The New Year is only days away and one way Nepalis know how to celebrate any festival is by having a feast. Nepal is famous for its diverse culture, but what’s even more obvious is that most Nepalis are huge foodies.
The country’s cultural and geographical diversity gives abundant space to a number of cuisines. Meanwhile, Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu is hosting a food festival to highlight all ethnic cuisines that Nepal has to offer, ranging from the traditional dal-bhat-tarkari-masu and chhoila, bara chatamari to desserts like gudpak, yomari and kheer.
Unaware of what to expect, I headed over to The Café at Hyatt Regency to try their special New Year buffet. And the feast they prepared was a pleasant surprise. Driving all the way to Hyatt can tire you, and by the time I reached the place I was famished. That was why my eyes lit up when I saw the array of items on the buffet.
To honour Kathmandu’s heritage, the buffet consisted mostly of Newari items. To start with, I opted for yomari, a steamed dumpling that consists of an external covering of rice flour and an inner content of sweet substances such as chaku a cuisine made from concentrated sugarcane juice, jaggery, ghee, and nuts. As a fan of Newari food, I must say the chefs at Hyatt Regency have done a fairly good job when it comes to adding that authentic touch to the food.
Along with the yomari I had the bara (woh as they call it in Newari) with a healthy bowl of kwati, a mixed soup of nine types of sprouted beans. The bara was quite nice and went well with the delicious kwati and gundruk ko achar.
Even though I was already full, I knew that no Nepali meal would be complete without a plate full of dal-bhat-masu.
The buffet had both chicken and goat meat. That is why I had to try them both. Executive Chef Santosh Koradi and his team have put in a lot of effort to make sure everything on the buffet was perfect and the chicken was absolutely amazing.
Both the chicken and the mutton tasted homely and reminded me of Dashain when most households prepare these items for feasts. The chicken was perfectly spiced and the gravy went well with the rice.
The mutton was pretty good but wasn’t as tasty as the chicken maybe because I have a fondness for chicken more than mutton.
The alu ko achar and gundruk ko achar stood out as it was spicy and will definitely tangle ones taste buds. It complemented other items on the buffet like the chhoila which had a certain zest to it and will go well with your favourite drink.
For desserts, there were many items out of which I chose one of my favourite items, kheer which was a bit sweet for my liking but did taste good. The mud cake was intriguing as the dessert chef had put khuwa, a traditional handmade milky food whose rough taste complimented cake. The buffet also has gudpak, a delicious Nepali dessert made from sugar and milk
The festival will go on for two weeks and will have various other items and a special every day. Chef Santos mentioned that they will also items for other regions of Nepal and this was just a sample of the food that will be served during the two weeks.
Where: The Café, Hyatt Regency
When: 13-27 April
Time: 6:30 PM – 10 PM
Price: Rs 2,200/person + taxes
