Food for Thought
This jewel of a restaurant, open for business and bites on Vancouver’s multi-textured, multicultural Commercial Drive, serves up much more than tasty, traditional Nepali and Himalayan cuisine. Its owner, an immigrant forced to leave his native Nepal as a student activist, acts as the eatery’s sole host, waiter and chef. The reason for such superhuman multitasking? Simple: Playing the restaurant’s lone jack of all trades lets him converse with his clientele about human rights, social and political issues occurring back home and in Canada.

Nepali Nosh,br>Although true Nepali fare is largely determined by season, Cafe Kathmandu takes advantage of Vancouver’s year-round availability of ingredients to create an as-close-to-authentic-as-possible dining experience for patrons. Don’t miss the delicious bhatmass — crunchy toasted soybeans quick-fried with minced ginger, garlic and chilies, and tossed with cilantro. Other tasty treats include a variety of traditional curries (often more delicate than their Indian counterparts), khasiko maasu (goat meat slowly simmered in a rich curry) and kaauli (an earthy dish of turmeric-infused cauliflower with fenugreek potatoes). No meal is complete without a steaming cup of bona fide Nepali chiyaa (chai).

Meeting Place
Cafe Kathmandu’s aim to provide delicious dishes as well as a space where ideas can be exchanged and discussed makes it a fine venue for visiting lecturers. The restaurant hosts a variety of events, including Simon Fraser University’s Continuing Education Philosopher’s Café program — a public lecture series occurring on the last Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 and all are welcome to attend.