Café Kathmandu

If you don’t already know, Café Kathmandu is closing soon (but supposedly will reopen elsewhere later). For celiacs and vegans, this will probably be sad news because just about everything is gluten-​free, and most of the menu is vegan.
It’s a cosy place with Himalayan décor that sets it a notch or two above a hole-​in-​the-​wall. Maybe it’s because the place is in it’s final days and staffing is tricky when you’re closing, they were busy on the floor and understaffed. Expect to have to call out to get someone’s attention, and to have to be proactive about getting your bill. Best to just get off your ass and approach someone at the counter, really.
Aaloo Achaar ($ 7) Chilled sesame-​lemon potato salad flavoured with timmur (Himalayan peppercorns) and fenugreek. Served with chiuraa (crunchy beaten rice lightly toasted).
–Chiuraa is like tasteless cornflakes. Curious to try but I wouldn’t order something just to get some. You could probably get away with asking for a tiny sample.
–Also comes with a super-​hot chili on the side (thankfully). This chili is good for being spicy-​hot, but also not leaving a burning sensation /​lingering aftertaste on your tongue.
–There’s lemon?
–Interesting combo with the sesame, but overall, I wouldn’t order this again.
Curries — Served with basmati rice. Your choice of spiciness.
–If you don’t tell them they may not ask what level of spiciness you want. We went with «very hot (just like Nepal)» and it was maybe medium spicy compared to Indian or south-​east asian places.
–I asked for my rice to be swapped with roti. I got four wedges of roti. Not a good deal, but useful if you don’t want too much starch in your dinner.
–Curry flavourful but on the watery side. It did NOT taste watery, it just was not as thick as, say, Indian style curry.
Potato Curry ($ 12) Taamaa — lightly seasoned potatoes simmered in bamboo shoots and black-​eyed peas.
–This curry was OK. Not too much flavour contribution except from the seasoned potatoes, though.
Chicken Curry ($ 13) Kukhuraako Maasu — boneless chicken simmered in a curry of onions and spices.
–Pretty decent for chicken curry.
–I didn’t see or taste much contribution from the onions.
Goat Curry ($ 15) Khasiko Maasu — piquant goat meat in curry sauce.
–Dark and flavourful curry. Of the three I tried, this would be the best one.
Curry Combo
–You can have your curry in a combo for about $ 5 more. You get slightly less curry (maybe 20%-30% less?) in a smaller dish, but you also get daal (lentil soup), rice, roti, and a bit of radish chutney.
–Not really sure this is a great deal to be honest. Basically it’s lentil soup plus roti for $ 5.

Every time I miss my grandma food (from Nepal) I stop by here
The food reminds me all the fun memories and so close to the authentic taste and it’s a feel good factor when you see by getting food from here you are also supporting the women’s in the kitchen
So satisfactory

I LOVE Café Kathmandu. I love the food, the owner, the ambiance and the fact that it’s low key and welcoming. I have been going there since 2008. I’ve brought friends, family, dates, work colleagues and have had quite a few solo visits as well. As everyone says, the momo’s are incredible. But I remember when they had a flash-​fried version called kothai (spp?) which they would make for me on special order. The food is not spicy; it’s flavourful. I don’t recommend spicing it up. When done right it actually has a cool (as in cold, not «cool») flavour. The owner always remembers me and asks how my family members are that he met. Someone can surely say they had a better dish someplace somewhere, but the experience here is the total package.

Ok so this should be a 3.5 stars. I came here based on a recommendation from a friend from Nepal — so this place should be legit. and it was! The only reason for the score is I can’t really handle spicy, so if your a spice food person, then this is probably more for you! Great service, we walked in and got some good seating. The server recommended foods to us and was very friendly. The momo’s we got were the pork and vegetable. While not the best dumpling i’ve ever had, the 4 types of sauces (chutney, mint?, tamarind and hot) were fun to eat with… except the hot — that was wayyyy too spicy for me. We also got the chicken curry. not what it’s actually called, but we asked for the most mild and got just that! just enough heat that we could stand, and enjoy without any kind of suffering! definitely going back!

