Dubby Bhagat

Kathmandu:

It’s easy to find Himalayan Java which is on the right as you enter Thamel. One floor up and you just follow the crowd. More difficult is which of the over 35 coffees to choose from. I am always helped by the cheerful Rocky and I go for the strong Long Black. Author, gourmet and wine expert John Child settled for the Caffe Latte described as having more milk than a cappuccino. He sipped it and said, ‘’No sugar, this is just brilliant as it is.’’

Urbane, cool and articulate, Gagan Pradhan, the owner of Java, said, ‘’It was very difficult at first because everyone knew instant coffee and it took time to grow up to coffee beans and real coffee which we get from Kavre.’’ The Java has a small but unique menu that includes an extraordinary Chicken Mushroom Soup made hearty with potatoes, carrots, minced chicken, oregano and basil, but the overall taste is that of butter and chicken stock with wonderful undertones.

‘’We are keeping the menu small and we find different things are popular at different times of the day. Soup in the evening. In the mornings students working on an assignment together go for the Breakfast Wrap and coffee,’’ said Gagan. The Breakfast Wrap is a flour tortilla wrapped around scrambled eggs and sausages. A hint of pepper helps you make it through the day. The salsa that comes with it is fusion at its best combining the chopped onion and tomato salad of the East with a lemon and vinegar seasoning.

“Wraps came in the 80’s and were called Strollers because you could walk around with them,” said John “And they’re still cool.”

But to savour and remember was a Chicken Fajita Wrap which had lettuce, green pepper, green garlic and chicken in a perfect combination that went from soft to crunch with every bite. The Sandwiches at Java are about a Himalayan Roll that encases a myriad delights like chicken, a touch of Mayo and a crispness of lettuce. It might be fattening but everything great in life is (as the cliché goes) either illegal, immoral or fattening.

Ganesh Karki brought us our coffees and three types of Cookies-Peanut Butter, Chocolates Chip and Short Bread and we realised what a long way the cookie had come since 1703 when it appeared in North America in print for first time having been derived from Dutch word “koekje’’ which mean “little cake.’’ At Java they are crisp, not too sweet and amongst the best and biggest in town. In the early 19th century when coffee houses were the rage in England a Mr Dean Mahomet opened Britain’s first curry house called the Hindostanee Coffee House. By 1812 Mr Mahomet who was also called Mr Vindaloo realised he was not a success because he did not actually serve or even offer coffee. This is a fate never to befall Gagan Pradhan and Himalayan Java as not only are they increasing their coffee menu they’re thinking of starting a chain. And why not? America has its Starbucks and India has Barista and Gagan has already got two more ventures he can easily go for three, four, and five…blast off.

For Java Jive call Ganesh Karki at 4422519 or 4422712.