Kathmandu :

Despite a menu that has sizzlers that make you salivate and pizzas and surprisingly good roast mutton with gravy, what draws me back to Nanglo on Durbar Marg is the Newari Nepali food. This time I took with me a Gurung, a Sherpa and a Britisher, which is the kind of mixed clientele that the Nanglo has always had.

Manager Irosh introduced us to Ramesh Ale, our waiter for the evening, and Ram Magar our Captain who quickly brought us mutton chhwelaa, chicken and paneer sekuwa and momos as starters — all of which are Newari specialties.

Says author Jyothi Pathak of chhwelaa, “The meat is grilled or roasted, cut into bite-size pieces and combined with fresh herbs and spices. The intense flavour of this dish is achieved through the addition of tempered spices like fenugreek, chilli, ginger and garlic. A delight. This is an extremely versatile dish and can be served hot, chilled or at room temperature as a snack, appetiser, or part of a Nepali meal.”

The sekuwa, both the mutton and the paneer were ancestors of the tandoori chicken, and like it, were soaked in a marinade of chillies, cloves, cumin, and turmeric in a yoghurt base. They are then roasted on skewers. In Nanglo they must use special roasting techniques because the smokiness stays with you.

The momos in Shyam Kayshyapati’s Empire are brilliantly uniform, whether you eat them in Shyam’s Bakery Cafés or in Nanglo. The chutneys are strongly memorable. Shyam’s Nanglo has been going for over 25 years and his chain of Bakery Cafés is still growing.

The first restaurant to have a menu and individual tables was opened in Paris in 1782; it was called La Grande Taverne de Londres and like that Tavern, which was an instant success,

so is Nanglo which started as a tavern and now

booze washes down or heightens the tremendously tasty food.

We ate a Nepali daal bhat main course that had a number of delectable items like the meat balls in kwati which usually combines 10 types of beans and is cooked in a medley of spices highlighted by jwano(ajwain or Bishop’s weed) and rayo(mustard seeds) and bay leaves or tej patta. Says food writer Indra Majupuria in his definitive book The Joys Of Nepalese Cooking, “It is supposed to give great heat to the body.”

To me, it gives great satisfaction to the soul, it has a robust peasant taste.

Typical and tasty too is the gundruk and masyaura, an almost curry of which Majupuria says, “Gundruk is also eaten with musur, that is lentils soaked with other pulses and mixed with small pieces of dried potatoes, radish and gourd or all the three together. Several small chunks are made from this paste, and dried. When they are dry they become masyaura. The gundruk and masyaura are cooked together with spices. In Nanglo they add an addictive chilly undertaste.

There is a magic about Nanglo that makes the chicken and mutton curry taste of curry leaves, a magic that brings you back again and again when you want really great comfort food or when you want to meet anybody who is anybody. Sometimes you get a glimpse of Shyam, and the wonder is that like his food he remains simple, unspoiled and wonderful. As does his wife Rani, who brings the world into the minds of young Nepalis at her school Shuvatara, whose children would do well to taste their heritage inexpensively at Nanglo.

Actually they probably do — Nanglo is a young people’s place as well. Call 4222636.