New Orleans Café

New Orleans Café is opposite the Kathmandu Guesthouse, which is basically the centre of Thamal, Kathmandu. If you are in Kathmandu, this is the area that you want to be in. It is the centre of the action, shopping, restaurants and nightlife. And this funky stretch, encompassing the next few blocks is my favourite place in the world… at the moment. I still have a lot left to see!

The courtyard is the draw card of this place. It is relaxed, and the perfect escape to sit and reflect over chai. You forget that a street away is the excitement of Kathmandu. The big draw card of the New Orleans Café is that there is free wireless internet for those eating at the café. Sit in the courtyard surrounded by serenity and send some emails back home.

The food was lovely. Lunch menu was good and the chai fantastic. Breakfast is one such meal I remember distinctly eating here. Due to fly out that morning, I checked out of the Kathmandu Guesthouse and headed across the road to the café. The big breakfast was fantastic at the time but wasn’t so fantastic hours later when I ended up with gastro.  This resulted in me spending my transit in Singapore in the airport clinic with a drip, after the on call doctor was called in to assess me. After being sick again and continuously on the plane to Sydney I was eventually quarantined and taken by ambulance to a major Sydney Hospital. Needless to say my mother was not happy to pick me up from hospital when just two months before I had come home from Thailand with pneumonia. My passport was confiscated for six months after that. By my mother.

Despite this unfortunate story, I thought this place was fantastic and would definitely go back, but probably not for breakfast. I have never been able to eat bacon and eggs since. I would come, mid afternoon, when I want to little bit of headspace and a great chai. Its perfect if you are alone, but a great place to meet up with friends or other travellers as it is easy to find.

With a warm fire to sit around in the courtyard, the cozy indoor dining, and the mood-enchancing music and lighting, New Orleans is a little haven within crazy Thamel.  Join the eclectic mix of Nepalis meeting for business dinners and scraggly travelers in hippie clothes for a delicious meal.  The food is great, and the menu has a wide variety to please everyone, including plenty of healthy choices.  I recommend the paneer masala, accompanied by real brown rice and a greek salad.  The absolute must try: apple pie a la mode--the best apple pie in all of Nepal, and believe me, I'm an expert!