Everything is not what it seems in here, just like almost everywhere in Nepal.

It’s a huge hotel. Half of it is located in a historic building, the other half in a sort of symbiosis of a Korean wedding hall – with granite floors and white walls – and a health resort of the CPSU Central Committee: endless corridors and uncomfortable interiors, many meters high halls that are flooded with cold white light, and fancy staircases. All that makes you wanna leave.

But all of a sudden: you push the door into the soft darkness, slightly stabbed by spot light, a panoramic fireplace is ready to be lit up, only a couple of tables are occupied…

You sit down. You read the menu that seems to be French. And all at once Nepal tunes in:

Chicken Kiev

Beef Stroganoff

Borsch with sour cream

WTF??! How come there be fucking borsch in the Himalayas?

The borsch was proper in the output – no pampushkas though, but sour cream came in a cup and dill was chopped. Chicken Kiev (I have to admit, it was very-very nice) was the size of a main dish plate…

Afterwards you finally find out that it was our ballet dancer Boris Lisanevich who opened Nepal to the world. Actually, the very same Boris’s signature dishes remain in the menu of the restaurant that he started 40 years ago. And as you know it, everything more or less falls into place.

However, at first a black man in a white shirt with a porcelain tureen and a sour cream cup, majestically floating through the dark hall in the middle of Katmandu, leaves an indelible impression indeed.

The rest is alright: steaks, salads, etc. Moreover, it looks really posh and grandeur if you compare it to the overall Nepal standards.

++ The Atmosphere – it’s terrific!

Do enjoy!