For a place that claims to be the shopping and eating centre of Kathmandu, Darbar Marg is seriously lacking in good restaurants. There are many places but the quality of their food and service, barring a few notable exceptions (Koto anyone?), are usually sub-par.
So it was with great trepidation that I agreed to go to The Zanzibar Restaurant. Do not, like me, be misled by the name for if ‘Zanzibar’ conjures up images of exotic African dishes lush with the aroma of a thousand different spices, you will be in for quite a rude awakening.
In fact, Zanzibar serves Chinese food of a distinctly Nepalicised variety. There is nothing authentic about the cuisine here. And because they are so unapologetic about it, admitting that they cater to Nepalis and their dishes are designed to suit our palate, the dishes weirdly enough work okay.
PICS: RUBY TUESDAY
We decided to go with our server’s recommendation and ordered the cold pork salad (Rs 310) and spicy crispy cauliflower (Rs 190) as appetisers. The pork was well-spiced and cooked to just the right texture. The batter for the cauliflower had received liberal lashings of cumin and coriander and should have been tagged as cauliflower pakora for that is what it was.
I want to take a minute to talk about the dipping sauces that our appetisers came with. The one accompanying the meat had fish sauce and garlic and chillies and was just perfect, for it added so many layers to the boiled meat that it was elevated to so much more than just a plain platter of cold meat. The tomato sauce with the cauliflower was bursting with flavors, tangy sweet and slightly spicy all at once.
We decided to play it safe and stick to foolproof dishes and got the mixed chowmein and mixed fried rice (Rs 260 each). The chowmein was delicious. This stir fried noodle dish in its many avatars is one of our beloved fast food staples that surprisingly most of the renowned restaurants in Kathmandu manage to muck up, and the best versions are usually to be found in the little khajaghars tucked all over our valley.
The folk at Zanzibar know their clientele and cater to those taste buds. The noodles are an improved version of that humble favorite - greasiness and all. The rice was dependable enough and served as a decent base for the mapo tofu (Rs 330).
The mapo tofu, with pork mince and tofu in a flavorsome aromatic sauce, is a satisfying dish and one that I’d go back for. The same cannot be said about the fish in hot garlic sauce (Rs 360) though. These tasteless overcooked fish balls were dunked in a sauce whose main ingredient was unmistakably cheap tomato ketchup. In a word-terrible!
The verdict: Located in the Sherpa Mall at Darbar Marg, Zanzibar is a convenient spot to meet up with friends or for a quick lunch. Also head here when you want to seek comfort in Chinese food of the type that we grew up with- the South Asian hybrid kind.
How to get there: The Zanzibar Restaurant is in the Sherpa Mall Complex, right above Magic Beans Coffee Shop in Darbar Marg.