Tired of chicken tikka masala and want to try something new? Then the Kathmandu offers something a little more unusual. The restaurant's very name invokes the image of a city in the clouds, remote and exotic: just the place for adventurous gastronauts.
The city of Kathmandu - capital of the mountainous Far Eastern state of Nepal - will be known to the more intrepid of Bristol travellers as a starting point for a trekking holiday in the Himalayas.
And a glance at the restaurant's address in Colston Tower - the concrete edifice which casts its monstrous shadow over the city centre - might inspire excited thoughts of dining at Himalayan altitudes.
But in fact Kathmandu does not occupy the tower's top floor, but is tucked away on ground level, behind rather sinister dark glass windows. The interior is a rather swanky affair, shadowy and atmospheric with glossy black walls and a collection of gaudy and ornate ephemera lit with splashes of coloured light: gilt picture frames, mirrors, exotic flowers. It's glamorous and showy but just quirky enough to charm, too. All in all, it makes quite a contrast with Kathmandu's origins. Before the restaurant opened in 2003, the owners had spent 23 years running two takeaway outlets, in Easton and Gloucester Road.
The owners are proud to boast that they import their own spices from a village in Nepal, and claim this gives their food a unique flavour.
Sure enough, the menu reflects the Nepali roots of the restaurant's owners. To be precise, their Newari roots, the Newaris being a half-million strong ethnic group within Nepal.
Those of more conservative tastes need not fear, though, for this is a huge menu, and it includes many of the traditional standbys of the curry house, including tikkas and kebabs cooked over charcoal and assorted jalfrezis, kormas, dansags and biryanis.
The city of Kathmandu - capital of the mountainous Far Eastern state of Nepal - will be known to the more intrepid of Bristol travellers as a starting point for a trekking holiday in the Himalayas.
And a glance at the restaurant's address in Colston Tower - the concrete edifice which casts its monstrous shadow over the city centre - might inspire excited thoughts of dining at Himalayan altitudes.
But in fact Kathmandu does not occupy the tower's top floor, but is tucked away on ground level, behind rather sinister dark glass windows. The interior is a rather swanky affair, shadowy and atmospheric with glossy black walls and a collection of gaudy and ornate ephemera lit with splashes of coloured light: gilt picture frames, mirrors, exotic flowers. It's glamorous and showy but just quirky enough to charm, too. All in all, it makes quite a contrast with Kathmandu's origins. Before the restaurant opened in 2003, the owners had spent 23 years running two takeaway outlets, in Easton and Gloucester Road.
The owners are proud to boast that they import their own spices from a village in Nepal, and claim this gives their food a unique flavour.
Sure enough, the menu reflects the Nepali roots of the restaurant's owners. To be precise, their Newari roots, the Newaris being a half-million strong ethnic group within Nepal.
Those of more conservative tastes need not fear, though, for this is a huge menu, and it includes many of the traditional standbys of the curry house, including tikkas and kebabs cooked over charcoal and assorted jalfrezis, kormas, dansags and biryanis.
Kathmandu
Colston Tower, Colston Street, Bristol.
Telephone 0117 929 4455
Opening times
Daily, noon to 2pm;
Monday to Friday, 6pm to 11pm;
Saturday, 6pm to 11.30pm;
Sunday 6pm to 10.30pm
Prices
Wo, £4.95;
chat masalla, £4.50;
lamb kritipur, £9.95;
allo tarkari, £7.95;
fish tikka, £8.50;
prawn kebab, £10.95
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: Yes
Ratings
Overall Food Ambience Service Value
Rather oddly for a menu inspired by the cuisines of a landlocked country, the food at Kathmandu is strong on fish dishes, which include sea bass nani (sea bass fillets cooked in a creamy Nepali sauce, served with butter beans and asparagus, £12.95), fish tikka (£8.50) and prawn kebab (£10.95).
But it was those Nepali dishes that we were interested in. Our starters picked themselves. We just had to order wo - yes, wo (£4.95) - which turned out to be a large fried patty made of chicken, lamb and lentils. The selection of spicy preserved vegetables and yoghurt sauce served with it enlivened an interesting - though not outstanding - dish.
Chat masalla (£4.50), a cold dish of diced fruit and vegetables with spices, was, however, superb. Unlikely as it might sound, this blend of peas, fresh pineapple, chick peas and other vegetables, with a light minted yoghurt dressing and a spicy kick, was one of the best things I have ever eaten in a curry house.
For our main courses, we were tempted by chhoyla lamb, cooked in charcoal with ginger and garlic (£8.95) and by kancha kukhura special tandoori chicken (£9.95).
But instead we chose what turned out to be two very fine, well-balanced dishes. lamb kritipur (£9.95), cooked to the chef's own recipe with "whole" spices, was rich and rewarding, and drew on a palate of dark, intense flavours. Allo tarkari ("potatoes cooked in a Nepalese style") was a dish of firm-fleshed spuds in a silky, spicy sauce.
The price tag of £7.95 for a potato dish was, however, a little startling.
Which brings me to the all-important question of value. Kathmandu is an upmarket restaurant with friendly, attentive service, and offers an unusual choice of very good food in flamboyant surroundings, so the prices are not entirely unreasonable, but be prepared to part with at least £25 a head if you do eat a full meal here.
Joe Pontin
But it was those Nepali dishes that we were interested in. Our starters picked themselves. We just had to order wo - yes, wo (£4.95) - which turned out to be a large fried patty made of chicken, lamb and lentils. The selection of spicy preserved vegetables and yoghurt sauce served with it enlivened an interesting - though not outstanding - dish.
Chat masalla (£4.50), a cold dish of diced fruit and vegetables with spices, was, however, superb. Unlikely as it might sound, this blend of peas, fresh pineapple, chick peas and other vegetables, with a light minted yoghurt dressing and a spicy kick, was one of the best things I have ever eaten in a curry house.
For our main courses, we were tempted by chhoyla lamb, cooked in charcoal with ginger and garlic (£8.95) and by kancha kukhura special tandoori chicken (£9.95).
But instead we chose what turned out to be two very fine, well-balanced dishes. lamb kritipur (£9.95), cooked to the chef's own recipe with "whole" spices, was rich and rewarding, and drew on a palate of dark, intense flavours. Allo tarkari ("potatoes cooked in a Nepalese style") was a dish of firm-fleshed spuds in a silky, spicy sauce.
The price tag of £7.95 for a potato dish was, however, a little startling.
Which brings me to the all-important question of value. Kathmandu is an upmarket restaurant with friendly, attentive service, and offers an unusual choice of very good food in flamboyant surroundings, so the prices are not entirely unreasonable, but be prepared to part with at least £25 a head if you do eat a full meal here.
Joe Pontin