Ever get that feeling when you step inside a room and you�re in awe of what you see? That�s how I felt when I visited Baithak Restaurant. A quaint little place located in Baber Mahal Revisited. The newly re-launched place offers a fine dining experience with a mix of tradition and modernity. The restaurant has done its best to capture and exemplify the history and tradition of the Rana�s. Baithak specializes in serving Nepali cuisine and more importantly takes pride in serving its three-course lunch/ dinner meal.
The restaurant is located in the upper floors giving it a good view of the beautiful Mulchowk courtyard. Soothing Nepali tunes from the sarangi is a nice touch that goes well with the overall theme of the place. But to my disappointment, the music isn�t available every day, but rather only on selected days. The place however isn�t particularly known for being very lively but what it offers is an escape from the hustling and bustling of this otherwise busy city. It also has a seating capacity of just 50 people which is great for those wanting to enjoy a quiet meal.
The restaurant has two seating areas, outdoors and indoors. The outdoor seating is very spacious. There are but a handful of tables which is understandable since people usually come here to dine indoors. You wouldn�t mind sitting here and downing a cocktail or two on a hot sunny day.However, a couple of more tables wouldn�t hurt.Only drinks and snacks are served outside.The food menu isn�t very expensive, but, the ones on offer tasted quite good. �Mustang Aloo� particularly stood out. The dishes on the � la carte menu are all snacks as they have not yet started serving � la carte lunch and dinner. You can find a good variation in the snack menu though. A well-equipped bar also ensures that all your desired drinks are readily available. 
The main attraction however is the indoor dining area. When you step inside the dining room, you feel like you�ve travelled back in time. I was truly astounded by the level of detail this room offered. Everything inside here spelled class. From the beautiful Victorian table settings, wooden ceilings to the huge portraits of Rana rulers hung on the wall in rustic frames. Safe to say, the dining area definitely demands the attention of those that visit this establishment.
What about the meal though? For now, Baithak has a fixed three-course meal menu. Aloo ko Achar (potato relish), few pieces of momos and a bara (lentil pancake) as appetizers. The appetizers were basic yet sophisticated of sorts. The strong flavors of the Aloo ko Achar complemented the delicate bara and the momso perfectly. The chutneys served along with these, the tomato chutney and the mint chutney too gave a hint of kick to these mildly flavored dishes. Momos could have been a bit juicier.
When you hear the term �served on a silver platter� it generally means getting something without putting in much effort. But in Baithak, silver platter literally means as the name suggests. They serve your meal in custom made silver plates. I for one was excited to be eating out of such a dish. However, when the food arrived, I wasn�t excited as much. Not that the food was bad. It was one of the better thali�s that I have had. May be I was expecting more and it was only fair to have such expectation after seeing the ambience of the place. Perhaps, the biggest selling point of this beautiful dish was the silverware it was served in. Make no mistake though, this thali had everything you would expect and more. Different variations of chutneys and pickles were the main attraction of the thali, including tangy tomato chutney, eggplant relish, sweet mango relish and the ever famous pickled radish. The saffron rice was appealing and aromatic as well. Curries included chicken curry, green veggies and chili potato. A creamy cucumber salad was also in the thali along with tempered black lentil, onion slices, chili, lemon wedge and a soft poori. The thali was a real Nepali complete set meal. What stood out for me was the cucumber salad, the rich creamy texture with just the right balance of saltiness and sweetness had me craving for more of this unique variation of the dish.
They also serve complimentary aila (Newari homemade liquor) with your meal. The aila seemed to have been made by one of their staff members and it was impeccable. Very subtle hints of alcohol and strong flavors of infused spices proved to be very pleasant for your taste buds. The flavorful aila complemented the dessert perfectly. But I would again suggest them to serve the real ethnic aila as well along with this flavored one for the tourists to give them the real feel of this elixir. A Nepali sweet dish Shikarni, yogurt mixed with cinnamon and other spices was served as a dessert, it too was quite impressive. I somehow recalled having Mishti Dohi `in one of my Bengali friends� house. It was the first time that I had have Sikarni, may be that�s the reason my palate was comparing it to the orther dishes I have had in my life.
