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As the Nepali diaspora expands, it is getting difficult not to see a Nepali restaurant in the world's big cities.
But Nepalis can now be found running restaurants even in the remoter parts of countries like Canada, Australia or the Czech Republic.
At the Mount Everest Kitchen in Calgary, it is easy to strike up a conversation with the chef and staff. The place is cosy and warm, evoking the sights, sounds and smells of the faraway Himalaya. A Nepali regular mentions that his cousin runs a restaurant in ceske Bud?jovice in the Czech Republic.
So the next time I was in the the southern Bohemian town made famous as the city where the Budweiser beer gets its name from, I looked into the Indicka Restaurace. It is a fairly well known fact that most Indian restaurants across the world today are either owned by Nepalis or have Nepali chefs, and this one is no different.
Arjun Sapkota (pictured), originally from Gulmi, was rather surprised when he heard me speaking in broken Nepali on the phone. Later, over a generous and tasty helping of dal bhat, Arjun told me how he came to Europe to study, and with a bachelor degree in economics decided to get away from the crowded restaurant scene in Prague and cash in on the aura of Indian cuisine.
I argued that Nepal is fairly well known in the Czech Republic now, and even Shrepas have grown to recognise the Czech flag on backpacks while trekking. So he could easily change the name of the restaurant to 'Nepalska Restaurace'. After all, Helsinki has eight Nepali restaurants, and five of them are a chain run by two brothers also from Gulmi, and the other three Nepali eateries are run by an Iranian and a Bangladeshi.
Arjun and his friend Chhatra Adhikary plan to open three more Nepali restaurants in Bohemia soon. Says Arjun: "That's probably when we can give our restaurants a Nepali name."
