Kathmandu :

Krishnarpan at Dwarika’s has all the colours of Nepal with waitresses dressed in costumes as varied as a Newari bride, a Tharu girl and even a Gurungseni. You barely take in the brilliant red and black décor, the low seating when your personalised six, 12 or however many course meal is served by a ballet of attendants.

Sangeeta, who is the daughter of Ambika and Dwarika Shrestha, and runs the PATA heritage award winning hotel, married into Germany and invented courses in Nepali food rather like King Louis the XIV did in 1674 when he had dishes served in a complementary defined sequence.

The Samaya Bhajee or assortments of hors d’ oeuvres were items normally served in a religious ceremony like Maha Puja and included a bit of boiled egg, some choila which is a piquant meat with cumin, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, chilli powder and fenugreek, and at Krishnarpan the choila has a tangy flavour with a smoky after taste which goes perfectly with the Aloo ko Achaar which has the typically Nepali spice chook in it and has a distinct taste of lemons. The Samaya Bhajee is followed by an extremely clever creation...

...the Chyau ko Sekuwa. Normally associated with meats, the sekuwa is an almost tandoori kebab that predates the Indian delicacy by 200 years.

The clever thing about Krishnarpan is using the sekuwa with mushrooms instead of meat.

Said Sagun Pradhan, Dwarika’s food and beverage consultant, “It is pan roasted and finished with cream.” You can taste the mustiness of the mushroom and the “roasted” flavour of the sekuwa. Served with puris and chana on a black plate, it was a visual feast for the eyes that was playful on the palate. The mushrooms reminded me of the Egyptian Pharaoh who, nervous about running out of mushrooms in early BC, issued an edict that only he could eat the newly discovered delicacy.

“Our food reflects all of Nepal,” said Sangeeta as a strongly flavoured Gundruk ko Jhol was served. In their defining book Joys Of Nepalese Cooking, the Manjupurias tell you that gundruk is food from the hills and is made from dried vegetables like radish, cabbage or green leafy spinach. Krishnarpan used fermented mustard leaf with soybeans. The taste lingered.

The Daal Bhat course had Himalayan long grain rice served with a delicately flavoured yellow daal and a chicken curry that was a classic of balance with a curry flavour predominating. There are three ways of cooking Nepali chicken curry with peppercorns, or bay leaves or gram flour. I personally think that Krishnarpan uses the tej patta, lightly spiced version. It is unique to Krishnarpan as is a sweetish fresh pumpkin and the memorable strong tasting sautéed spinach with Nepali spices.

But for me, the momos were masterful, served with an unusual silam chutney and a coriander and mint one offered on a paan leaf. Rajendra Prasad, who served us, was asked to sing Paan ko Paat which is a great Nepali love song that goes “Paan ko Paat/ I think of you day and night/ as rivers flow on...”

It might have been dedicated to that very special restaurant Krishnarpan.

My friend Rajan liked the kheer most. It is a rice pudding prepared for Nepali children at Annaprashan or Bhatkhwaune. Besides dried fruit, cardamom and grated coconut, there was saffron making the sweet more memorable than usual. And still the rivers of food at Krishnarpan have more to offer.

Call 4479488.