[Nepalese Thusday]
Himalayan cuisine is one of the few that I have never sampled. I don’t know a heck of a lot about Nepalese food but I’m always game to devour new game. I pictured it to be full of yak, bison, and other such animals — maybe even some sort of mountain-​dwelling fox.
What hit me first was the smell upon entry. It was an odd mix of spices that was foreign to me — I didn’t find it mouthwatering but not repulsive either but it was strong. The restaurant was ample-​sized with seating for 30 or so. The dining room was decorated with various pictures of Nepal complete with colorful prayer flags.
After perusing the menu, I decided to share a plate of momos, a goat curry combo, roti, and a mango lassi. The winner here were the momos. At first glance, they look like wonton dumplings. We opted for half chicken, half pork and was accompanied by a quartet of sauces — I loved the cilantro purée! The goat curry was good as well though it was a lot like indian curries. The roti was made of buckwheat which I wasn’t a huge fan of. I’m rather impartial to the Malaysian/​Thai style rotis.
While the food was good, the service was not. The place was half full on this particular Thursday night and it seemed there was only one guy serving tables. Everything came extremely slow — menus, water, ordering, getting the bill. The entire dinner took almost two hours. Not impressed.
I really enjoyed the food here but the service killed the whole experience. Perhaps I caught them on an off night but I’d more likely do takeout than dining in.

What a complete gem! Truly excellent food!
We were debating where to go for dinner and I’d been hearing amazing things about this place for a long time! We came in early and were the first table there, but it soon filled up. I was very impressed that it was so busy on a Monday night! We ordered veggie momo and a half litre of wine to start. The server was quiet and I have to say, not super helpful. We asked him what his entrée recommendations were and he just said «everything is good.» Not super helpful.
Our wine arrived promptly, but we were left alone after that until our momo arrived (which was a few minutes). When they arrived we asked to order and again asked him which he would choose between two curries. After repeating his original answer he grudgingly suggested the mustard green and potato curry as it’s more authentic. The service was slow after that — the restaurant filled up and he had quite a few more tables to take care of, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit neglected (perhaps because of our questions?), hence knocking one star off.
But onto the amazing parts — the FOOD! These momo might be the most sumptuous deliciousness to pass my lips this year! Wrapped in something like a thin dim sum wrapper and filled with exquisite curried veggies, we happily gorged ourselves. There are 4 sauces that go with the momo and each was wonderful! The goat curry platter was HUGE, including a full sized goat curry and a full sized daal. The goat was tender and flavourful, and very well spiced. The daal needed a touch of salt, in my opinion, and the rice was just a tad overcooked.
The mustard greens curry was super unique, and apparently very authentic. It had a lot of mustardy spice, and a slight smoothing from the potato. I would have liked a bit more potato as we only had a couple of chunks. I found mixing the raaio and the daal was great as the daal smoothed some of the harshness of the mustard (in the way I think more potatoes would also have done.)
Everything was super tasty, but the momo were really the stars of the show here! I could have eaten 100 of them… Go for the momo, stay for the goat, and have some time to spare to linger and enjoy watching the giant line up next door while you quietly sup your tasty victuals!

The staff is always very friendly, welcoming and professional. I’ve never had any problems with my order or the speed of service. They serve quality food that tastes good with a wealth of vegetarian options, but the food is not very memorable.

Food is good and the staff are really nice. This is one of the more underrated places on the drive. Their appetizers are good and you aren’t getting ethnic food served to you by hipsters – which is a common thing in vancouver. Their appetizers are great and they are pretty accomodating to large groups

damn, i forgot to take pictures of the food. i was so hungry that i dove in as soon as it arrived and only now do i feel slightly remorseful because there’s no photographic evidence of the meal. bummer.
been wanting to try Café Kathmandu for awhile, but haven’t until tonight. tonight, just as last thursday, the restaurant hosted a fundraiser for the earthquake survivors of Nepal, with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Redcross Canada and Educate the Children International.
the family who runs the restaurant is extremely gracious. they explained the menu, attended to empty water glasses, and answered questions about the food (as in, «mmm, which spice is used in this?!»).
for $ 20, the vegan platter came with rice, dahl, 2 momo, potato salad, and a small heap of salad greens. here are my thoughts on the food: the dahl is delicious. it’s flavourful, but not hot. the veggie momo are very much like the steamed dumplings at dim sum, and those were stuffed with finely minced veggies (cauliflower potato), with a good spicy bite. and the potato salad: yum! i’m going to make potato salad this way next time i crave it. it’s a warm salad of potatoes with lemon juice and sesame oil, and possibly green mango powder (amchar) — perfect level of sour that i love. mmm. next time i go back, i may order a huge bowl of potato salad, because, though the whole meal was good, that tater dish made it ridiculously fab.
i’m going back… and soon. thank you for hosting these fundraising evenings, CK.

