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A Bhutanese Meal at Dechenling Kathmandu

To be very honest, in all my days in Kathmandu, I had not been enjoying the food as much as I probably should have or as much as I did in the neighboring village of Bodhnath. Maybe I was eating at all the wrong places. Truth is, very rarely do I seek out specific restaurants mentioned in guidebooks, preferring to stumble upon my own favorites instead. That is something that’s just part of my romantic notion of travel, to discover rather than to seek. That means that not every meal is an exotic and wonderful experience.  After spending the early hours of the day at the beautiful Kaiser Botanical Gardens, I stumbled upon nearby Dechenling and decided it looked worthy of my last meal in the city. I must mention here that my dinner from the previous night ended up with finding a dead medium sized roach in what had been very delicious until then Thai curry, so I was giving the city one last chance to redeem itself.

Surprise surprise, the menu was full of Bhutanese and Tibetan dishes. Having never sampled Bhutanese cuisine, that was pretty exciting. I chose Kewa Dhatse- a Bhutanese cheese curry with new potatoes served with steamed rice (who doesn’t love carbs) and Ting Momo- a Tibetan puffy knot shaped bread served with a tomato garlic chutney (more carbs). The portions were generous (I took an hour and a half to finish my meal), and the food was simply outstanding.  It was such a great introduction to Bhutanese food, that I cannot wait to travel to Bhutan and eat my way around the country. The curry was rich, cheesy and creamy and the rice balanced out the strong taste of the cheese very well. The big portion of Ting Momo was a meal by itself, the bread was fresh from the oven, soft and chewy and the chutney (sauce) was deliciously tangy.

 

Dechenling Kathmandu

Kewa Dhatse- Cheese and potatoes curry

Needless to say, the city had redeemed itself and done it very well. Additionally Dechenling has great service with friendly and patient staff (who recommended my food) and a nice breezy garden setting with outdoor seating.  After my visit, I checked out the restaurant on TripAdvisor and they are quite rightly very popular in Kathmandu. If you’re in the city, I highly recommend the place; I know that I, for one will go back the next time I am in Kathmandu.

 

Have you visited Kathmandu? How were your food experiences in the city? Any special ones or places you would like to share? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this post are my own and I have not been asked to make or paid for any recommendation/ endorsement of Dechenling.

For more posts from Nepal, visit the Nepal Travel Blog.

garsr

Monday 15th of April 2019

great and nice post

Ruben Arribas

Wednesday 23rd of December 2015

Buthanese food? Wow! So interesting! Kewa Dhatse sounds so good! I've been in Katmandhu and I really like momos. It was my favorite Nepalese food.

Great and interesting post Natasha :)

Natasha Amar

Wednesday 23rd of December 2015

I love momos too but Dechenling really surprised me. Thanks for your comment Ruben.

Renuka

Monday 17th of November 2014

Nice! I also tried a lot of Sikkimese meals during my stay in Sikkim. I guess they were similar to Bhutanese meals. Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim are quite similar in culture. All fascinating places!

thebohochica

Monday 17th of November 2014

Another part of India I'd like to visit! Will come back to you for tips and recommendations when I plan to go to Sikkim.

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