Culinary Kathmandu

Soba restaurant, Hotel Sunset View

Tucked away on two acres of wooded greenery in New Baneswor, Hotel Sunset View, offering a delightful blend of Nepali and Japanese food, overlooks Patan and Kathmandu and serves some of most authentic Japanese cuisine in Kathmandu-soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles) made from scratch. The buckwheat, especially flown in from Tukuche in Mustang is ground in a jato (stone grinder) to a fine flour, kneaded and then cut into noodle strips by hand. The soba piece de resistance involves lightly boiling the noodles and serving the dish cold (in summer) with soba thuyu (a soup from soy sauce, seaweed, sake and fish ) and lightly fried tempura. Sweet tasting soba dango, (buckwheat balls in soya sauce) and buckwheat tea are served alongside.

And of course soba yu (the water in which the soba is boiled). The meal is rounded up with Japanese sweets.

"The flour is the key. 80 percent buckwheat and two percent maida," says Hiroko Tulachan, who runs Sunset View with her husband Arjun. Since the couple started the soba restaurant four years ago, there's been a steady stream of clients, Japanese tourists, American and European ex pats and a few Nepalis. And unlike most of our favourite foods, soba is the ultimate health food-it is said to be good for hypertension and the digestion, and is naturally fat-free. If the food weren't reason enough to go here, diners can also watch soba chef Shankhalal Thakali, who was trained in Japan, working in the kitchen, making the noodle that millions of Japanese cannot live without. Of course, you don't have to eat soba-the restaurant also serves udon, refined wheat flour noodles. (482172)

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The Summit Hotel Garden & Patan Museum Caf?

These two restaurants, both run by the Summit Hotel, are among the nicest alfresco dining options in the city. The Patan Museum Caf? only does lunch and high tea, which is a shame. The ambience is unbeatable, hypnotic, almost. The courtyard and the garden with its trellises and little nooks and crannies is alluring, and the sight of the museum's splendidly renovated fa?ade is a delight to look at and blocks out the sound of chattering tour groups in Darbar Square. No surprise, then, that even city residents-not just tourists-go out of their way to spend an afternoon or Saturday brunch here.

The Summit Hotel Garden, located in a rather high Sanepa cul-de-sac, is lush, well-kept and welcoming. In the evenings, it is cleverly lit with warm lights in little niches in the wall near floor level. In the day, the garden feels secluded and away from the din of the city and it is sheer luxury to spend an afternoon in the stillness with a beer or cup of strong filter coffee, looking at the views over the city and even the mountains on a clear day.

The menu in both places is similar: sandwiches on French bread, the popular Museum burger, pure comfort food like the liver and onions platter, the tempting-and calorific-bread basket, a filling Nepali thali, excellent fish and chips with a lavish helping of chips, excellent potatoes, and a crunchy chef's salad. The Summit Garden also does a barbecue with live music on Friday nights. Desserts are a strong point in both cafes-the orange bomb, the lemon souffle, the chocolate mousse and the apple pie are always delicious and well-presented. (521810)

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The Splash Bar and Grill

The new outlet at the Radisson is the best place in the city to catch the sunset. On the fifth floor of the hotel overlooking the attractive and very blue pool, the restaurant offers views of the ugly, unplanned city, but also of Nagarjun and the forest near the British and Indian embassies, from where flocks of egrets fly south, just past the terrace, in the evenings. On a clear day, there are views of Gauri Shankar. But the most spectacular feature is the sun setting behind Swoyambhu.

The Splash has regular tables and chairs, but more fun is the bar-style seating around the edge of the terrace. For nights with a nip in the air, there is also limited covered seating which looks very comfortable and cosy. The menu is a surprise-not just your usual grill fare. There are interesting vegetarian options such as the Cajun cottage cheese with balsamico peppers and the bean steak with peri peri chilli, veggies and the honey-mustard sauce one generally assumes goes with pork. There's plenty for carnivores, a range of burgers, inventive sandwiches like the chicken tikka sandwich with mint yogurt and a substantial king fish with lemon-caper butter. The Splash also has an amusing take on the classic Surf and Turf combination-here it is called Pasture and Pond. You get the tenderloin, but with elaborately prepared prawns instead of lobster.

If you are a vodka drinker, there's something to rejoice about: The Splash offers a range of cocktails made with flavoured vodkas (think herbs, clove, fruit flavours) and liqueurs like blue curacao or an ouzo/raki-type aniseed liquor. Now if only there were seating at the attractive beaten-copper sided bar. (411818)

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La'soon Restaurant and Vinotheque

The archly-named La'soon is in a surprisingly light basement in Pulchowk. Run by Maria, a Ghanian who has lived in Nepal for close to a decade, and Dolly, who was formerly a model and now also runs a school, La'soon is a happy refuge for hordes of lunch devotees who find few other options in the area that probably has the most NGO-workers per square inch in the city. La'soon serves up a cosmopolitan mix of Italian-and American-influenced food. The pastas are filling and flavourful, ranging from spaghetti with feta, olives, capers and chilli, to the simple delights of noodles with pesto. The garlicky mixed bean stew and the chicken in wine sauce are a delightful meal for the starving, while the African peanut soup (when it is on the specials board), the quiche or the tomato and mozzarella salad are perfect for a lighter meal. Other winners include the sandwiches, the Nepali set meal and the jacket fish with lemon and pepper.

The temptation to sit back with a beer or, indeed, a glass of wine from the restaurant's more than adequate selection is strong, but perhaps best resisted if one is going back to a long workday. In this case, have a go at the espresso-based coffees, which are excellent, especially the extensive selection of Swiss coffees brewed in La'soon's brand-new Krups Nespresso machine. The excellent food and drink and pleasant lemon-yellow and grey interiors with changing artwork on the walls make this one of the most congenial places on the quieter side of the Bagmati. La'soon runs the same menu for dinner, and on weekends, there is often live acoustic music by members of 1974 AD and friends. (535290)

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The Rox Restaurant and Bar

There's nothing quite like The Rox in the city for over-the-top stylishness. An almost overwhelming concoction of granite, marble, slate and blonde wood, this is the place to go for a Very Posh Night Out. The Rox is on three levels, the main dining floor with its show kitchen and un-stuffy seating arrangements including counter seating, the mezzanine, which serves as a pre- or post-dinner lounge for the cigar set, and the trendy Rox Bar on the lowest level, which has a number of seating options and opens on to a terrace and then the garden.

The drinks menu is exemplary and includes a huge variety of cocktails, including The Rox's delicious signature drink, the Caprioschka, a drool-worthy selection of single malts, an extensive wine list and cocktails by the pitcher.

The food at The Rox keeps pace with the d?cor. There are simple, rich dishes for the meat-lover-tenderloin, sirloin, lamb chops and whole trout, and appetisers like liver terrine with green peppercorns and a berry compote, baked scampi with garlic and coriander and stuffed bell peppers with pork, rice and oregano. Vegetarians have nothing to fear-there is a wide selection, and some dishes are particularly good, such as the quiche with leeks, potatoes and blue cheese or the marinated grilled cottage cheese with veggies, bell peppers and lavoche. (491234)

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