PICS: RUBY TUESDAY

Mojo, Jhamsikhel's newest eatery is a pocket-sized restaurant. With a maximum capacity of 30, Mojo sets out to do everything on a small scale. This includes maintaining a small and manageable menu offering only about ten well-thought out dishes. The bar too, while extremely well- stocked, offers just a handful of classic cocktails like manhattans, martinis and margaritas- subscribing to the true, tried and tested traditional styles of mixology.

I headed there during my lunch hour and was immediately intrigued by the 'Eastern Nepali Dal Bhat Thaali' (Rs 250 inclusive of all taxes). I love my dal bhat in all its avatars from the daily home-cooked meals to the Thakali versions to the extravagant platters allegedly akin to those served to the erstwhile royals and now catered to attract the palettes of well paying tourists. East Nepal, West Nepal, north or south, dal bhat in all its manifestations will always find a willing eater in me.

So let's deconstruct Mojo's Eastern Nepal thaali. Contrary to the usual oil-dripping Thakali thalis, little oil and masala are used to cook the curries. The rayo ko saag (mustard green) is just mildly tempered with the taste of dry red chilies and is crunchy to the bite. The bhute ko alu (fried potato) wedges are flavoured only with cumin seeds and the ground tomato chutney, without which no Nepali meal is complete, has chimping added to it. This tiny herb found in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas has a sharp pungent taste that adds more dimensions to the chutney.

In place of the usual sandeko gundruk there is dried Bombay duck sukuti ko achar (not a duck, but a lizard fish with a powerful pungent pong). And of course, there is the rice with thick hot kalo dal (black lentils), accompanied by either chicken or pork curry. The pork curry features thick chunks of fat free pork in sauce that is vaguely reminiscent of vindaloo and the chicken curry is well cooked and full of flavours. Besides the meat, you get second and even third helpings and at Rs 250 a person, this meal is definitely a bargain.

I washed this sumptuous meal down with a tall glass of perfectly chilled Coblenzer M�rzen. It goes through a longer fermentation process than many other beers and thus benefits by gaining a roasted almost nutty flavour. It is dark, robust and delicious.

Mojo is the perfect little place to hang out with friends after work and the intimate interiors give it a feel of a neighbourhood pub.

Since Mojo does not serve desserts, I headed to Civil Mall to get my fix of frozen yoghurt served at ChocoBerry. ChocoBerry opened a fortnight ago and is already on the radar of every food loving denizen of Kathmandu. You can choose your own combinations (my favourites are the kiwi, plain tart and strawberry) and add any number of toppings. It's sweet, tart and above all healthy. Well as healthy as it can be after I added lashings of chocolate sauce to it. But it made me feel healthy and that is all that matters.

Mojo: On Jhamsikhel road, opposite St Mary's School gate, enter a little gate and climb a flight of stairs on the left.
ChocoBerry: It's on the seventh floor of Civil Mall in Sundhara, on the same floor as the QFX ticket counter.

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