I had a chance to meet the man behind the scenes, Chef Ramesh Ghimire, who seemed like a talented man with a clear picture of what he was doing. He has had plenty of experience in the country and overseas and his effort was clearly visible.
Overall, Baithak has done its level best to emulate the Rana style of dining and give you an experience like none other. It offers a very peaceful dining experience with your loved ones.
The restaurant has two seating areas, outdoors and indoors. The outdoor seating is very spacious. There are but a handful of tables which is understandable since people usually come here to dine indoors. You wouldn�t mind sitting here and downing a cocktail or two on a hot sunny day.However, a couple of more tables wouldn�t hurt.Only drinks and snacks are served outside.The food menu isn�t very expensive, but, the ones on offer tasted quite good. �Mustang Aloo� particularly stood out. The dishes on the � la carte menu are all snacks as they have not yet started serving � la carte lunch and dinner. You can find a good variation in the snack menu though. A well-equipped bar also ensures that all your desired drinks are readily available.
The main attraction however is the indoor dining area. When you step inside the dining room, you feel like you�ve travelled back in time. I was truly astounded by the level of detail this room offered. Everything inside here spelled class. From the beautiful Victorian table settings, wooden ceilings to the huge portraits of Rana rulers hung on the wall in rustic frames. Safe to say, the dining area definitely demands the attention of those that visit this establishment.
What about the meal though? For now, Baithak has a fixed three-course meal menu. Aloo ko Achar (potato relish), few pieces of momos and a bara (lentil pancake) as appetizers. The appetizers were basic yet sophisticated of sorts. The strong flavors of the Aloo ko Achar complemented the delicate bara and the momso perfectly. The chutneys served along with these, the tomato chutney and the mint chutney too gave a hint of kick to these mildly flavored dishes. Momos could have been a bit juicier.
When you hear the term �served on a silver platter� it generally means getting something without putting in much effort. But in Baithak, silver platter literally means as the name suggests. They serve your meal in custom made silver plates. I for one was excited to be eating out of such a dish. However, when the food arrived, I wasn�t excited as much. Not that the food was bad. It was one of the better thali�s that I have had. May be I was expecting more and it was only fair to have such expectation after seeing the ambience of the place. Perhaps, the biggest selling point of this beautiful dish was the silverware it was served in. Make no mistake though, this thali had everything you would expect and more. Different variations of chutneys and pickles were the main attraction of the thali, including tangy tomato chutney, eggplant relish, sweet mango relish and the ever famous pickled radish. The saffron rice was appealing and aromatic as well. Curries included chicken curry, green veggies and chili potato. A creamy cucumber salad was also in the thali along with tempered black lentil, onion slices, chili, lemon wedge and a soft poori. The thali was a real Nepali complete set meal. What stood out for me was the cucumber salad, the rich creamy texture with just the right balance of saltiness and sweetness had me craving for more of this unique variation of the dish.
They also serve complimentary aila (Newari homemade liquor) with your meal. The aila seemed to have been made by one of their staff members and it was impeccable. Very subtle hints of alcohol and strong flavors of infused spices proved to be very pleasant for your taste buds. The flavorful aila complemented the dessert perfectly. But I would again suggest them to serve the real ethnic aila as well along with this flavored one for the tourists to give them the real feel of this elixir. A Nepali sweet dish Shikarni, yogurt mixed with cinnamon and other spices was served as a dessert, it too was quite impressive. I somehow recalled having Mishti Dohi `in one of my Bengali friends� house. It was the first time that I had have Sikarni, may be that�s the reason my palate was comparing it to the orther dishes I have had in my life.
I had a chance to meet the man behind the scenes, Chef Ramesh Ghimire, who seemed like a talented man with a clear picture of what he was doing. He has had plenty of experience in the country and overseas and his effort was clearly visible.
Overall, Baithak has done its level best to emulate the Rana style of dining and give you an experience like none other. It offers a very peaceful dining experience with your loved ones.
