, the journey behind it began eight years ago with a text message on the couple’s wedding day confirming they could take over a cafe space in Katoomba, NSW.
There, Egor and Tashi created Manki Coffee, alongside Tashi’s brother Phuntsho and his wife Tandin, setting them on a hospitality path that would eventually lead to Adelaide to its first taste of Bhutan.
“Straight after we got out of the registration centre … the owner sent us a text that they were happy to sell,” Egor said.
Today, Paro & Co serves traditional dishes including momos, thukpa and ema datshi, giving diners a window into a cuisine that remains rarely seen in South Australia.
When COVID arrived, the couple made the move to Adelaide, later continuing their hospitality journey through Shamora cafe, and building their experience in the local food scene.
“I’ve always been in love with the city, especially with the hospitality, how food is presented here and the quality of the service,” Egor said.
The restaurant takes its name from Paro, one of Bhutan’s key gateways and tourism centres, and a place closely connected to the country’s culture and identity. Egor said Adelaide had always reminded him of Europe, from the streetscapes of Hahndorf to the vineyards of the Barossa.
And Adelaide are already falling in love with Bhutanese food judging by the swam of positive reviews from locals.
Ask Egor to describe Bhutanese food in one word and his answer is simple. Chilli.
“I wouldn’t call it spicy, it’s more about the actual flavour,” he clarified.
It is an important distinction, as in Bhutanese cooking, chilli is often treated as a central ingredient rather than simply a seasoning, appearing generously throughout traditional dishes.
That chilli features throughout a cuisine that is bold, warming and deeply connected to home. On the Paro & Co menu, diners can discover everything from steaming momos and bowls of thukpa to ema datshi, Bhutan’s much-loved combination of chilli and cheese.
But perhaps one of the most personal dishes is the momos.
Tashi is the “big boss” when it comes to the Bhutanese dumplings, Egor joked, and no one else is allowed to touch them. It is a process diners can see for themselves thanks to Paro & Co’s open kitchen, designed to make the preparation of the food part of the experience rather than something hidden out the back.
Warm, calming tones run throughout the restaurant, as Egor said “the design was done in accordance with Bhutanese house colours”, creating a space intended to share a little more of the country with guests from the moment they walk through the door.
For the family, Paro & Co is about sharing Bhutanese culture through food and the experience of gathering around the table, something Adelaide diners have begun embracing as they discover a cuisine rarely seen in South Australia.
And behind every plate is a journey that began unexpectedly eight years ago.
So when diners bite into a freshly made momo or tuck into a warming bowl of ema datshi, they are getting more than a taste of a new cuisine. They are experiencing a small part of a family story built on resilience and a dream that began with a text message on a wedding day.
Paro & Co
Where: Unit 1/3 Darley Rd, Paradise SA 5075
For more, visit their website.
