Bu Keba - Nepali Times

Riding Kathmandu's organic bump is Sanepa's B� Keb�, and if you imagine that means a convenient marriage of the rustic and the comfy for the expatriate crowd, you're half there. B� Keb� is all thatched roofs and wooden platforms for semi-alfresco seating shaded by translucent white curtains, but the clientele is surprisingly diverse.

Perhaps this has something to do with the welcome expansion of its menu, which now ranges over continental (meat mains, pizza, pasta) and Indian fare and includes a few intriguing originals. We paired the Anda Kebab (eggs marinated with tandoori masala, stuffed with minced chicken and served with achari gravy), with Nashilo Chyau ko Ras (oyster mushrooms flambeed with vodka and cooked with cheese, cream and fresh sage). Eggs-cellently imaginative, and the soup was the perfect consistency � just enough to remind you it's mushrooms and not powder you're indulging in.

We also tried a Vegetable Bruschetta, the dull toppings of which we thought wasted on the buckwheat, corn and millet bread. A salad drowned in dressing (albeit tasty) didn't help. But the buckwheat spinach pancake was impeccable. Kudos for making the most of 'local' ingredients and endeavouring to liberate us from the tyranny of rice and wheat!

Though we didn't venture into our own 'selezione di pasta' by combining whole wheat and buckwheat pastas (sourced from Fab India Organics) with meat and veg sauces, we did try a Goat Cheese Pizza with herbs. Good. But not good enough yet to be competitive with the likes of Roadhouse or F&I.

As for the mains, we ordered mutton chops w/mash and local chicken stuffed with spinach and grilled mushroom w/tarul mash. They were both very well presented and portioned, and the chops in particular (curvy ribs inclusive) would impress any Nepali accustomed to fatty blobs of overdone khasi in curry. But the sauces were not as different as the menu made them out to be, and we couldn't tell the tarul from the potato mash.

We ended with another of Chef Khatri's innovations � the Intercaste dessert, a cute combo of orange and cream liqueurs that while distinct, eventually flow together. Bu Keba has a vision, with a knowledgeable, personable staff worth ingratiating yourself with; don't wait for the summer rush to get your table.

Nepalikukur

Heading south from Hotel Summit, pass Hotel Greenwich, turn left and keep going until you pass
the signage for SNV. B� Keb�'s on the left.

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1. here n there
The chefs in Nepal are still stuck in the 80's. How can you have any kind of decent soup or a sauce without a real stock. If you are gonna cook modern fairs, learn the basics. Buy some cook books, better yet go on the net. Its up to the proprietors to push the food scene, instead of putting everything on the menu and having mediocre 100+ items. Focus on 20 at most and then wow expats and locals. There is so much room for improvement. I will take dal bhat any day over the overdone steaks, dry hamburgers, unidentifiable lumpy sauces thickened who knows what, or the myrid indistinguishable pastas with fancy names.

Its embarrassing!!!

Next restaurant:

1. A southern barbeque

2. A Tapas Bar

3. Hapa Izakaya

4. Noodle place

5 A Pho place

6. Vietnamese sandwich stand

7. A hot dog stand

8. A real juicy burger stand

9. list can be endless.

And frozen seafood, leave it alone. And the French, you are not even close to impressing.

Posted on: 04 MARCH 2011 | 6:49 PM NST

2. theba

here n there.... completly agree with you....

However, some of the eatereis in Jhamel ( give NT the credit for coining that phrase)...

Still, the taste bud sophistication for Nepali diners like you and me is yet to evolve...and one intresting part is Hotels like Soaltee, Hyatt, Annapurna, Radisson used to lead quality in culinary scene here in Kathmandu in the decades of eightees and nintees, however, these days, one can hardly find any F&B manager worth his salt in these hotels...and now initiative has been wrested by individual outlets like Bu Keba, Road House, Cafe Mitra, Lakpa ko Chulo, Jardin etc and actually attracting Nepalese and Expats in hoardes.

Some quick hit comparisons

For me.. the energy of Roadhouse Cafe or Fire and Ice any day than the limp Alfresco at Soaltee ( once the epitome of Italian food in the sub continent- perhaps the best in South Asia but gone down the drain since)..

The pastries at Civil Mall bakery counter prepared by a hotel school and that of Hermann in Sanepa is far superior than anna purna coffe shop..and half the price. also a word on the worst in city...the worst pastries one can find in the city is that of Nanglo Bakery Cafe... quality is ludicrous...

another amazing trend emerging...korean food in Kathmandu...and to go by NT Deal/cious parameter....give them 4.5 stars on most outlets.

and for Indian food landscape, the best in town is at Soaltee but way too too expensive, rest are all down right silly...

and for the cuisine north from the north of the border...try the outlets run by han chinese dotted in Thamel...way below the hygiene standard...in many ways beats mainstream chindian restaurants in town.

and final world ... the worsts beers to be launched in the Nepali market...that beer called "Kathmandu" and the beer called..."lowenbrau"...both taste like a diluted gycerine....makes me wonder what happened to quality of Nepali beers...indian and foriegn visitors to Kathmandu used to get envious of Nepal's beer quality..may be just a reflection of the state of the country.

Posted on: 06 MARCH 2011 | 12:02 PM NST