Café Review: Old Thimphu Restaurant and Bar

Location: On the first floor of one of the few remaining traditional buildings opposite to Clock Tower, on the upper side of the main highway.

Ambience: Perfect blend of old and new. Beautiful traditional wall colors to give you the backdrop and modern lightings to enhance your photos. Lovely views from the window side tables; to give you a look into one of the most popular hangout places in Thimphu – the clock tower, while enjoying your meal.

Cost: $$$$ (on a scale of $ to $$$$$)

Main course

• Chinese, Bhutanese and Indian dish options for both vegetarians and non-vegs.
• The portions are good enough to suffice more than a person unless you’re a heavy eater.
• The sikkam (pork) paa was not good, the pork wasn’t even dried well. On the other hand, the chicken was delicious and served with a side of steamed broccoli.
• The kewa datsi (potatoes with cheese) was okay. I guess it’s almost impossible to ruin this simple Bhutanese dish.
• The paneer butter masala was tasty as well, although extremely oily.
• The totse bowls, however, are not worth the cost. It’s better to order rice and choose a curry separately.

Beverages

• They serve cocktails, even Bhutanese versions of popular ones (we unfortunately couldn’t try it, having visited on an office day)

Dessert

Fried ice cream with chocolate syrup

• Very limited options (not sure if that’s the case always or we just happened to be unlucky)
• The fried ice cream was delicious, however, the batter to ice cream ratio could be improved a bit. It’s quite heavy though so wouldn’t recommend it if you’re already full after the meal.

Service

• Relatively fast even though we visited during a busy hour

OVERALL RATING

On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being “wouldn’t go there again unless it was the last restaurant on earth” to 5 being “would eat there everyday if I could”, would rate it a 3. I mean, it ain’t a bad place to go to once in a while but the food isn’t anything to rave about either. Besides, going there often would not be wallet friendly.

Disclaimer: We are in no way affiliated with the restaurant and the opinions expressed above are based on our own experiences.