13-19 December 2013 #685

The Lunch Box

Someplace Else by Biru

It is hard to miss The Lunch Box in Kupondole. The bright yellow signboard with the joint’s name screams for attention and is big enough to draw at least a glance from any pedestrian who walk the Kandevta-Hotel Summit road. After seeing groups of happy faces in front of the restaurant on numerous occasions, this reviewer was encouraged to pay a visit.

As soon as you walk into this tiny establishment, all your senses come into play. The walls, plastered with pictures of all-American fast food delights are as pleasing to the eyes as the lunch options spread across the counter. The appetising smell of smoked sausages further appeases the senses in a delightful sway.

After the initial excitement of seeing so many options on offer quenched down, we settled on our first order: double deluxe hot dog with Polish sausages (Rs 295). As promised the hot dog was massive. I don’t know how Polish sausages, taste but going by the sheer size of the sautéed chicken roll I wouldn’t mind going to Poland just for the sausages. Filled with melting cheese, mustard sauce, and veggies oozing out, every bite is a tasty mouthful.

With names such as Wrigley field hot dogs to Chicago burgers, the owners of the Lunch Box seem to be ardent followers of American baseball. Claimed to be the biggest burger in town the ultimate Chicago Burger (Rs 250), doesn’t disappoint in size. With generous layers of ham, egg, cheese, chicken patties, and potato chips on the side this is the burger to go for when you are hungry as a horse. But sadly like many other burger joints in town, the burger’s downfall lies in its bun. Failing to hold the enormous portions of the meat and veggies, the bun spoils what could have been a heavenly experience.

Besides fast food, the Lunch Box also offers lunch specials, different cuisine each day of the week. It was Wednesday so we had the non-vegetarian Newari set (Rs 210). It had the quintessential Newari items and the portion was large enough for two.

Although there is a wide range of drinks on offer, the lemon iced tea (Rs 75) that we ordered was frothy, but lacked the citrusy flavour, propelling us not to experiment with our drinks.

We ended our meal on a sweet note with a brownie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream (Rs 100) which although not the best was good enough to make us leave the place in happy spirits.

The extremely friendly staff, reasonable price, and most importantly the enormous portions of cheese filled goodness will definitely bring me back to this lunch box. The Lunch Box also offers take away lunch packs for busy office goers.

How to get there: head right from Kandevta in Kupondole towards Hotel Summit. The Lunch Box is on your left beside Sarvanga Hospital.