Taste of himalayan cuisine… Nepalese foods… i was so excited when i visited the place because its my very first time to eat nepalese foods… i had the dumplings with different sauce and it was very good, i ordered chicken curry with rice… this one wasnt my favorite smells good though but too watery… saucy…very tender… street meter parking, noise level low, accept card and cash. family/​group/​kids friendly, i love the decors it feels like im really in nepal… will come back again to try other dishes in the menu… ooppss i got a yogurt mango for my drink very yummy…

I officially have a new favourite restaurant in Vancouver! Located in Commercial, this place hits you with a mind boggling array of Nepalese food, that keeps you craving for more.
We ordered chili chicken (Chicken fried with onions and peppers), bhutuwa (chicken/​meat marinated and then pan fried), choila (shredded chicken simmered in a very typical nepalese spice mix) and momos (think dumplings :)) from the starters menu. Each and every dish was tasty in it’s own unique way! For example, the chili chicken had really deep seated flavours, where as the choila had subtle but lovely notes of flavours. You would have to try it to know what I mean! The plate of momos came with about 12 servings, and was perfect to be shared between our big group.
From the mains, we had Khasiko maasu (Piquant goat meat in sauce) and Kukhuraako maasu (boneless chicken curry). If you were from the same part of India I hail from, your instincts would be telling you that Khasiko Maasu would be more enticing that Kukhuraako maasu. And guess what, instincts seldom lie. This place had hands down the best goat meat I have tasted in Vancouver. Every time I think about this place, I am reminded of the aroma of goat meat spread on steaming basmati rice I had here. Life seldom gets any better, trust me.
The interiors were beautiful, and they had pleasant music playing. The girl serving our table was super friendly. They do not have anything on the desert menu, possibly because desserts are not part of a typical Nepalese meal. They do serve alcohol, a point of departure from your average South Asian restaurant.
This would be a place I would love to return again and again!

We went here for Dine Out tonight and it was the WORST experience we’ve had…
The unpleasant experience began when it took over 15 minutes after being seated to have the waiter even come and serve us. The appetizers we received were wrong and mixed up with another table… okay, it happens, so no problem. However, they tasted TERRIBLE. The first appy was a vegetable combo with some potatoes, dry rolled rice (this was weird…), roasted soy beans (not bad), and a salad (two slices of cucumbers…).
After the appetizers were taken away, the waitress mistakenly gave us desserts (and not even the ones we ordered). It took 5 minutes to call the waiter to our table to have them switched as the staff walked around with their heads down so it was very difficult to flag them down.
The entrees were no better and the cauliflower chicken maybe had a couple of little pieces of chicken and was a normal (but thinner) Indian-​style curry. The daikon goat was equally disappointing as the goat meat was dry and the dish had a thick layer of oil on top.
We patiently waited for dessert and if I didn’t flag down the waiter once again, we probably would never have left this place… service was just that slow. Unsurprisingly, the dessert was also extremely poorly made. The noodle pudding (vermicelli, milk and brown sugar) was just a lumpy and slightly sweet mixture which didn’t have much taste. The saffron almond phirni, although sounding fancy, was just some mushy rice with a couple slivers of sliced almond on top. I can liken it to a bowl of congee with NO flavouring added.
This dining experience took almost 2 hours because of the extremely slow service and definitely left us frustrated. We looked around the restaurant the entire time and noted that the other couples seemed to be waiting and waiting for their food and also complaining about the food quality.
In conclusion, I would NOT RECOMMEND this restaurant to anyone. Dine Out should have been a great time to showcase your «top stuff» but in this case, Café Kathmandu completely under-​delivered and I hope they are not invited back to Dine Out next year.

I think this place is only open for dinner. It’s a little hole-​in-​the-​wall type place, but the best food is usually found in places like this. They have vegetarian and vegan options. Very different food, so it’s good for those with an adventurous palate.

