What would you like to do after a long tiring day at office? I normally choose to call up some of my friends, get together at a nice joint with some really good food and simply relax. This was what I planned to do one Sunday evening, but destiny planned it otherwise.

I called up two of my friends to accompany me on this mission of being a Food Spy. L’amore Café and Bistro was our target and we planned to spend a wonderful evening there. The view around the cafes and restaurants at Boudha has always been nice, especially when one visits the stupa in the evening — the breeze, sunset with a tinge of orange in the skyline is mesmerising and so are hundreds of people who are gathered around the vicinity.

Vehicles are not allowed to enter the Boudha Stupa area, so we had to walk our way to L’Amore Café and Bistro. It comes after the Tharalam monastery and we realised it could be tricky for people to find this place without help.

As we entered the place, we were greeted with the warmest smile and we made ourselves comfortable on the chairs. The place is cosy and small with seating for four. We looked at the menu and were impressed with variety of cuisine. We forgot about the walk in a dark street as soon as we entered the space.

We were overwhelmed with options not just for food but with coffee too. They had a mixture of cold shakes and hot coffee. As we chose our drinks from the standing card placed on the table, we realised the prices were not mentioned. Well, good for people who care more about taste and less about wallets. We ordered the normal Cappuccino and a Blended Browniccino, after inquiring about the prices obviously. The drink were served quickly and delicious making us anticipate for more. Who knew, while we were observing the setting and deciding on the food items, a series of not so cool surprises would be waiting us.

The urge to have fish was strong, so we asked for Fish Satay which was our first item to order. Sadly they did not have it. So we tried the normal fish fingers, but to our disappointment we were told in the politest of language to seal our lips for any requisition related to fish.

Taking into consideration the fact that it was a late evening, we surrendered to ordering what the server had in store for us. We ordered some Greek Salad, Mutton Sekuwa and Hash Browns with melted cheese. The mutton looked tempting and so did the potatoes. However, the presentation could have been better. Mutton and potatoes tasted good but the salad had no dressing and was not appealing at all. Also, the portions were very less for what we were paying.

Our final order was Thai Veg Pasta — the name was unique. This dish turned out to be normal pasta with vegetables and we struggled to discover anything unique about it. To add to the already not so wow moment, they did not have seasonings to be added to the Italian dish. That was pretty much of a crime there.

The setting is nice and comfortable, the restroom makes a major impact for a joint to be judged. It was a little depressing there. It is always preferred to have an open kitchen but this too wasn’t very impressive.

Overall, we did have a good time. I believe people would visit a café like L’Amore if the food impresses the taste buds and the service impresses the hearts. L’Amore Café and Bistro can do a lot better if they work on our list of put-offs. I wish them all the best!

Shikha Bahety is a Chartered Accountant and Client Servicing Executive at JWT Thompson Nepal, founder member of Greener KTM Drive and a blogger at Paradiso. Besides her profession, she is wanderlust by heart and loves to taste new delicacies

L’amore Café & Bistro

Ratings

Ambience: 4

Food quality/

presentation: 4

Quality of service: 6

Hygiene: 4

Value for money: 5

Overall satisfaction

value: 4.6