Kirtipur Eats: Newari cuisine at Newa Twa

Kirtipur is a hilltop town close to Kathmandu, and it was slotted into a very full day of sightseeing, including a walking tour of Old Kathmandu and Kathmandu Durbar Square in the morning, and Chandragiri Cable Car and Swayabunath Temple (the monkey temple and the “other” stupa with the eyes).

Besides lunch, the one stop we had time for was Bagh Bhairab Temple. It felt very refined, not being painted in any saturated colors.

There were also maybe just a couple local tourists, with none of the crowds we had just encountered in Kathmandu.

There were panoramic views across Kathmandu.

Here were some locals who dressed their kids up and had a photo session at the temple.

Before going to the temple, the main event in Kirtipur was lunch.

We went to this restaurant called Sasa Twa, dedicated to Newari food. I guess on the weekends it’s very busy. Here’s what seemed could be a “street” of different food demonstration stations.

And here was a stage for live music.

We were seated in a balcony off of an upstairs dining room.

With views towards the stage and towards the valley.

They offered some set menus, including an appetizer set.

And a bowl with various dishes topping the beaten rice.

Instead, our guide Amit ordered for us. One of the things he ordered for us was Thwon, a kind of rice wine.

It was mild and sweet.

He ordered the bowl set for himself, and the individual components for the rest of us. I think part of the reason is because it made for a more picturesque table, with many little dishes!

There was mushaa wala, fried crunchy black soy beans with ginger on top.

Aloo wala, which according to the menu was “boiled potatoes mixed tossed in smoky mustard oil infused with fenugreek, turmeric, and chili.”

Tukhawcha, “wilted greens,” with a kind of bitterness that is reminiscent of some kind of Chinese leafy green.

What I think was Chuya-laa, or smoky grilled meat. Some of it was rather chewy!

And served with it all was baji, which we had tried for the first time at the roadside eatery on our walk from Nagarkot to Dhulikhel. The menu describes this as “whole-grain rice, boiled, beaten flat, then sun-dried.” This was delightfully crunchy! Kind of like eating Rice Krispies, but with more chew.

Amit’s bowl had all of these components plus a little more, like black eyed peas.

He also ordered for us a wo, that pancake made of lentil flour, this time with egg and ground meat. Like what we had the first evening in Bhaktapur.

He also ordered our first taste of chatamari, or “Newari pizza.” This is made with a base of rice flour which is cooked until crunchy. This version was topped with meat and egg. The crust stayed crunchy even after pouring a spicy buffalo gravy on top. This might have been my favorite of the meal, with its delightful crunch of the rice flour crust mixed with flavorful meat.

The final dish was a plate of momos, which were really nicely done.

For dessert, Amit ordered a yomari, that snack that kind of resembles a mochi, but shaped into an interesting form!

It’s not quite as chewy as mochi. Inside, this version had black sesame and chaku, “pulled and reduced jaggery” which kind of gave it a date flavor. I love black sesame and really liked how there was basically a black sesame mochi in Newari cuisine!

Overall, I had a really memorable meal at Sasa Twa. Of course a lot of it was the company of Amit, who did the ordering and explained the different elements, helping pour the buffalo sauce where needed. The surroundings were atmospheric without being too Disney, and the tableware beautiful.