There Once Was A Place Called Ned . . .
September 16, 2007
If Shangri-La were in the Rocky Mountains, it would lay about 20 minutes west of Boulder in the community of Nederland, Colorado. "Ned" as it is called by locals, is the mountaineer's paradise, complete with the ever-famous Kathmandu Restaurant. I first heard of this Nepali restaurant from a friend in lawschool who extolled the combination of curry and Left Hand Porter on a hot summer day. An afternoon of hiking around the Barker and Gross Reservoirs with my boyfriend left me hungry for something spicy and refreshing. The Kathmandu wasn't very far (it sits in the middle of "town").
The menu seemed to have everything I could ever want - chile this, chile that - and the aroma of every plate that passed you by made you want to sample each item on the menu. I decided to order the Chicken Tika Masala, extra spicy, and my boyfriend ordered the Lamb Chili, also extra spicy. While a Left Hand Porter sounded appetizing, I opted for another local favorite from the New Belgium Brewing Company - Fat Tire. The lightly spiced amber ale paired nicely with the pieces of chicken stewed in curry, cream, tomatoes, and peppered with peas. In my greedy state, I also managed to eat a siginificant portion of my honey's Lamb, jalapenos and all. By the time I finished the second helping of Garlic Naan bread, I had to be rolled out of the restaurant, all the way down the mountain, and stuffed back into the car.
Needless to say the Kathmandu is perhaps the best curry I've ever eaten. If you like Indian curries, the Nepali version is slightly more hearty and rather spicy. If you've never had curry, than the Kathmandu is about the best place to start.
Labels: curry, Nepal, restaurant
