Zero to Nine Courses in 24 Hours

I spent my last night in Royal Chitwan National Park
as the head chef of the hotel I was staying at. 
Tourism is seriously down, and my friend from
Shanghai, Yuan, and I are the only guests in this
luxury resort with views looking out at the safari. 
Anyways, the hotel owner and I agreed that their food
was sub-standard, so with no other guests around to
witness, I was promoted to head chef to teach the
kitchen a thing or two.  Ultimately, I led the kitchen
staff on a tomato grilled cheese sandwich and Chinese
egg stir-fry rice expedition.

The real bottom line was that I was able to witness
what the kitchen looked like, and I resign myself to
cooking a meal without washing anything and preparing
food on dirty counters.

And I survive my dinner.  So by the time I'm on the
bus back to Kathmandu, I have the false belief that I
have a stomach of steel.  The bus makes a stop in a
small town, where all the canteens serve fish.  This
is the first time I've seen seafood in Nepal, so I
jump on the opportunity to try everything.  I order
some chilli curry fish and it's fantastic.  The bus
has to go, so I decide to buy some dried fish from a
bus vendor - the people who try to sell you food or
drinks from outside  the bus.  

I ask him for the price, he answers with a high one,
and I respond with a lowball price.  Maybe too low,
because he ends up giving me the last pack of fish
from another vendor.  It seems a little shady, but I
think I can handle it.

Unfortunately, I can't.  Not to mention, it doesn't
taste that good either, especially in comparison the
fresh, cooked dish I had earlier.  My stomach medicine
is stuck in my pack at the top of the bus, and I'm
left battling my bowels on my own.  It's not that bad
- I'm just weakened a bit.  I have no appetite though,
so I don't eat anything for the rest of the day other
than a few oranges I bought for the battle, and I call
it an early night.  

Miraculously, the next morning in Kathmandu, other
than being a little groggy, I feel okay.  I venture to
that wonderful momo canteen again, and merrily down a
meal.  By the way, for anyone heading to Nepal, here's
directions to the canteen:  From Kathmandu Guest
House, go south (turn right from entrance), make the
first left, then another left.  Walk up 5 minutes, and
the canteen should be on your left hand side, beside a
dusty backpack store.  Don't worry - I have pictures
of the place.  

I'm really glad that my appetite's back in business
again, partly because I want to eat at that canteen
again, but moreso because I've been dying to try the
5-star restaurants here.  I can't justify the expense
of a really good meal back at home, but here in
Kathmandu, it would be a sin not to eat out.  Yuan and
I visit the famed Dwarika's Hotel.  The hotel is
incredible - it's a world heritage site.  Sitting in
the medieval courtyard, with its open space,
old-temple architecture, fountains, and traditional
dancers, it feels like we've been transported to
another time and place.

Visit their website - http://www.dwarikas.com - the
pictures aren't bad, but you really have to be there
to get a feel and awe of the whole place.

Anyways, we eat at their courtyard restaurant.  The
food's really good and for two people, the dinner sets
us back a total of $15.  But something's not right - I
don't believe this is the restaurant the hotel is
famed for.  Yuan wanders a bit, and eventually follows
some stairs down to the Krishnarpan restaurant.  We
are immediately greeted by 5 or 6 hostesses.  On the
wall are pictures of famed royals like Prince Charles
dining here.  The restaurant is ornately decorated by
lattice woodwork, and seating is on comfortable
cushions on the ground.  

Yuan and I want to eat here, but to be fair, the next
day we visit another top hotel - the Yak & Yeti - and
have a look at their palatial restaurant.  It's all
too modern for me though, and I quickly make dinner
reservations at Krishnarpan restaurant. 



"How much is dinner?"

"How many courses would you like?"

"Well, umm... how much is the minimum?"

"Six courses for $21."

"Is this the typical number of courses?"

"Nine courses are recommended."

"How much is that?"

"$25."

"OK.  I'll take that."



Hmmm... Looking at the above transcript, I really can
see my poor Canadian-budget-traveller conversation
etiquette pour through.  Need to work on that.

I won't lie and say I wasn't a little giddy upon
arriving for dinner.  I mean, it's such a deal to dine
in Nepal's top restaurant.  We take off our shoes,
wash our hands in a basin, and get tucked into the
comfortable floor chairs.  Dinner starts by offering
part of the first course on a special small plate to
the gods.  Then the 9 courses start coming.  I won't
describe each one.  Rather, I'll just attach a copy of
the custom menu made for each of us.  Needless to say,
I got rather full quickly, and couldn't finish each
course completely in preparation for the onslaught of
the coming courses.  For the main course, a barrage of
waitresses, each dressed in traditional Nepali
garments from different regions of Nepal, flock to our
table, each spooning a different side onto our plates.
 I pretty much passed on dessert, as I was too
bloated.


But hey, for those who can handle it, 16 or 22 courses
are available to the adventurous.