Mutton Curry from Nepal:

I like mutton. Some of the best mutton dishes I’ve had have been in India and certainly the single best roast leg of mutton I ever had was in Pakistan. What then when I see mutton curry on a menu in Nepal? Pakistan, India … Nepal. Surely it would have a hint of the former’s greatness?

Arrival of the mutton curry

My worst expectation of ordering a new meat dish in Nepal is that it will come with bone. As in the meat still attached to the bone. There’s nothing more wasteful for me than to see a plate full of 1mm thick meat under great chunks of white bone for two times the price of a plain vegetable option. So I was really happy to see this mutton curry came with no bone. Well, there were a few little bits but it was mainly meat.

I wasn’t too happy to see it looking a little watery but then again it’s Nepal so one can’t expect greatness with everything. At least I had my plate of mutton.

What did the mutton curry taste like

A little harsh to be honest. More a heavy burnt coriander flavor than anything else. It tasted more like goat than mutton too. It’s certainly not a dish I would want again. Which is surprising as I had in Pokhara which goes the extra mile in tourist fare ( do check out my guide to Pokhara).

The after effects of a mutton curry

Sure enough later that night the gurgling in my stomach kicked in. Then for the next two days it was me and the toilet spending much time together. The villan? The mutton curry of course.

A local friend called over and asked what was up. I explained what had happened. Then, once recovered, I went to visit them. Turns out they knew the restaurant owner where I’d had the curry.

Apparently it was indeed mutton. But it had been frozen. As as you may know in Nepal the electricity is not reliable at all with long periods of defrosting freezers being the norm. The result? Some really unhealthy mutton.

Strangely my friend told me the restaurant owner extended his apologies to me. But as I passed by his restaurant all I got was the usually friendly wave. No personal apology or anything.

Cultural differences in food poisoning

A few weeks later the restaurant owners wife saw me passing by and invited me in for lunch. I simply waved and declined. Then promptly took a right into the cafe next door. They weren’t too happy to see that and soon after the friendly waves stopped.

I asked my friend about this and he shook it off and said there was no problem. I could eat where I wanted to. The thing is if the man or even his wife had apologised in person to me rather than from I took as a third person I’d have gone back. But they didn’t. They just continued on as if nothing had happened. There’s a small chance that if I’d gone in they might have offered a free meal. But I doubt it.

It’s not just tourists who get bad meals

In Nepal there’s a huge effort made to create tourist food for their number one source of income – tourists. Meanwhile the locals eat Dal Bhat and many other types of food not always on display. Truth of the matter is if you’ve stayed in a Nepalese home, especially if your room is near the bathroom, you’ll hear that at least once a week there’s a personal toiletry problem.

While food that causes stomach problems in the “west” is practically illegal hence all the health and safety tests, in Nepal it’s “normal” to have bad stomach every now and then. It’s a shrug-off event. While to me, it’s more of an alarm bell warning.

So in this context the man and his restaurant didn’t quite see it as being a big enough problem to apologize over. While I on the other saw it as being the type of thing one should do.

Moral of the mutton curry

As I wrote earlier I like mutton. When in Pakistan or India do please try it. In Nepal however it’s important to note that sheep farming is not that popular. Even the most popular mutton restaurant in Kathmandu runs out of mutton quite regularly. Hindsight is great.

So if you see mutton on Nepalese menu you might want to keep this in mind before ordering!

Otherwise, check out some better restaurants below.

This is an additional article featuring food from Nepal. 

Find out the best places to eat in Kathmandu:

• Best coffee shops in Kathmandu
• Cheap restaurants in Kathmandu
• Breakfast restaurants in Kathmandu
• Lunch restaurants in Kathmandu
• Dinner restaurants in Kathmandu

Looking for restaurants and places to eat great food in the rest of Nepal? Check out my guidebook below!

Get my Guidebook to Nepal & discover more than anyone else!

Looking for more insider tips and information like this? Get the most up-to-date, popular and dedicated guidebook to Nepal in the world. Over 617 pages & 984+ photographs of every temple listed, daily guides on all the treks listed and so much more.

Take a look below and you’ll find out why this beats all other guidebooks!

Find out more here!