Imago Dei Cafe & Art Gallery

Imago Dei Cafe & Art Gallery
Nagpokhari Road (on the East side of the Naraynhiti Palace Wall)
Kathmandu, Nepal
444-2464

The trees are changing color back home and, without knowing how conditioned I was, I’ve begun to crave fall fare. So on this particularly blue skied and breezy November day, I met up with a friend to try out a place she’d raved about. To find Imago Dei Cafe & Art Gallery we strolled along the southern line of the Narayanhiti palace wall and followed it around the bend heading towards Lazimpath area on the bamboo lined Nagpokhari Road. With the wall on our left, we crossed the street, pausing to peek at the road’s namesake--a square manmade lake from which emerges a giant golden snake (nag) statue. On the same side of the street, just a few meters north is Imago Dei.

Upon seeing the airy café, I immediately wanted to settle in for a lazy afternoon of newspaper reading, languid conversation, and staring into space out of the huge picture windows. I found out that the café not only has really great food and specialty coffee drinks—like a white chocolate mochas—but it also has free Wi-Fi.

Paging through the menu, I became fixated on two entrees and one appetizer. At first, I wanted the bean dip with tortilla chips. Do you know how long it has been since I’ve eaten refried beans, which I love? Months. Then I spotted the BLT with coleslaw. Yum! Finally I settled on the Soup and Salad combo. I ordered the pumpkin soup, Cesar salad and a side of garlic bread. My friend did the same. An ample bowl of fresh greens topped with croutons, dressing, and shredded parmesan cheese arrived at our table in no time, followed by a steamy bowl of super savory pumpkin soup and bread roll. Soon after, our waiter brought two thick slices of toasted Challah-like garlic bread. Everything was so good that, although I was perfectly satiated, I didn’t want my meal to end and continued to sit in my sun drenched chair for quite some time after.