Poo smells, power-cuts(load shedding) and Cuisine

If you have a weak stomach for grime and nasty smells, im pretty sure Katmandu will either cure you of your ailment, or make you take the 1st plane out of the city. Katmandu is not a clean or pretty city. Its charm is found in the food and every day scenes you witness; People cooking outside, washing clothes, kids playing in temple grounds, girls carrying big bronze pots of water from the well, sari shops, momo stands, cows crossing busy down town intersections with ease, the massive Himalaya mountain range that frames the whole Katmandu valley. These scenes are the true beauty of the city. But along with all this beauty are mounds and I mean mounds of trash, rats, dogs with boobies, spit every where, dust dirt, open air butcher shops, smoked boar heads on display, dog poo and tons of other stuff that will make you want to loose your lunch.

Getting used to the environment of Katmandu- patan takes time, and for many travelers, Kathmandu is just a point of entry and then they are off to the more scenic parts of the country. Parts like the grasslands of the Terrai region, the mountain treks of the Himalaya Range, the stupas and temples of Bodnath and Pashupatinath or the retreat of the lake side town of Pohkhara.

But our position has us situated in the temple town of Patan, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. We are currently teaching some amazing kiddies at the Kumbeshwar Technical school. The school is run by the Khadgi Family, and it helps provide primary education and technical work skills for underprivileged children. As well the School has onsite workshops that train young men and women to produce goods such as knit wear, carpets and wood furniture.

We are working with the primary school kids, during their winter vacation break time. Shivaan and I have set up a sort of extra-help workshop for the weaker students, so that they can better understand the concepts of math and English for when the return back to class in February. More posts will be dedicated to these crazy little rascals.

After classes, me and Shiv have been exploring Patan and doing what we do best- EAT!! We have found a few staple restaurants and many prospective eateries. Our game plan is that we start our walk towards a restaurant that is tried and true.

Tried and true; a restaurant that has continually served us good food that has not made us sick in any way.

So, on our way to a tried and true restaurant we make mental, and some times physical notes of restaurants that have regular clientele, and a clean atmosphere. If it loks good we stop into the restaurant and ask to see the menu. The host usually tries to get us to sit down right away and order. Im sure in his/her mind they are thinking “YES a foreigner, I hope they order my tandoori chicken platter!!!” but really me and shiv are not the best typical foreigner customer, because we spend and eat like regular nepali customers.
“chips chilli, samosa chat and 1 milk tea please!!!” ( that’s a typical lunch order for us)

Shiv usually does the polite decline when the host wants us to stay for a meal. His line has gotten to be his signature catch phrase actually. He always says “what time do you close?” When inside his head hes really thinking “im not interested, im backing away from your establishment”. Shiv is too polite. I am certain he gets that trait from Thati.

But back to our restaurant adventures. Shiv has taken me to some amazing places he had frequented during his 6 weeks here. As well he has taken me to some places that he had been dying to go to but didn’t want to go there with out me.

Here is a run down of some of the tried and true restaurants we have encountered in down town Katmandu and Patan.
1) Momo Shop near Kumbeswar Mandir- This tasty hole in the wall (literally) provides a plate of succulent Momos in a spicy ginger-chili broth for 25 rupees!
2) Curry house in New Baneshwor- This is a little restaurant that serves all sorts of curry dishes, and flat breads from a tandoori oven. Their *dal-bhat hungry man combo, as me and shiv like to call it, has all you can eat rice, dal, achar (pickle) and curry vegetables for 60 rupees. and The staff have gotten to know Shiv and I quite well, so they can usually describe most dishes on the menu with one word. Alu, good, spicy, meat, dal… and so forth.

Cultural side note: Last Saturday, I was fortunate enough to spill an entire bowl of dal (Lentil soup) on myself. The next day a pigieon pooped on my head. Seriously! Shiv said it was good luck for a pigieon to poop on your head, but has any one out there heard similar fables to go along with dal???

3) Really good resturant on Kumaripati with a sign we cant read (yet!) I Love this restaurant. The whole menu is in English, but we’ve never seen any other foreigners in the place. The serve the best alu tikkis, pakoras, *chowmein (50 rupees) and chole bathura. The staff are really nice and they really go all out on plate presentation.

4) Evergreen Rooftop Restaurant on Pulchowk- This place is like an oasis, in a jungle of filth. Its really pretty and has a roof top dining patio. The curry’s are really weak. But their “chips chilli” (60 rupees) and pakoras are to die for.

5) Amol Resturant near Patan gate- A straight up gem! We frequent this place more than we would like to admit. Their samosas and jelebi (jeli) are always fresh and huge, they make the most amazing dish imaginable, *“Raj Kanchuri Chat”(60 rupees). Me and shiv think this dish is the brain child of an amazing chef and a high preist. It is that good. It is a circular shell of pastry, filled with raita, curry sauce, saag sauce, cilantro, channa, apple slices, pomegranate seeds and other types of small fried pastry. It is amazing. I think a picture is nessary to communicate its greatness.