When reviewing a local eatery, I usually make it a point not to alert the restaurant of my eventual write up. But this time, in hopes to score a free slice of the legendary Chocolate Love cake at the Snowman Café in Jhochhen, I made my mission loud and clear.

Fittingly named, the Chocolate Love cake evokes homemade tenderness that even widowed grandmothers would pine for. Not too cakey and far from fluff, it strikes a perfect balance between its baked chocolate layer and its whipped choco-mallow topping.

Owner Ram Prasad Manandhar and his baker wife Mathura Devi have been letting Kathmandu eat cake since 1965. Like many of my favored joints, the Snowman's exterior is quite deceiving, and its sign isn't so original. Inside, however, is a two-story hangout equally popular with travelers and locals, evidently decorated when free love reigned, a naughty poster of Sigmund Freud and the essential photo of Bob Marley hang above. But if you're not into the hippie scene, don't be repelled, takeout and special orders are common.

The Chocolate Love Cake, among other worthy contenders like the Cream Caramel, Black Forest or the Chocolate Banana Cake, is baked fresh daily and sits on a windowsill tempting passersby. So if you decide to visit the Snowman Café and regretfully decide to share a slice, make sure you fork the delicate cake top-down.

No WiFi or Illy here, it's all about the cake.

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