My friend and I arrived at 5:30. There was one other table seated. We sat for about 10 minutes before anyone even acknowledged us or brought us water. We were going to walk out but decided to stay which may have been a mistake. The momos were good but tasted similar to Shanghai Juicy buns minus the juice. The sauces were good. We also ordered the chicken and goat curry. Portions are ok but not huge. Goat curry was good but chicken was average. The service got better when another server showed up. Anyway didn’t feel so good on my way home. Felt like vomiting and had hot D. Might have been poisoned. Went straight to bed afterwards. I probably won’t be back.

I was quite surprised by how tasty everything was. The restaurant was not busy on the Thursday night resulting in great service. The momos are my new favourite thing. We got a ‘mixed bag’ and enjoyed every bite.

Read about this place on Unilocal and never had Nepalese food before, so decided to try it out with my wife. As others have mentioned, the momos were delicious — especially with all of the sauces. I would definitely order those again! We also had the chicken Choilaa which was really tasty.
We ordered the cauliflower curry for our main. The flavour was good, but it wasn’t the most outstanding curry I’ve had. Will likely order a different main next time we go.

Momos4life!
It was my first time trying momos and I ended up ordering them twice. They’re the best «dumplings» I’ve ever had. They’re sooo delicious… and fun to say. Momos!
Service was very friendly and likeable. :)
I can’t wait to go back.

If you want to be treated very well and fed even better, go to Café Kathmandu! Went here for the first time a few weeks ago and have had Momo on the mind ever since.
Here’s an example of how well they treat their guests (I didn’t feel like just a customer, more of a guest): Not realizing that they hadn’t yet opened for the afternoon today, I called to order Momo to go. Oooooops!!! Rather than having me wait until they opened, they insisted that it wasn’t a problem, got the kitchen going, and had my order ready in fifteen minutes, before their doors were even open. Other places very nearby will have customers wait half an hour for a table, then treat them as though they’ve done those customers a massive favour by giving them a seat for average food.
The service at Café Kathmandu is the exact opposite and the quality of their dishes reflects the care they seem to take in making sure their guests are well looked after. I’ve had the momo and the machchaa and I’d go back for both.
Great place, great food, great people!

This place is one of my favourite restaurants in all of Vancouver. The food is always amazing! I’ve had a number of their curry dishes, with naan and rice, I always order the Milk Chaaya and it’s really delicately flavoured with fennel. I have also had the dumplings (similar to chinese dim sum) with various chutneys, and oh my god! Super fresh, super fragrant and perfectly balanced flavours. I was in heaven with those dumplings. The cold chicken salad is interesting, but I wouldn’t get it again, a bit too salty and a bit too much curry spice for my liking.
The ambience is deeply relaxing and very healing. I have always felt like the energy of that place had a lot of beautiful nurturing feel to it. I am a return customer. Very happy with their service too, the owner is always attentive and prompt. No waiting incessently. I’d encourage more people to eat here.

The momos and the chutneys are delicious. The food is great though not as spicy as would make them authentic. But apart from the heat all the other flavours are very authentic and that’s good enough for me. The cook certainly knows his spices and can cook them well. No powdery white-​washed scalding raw heat at this place. They make it here like they would in Nepal.

The momos and the chutneys are delicious. The food is great though not as spicy as would make them authentic. But apart from the heat all the other flavours are very authentic and that’s good enough for me. They understand spices and can cook them well. No powdery white-​washed scalding raw heat at this place. This isn’t the best spot for Momos in Vancouver but it’s in the most convenient location.

I finally checked out Café Kathmandu with one of my friends after reading so many positive reviews on Unilocal.It was pretty quiet on a Tuesday evening, but we were seated quickly.
First off, the service here is pretty great. The staff are really friendly, and clearly are proud of the food they service here. The prices are also pretty good for what you get.
I followed the review recommendations and Unilocalers, you were right about the momos. The steamed dumplings are really good! I also enjoyed all 4 sauces they came with. This is definitely a 5 star item to order at Café Kathmandu. I opted for pork, but I’m sure the vegetarian ones would be fantastic too.
I also ordered the Choilla appetizer, which was shredded chicken with chiuraa, which is toted as a crunchy, toasted rice. It looked almost like grain flakes when I got it, but it gave the appetizer an interesting crunch. I’m glad I tried it because I would have remained curious for a long time. I was just disappointed that the Choilla didn’t really have a lot of flavor. I ended up adding the remainder of the sauces from the momos to the dish, and that made it taste alright.
I’m curious to come back and try some other dishes, but I think this place is more of a solid 3.5.