International Dining in Katmandu : Meals may mean buffalo, deer, duck and sometimes a great boar.

KATMANDU, Nepal —  There was once a time when Katmandu cuisine was more famous for dalbaat (rice gruel with lentil gravy slugged down by trekkers) than for delicious charcoal-broiled duck, excellent Chinese cuisine and American-style pancakes.

But Katmandu, Nepal’s capital and one of Asia’s fastest-growing cities, has become sophisticated in recent years. Now it is possible to nosh and nibble on a variety of cuisines, local dishes, Chinese and Tibetan specialties, Indian cooking at its exotic best and even down-home, American-style food, from pancakes to fried chicken.

Those who linger long enough in Katmandu are bound to discover the delights of Nepali cooking, which is similar, but not identical, to Indian. Both cuisines make abundant use of masalas, or spice blends, to flavor their dishes, and both center on bread, rice and lentils. But Nepalis often cook traditional dishes in mustard-seed oil, which imparts a sharper flavor than butter or vegetable oil; they dry meats to a jerky consistency much as Native Americans do, and water buffalo, known affectionately as “buff,” is eaten as often as lamb. The motto, as a sign in a modest Nepalese restaurant put it, is “no buff too tough.”

It hardly comes to that, of course. Katmandu has two luxurious Nepali restaurants, one called Bhanchha Ghar, the other Thayabhu.

Bhanchha Ghar is the more beautiful of the two: a five-story white house where you sit on colorful cushions under a tentlike ceiling. Nepali cabinet ministers choose this restaurant for much of their entertaining. And every time I have eaten there, I have run into diplomats and visiting businessmen.

Dine on such foods as bhandel (wild boar) or sukhuti (dried venison marinated with spices). Or try gundruk , a kind of fermented dried spinach, prepared in soup form, that Nepalis eat obsessively with boiled rice and atchar (pickled vegetables rich with turmeric). Another excellent dish here is khasi ko chisela , which is smoked mutton marinated with local spices and served cold.

In contrast, the restaurant Thayabhu, near the Royal Palace, is newer, more casual, heavier on the mustard oil and less manicured. Like Bhanchha Ghar, the seating is on cushions at low tables, with service performed by a team of waiters wearing traditional Newari uniforms. Newars, who dominate the Katmandu Valley, speak a language that is unrelated to Nepali. Their food, largely unknown to outsiders, is quite different from Nepali or Indian cuisine. The kitchen of Thayabhu is accomplished, but proceed at your own risk: Many dishes cooked in mustard oil will seem strong to the uninitiated palate. Taareko haas (duck cooked in mustard oil with a shot of ginger and garlic) will wake up your senses with a bang. A 5-year-old Japanese cutie sitting next to me during one visit had to be coaxed to eat her kwati , a soup composed mainly of mixed sprouted mung and soy beans that is a Newari staple, but eventually, to the amazement of her parents, she requested another bowl.

The restaurant Thayabhu is also the place to experience chatamari , the delicious rice pancake that is stuffed with almost anything. The momo , steamed Tibetan dumplings filled with minced buffalo, are succulent and savory.

Should you find yourself craving Chinese-style food, Katmandu has just the place. It is Nanglo on Durbar Marg, the city’s main street that is chockablock with tourist restaurants and overpriced haunts. Like any Asian capital, Katmandu has dozens of Chinese restaurants, and this place is the best of the lot.

The brick entrance will probably be hidden by a crowd of vendors--all clamoring to sell you Tibetan prayer wheels, kukris (curved Nepali daggers) and other handicrafts. But within is a cozy red chamber hung with Chinese lanterns and comfortably appointed with lurid red banquettes and velvet chairs.

What makes this restaurant special is the quality of the preparations. Nanglo’s special soup has to be one of the best soups in Asia. It is a thick blend brimming with red cooked pork, tiny pieces of shredded duck, black mushrooms, mustard greens and a whole coddled egg.

The local duck, which is excellent at most places, is never better than here, where you can get it chile-fried, Peking-style or, my preference, just plain grilled, still on the bone, with whole cloves of garlic sticking to the skin. Fried dumplings are state-of-the-art, too--crowded, 10 to an order, in a small bowl. Even the fried rice is a triumph, mingled with ingredients such as garlic duck, freshly shelled peas and whole walnuts.

Since you are this close to India, you may as well have a deluxe Indian dinner. To do it right, travel by taxi, tuk-tuk or rickshaw over to New Road, Katmandu’s main shopping street for locals. In addition to bargains on handicrafts and saris, you’ll also find Ghoomti, a long, narrow room serving the Mughlai dishes of northern India. All restaurants in Katmandu are inexpensive by Western standards, but this one, considering the high quality, is ridiculous.

Ghoomti is run by C.N. Kharel, chairman of the local restaurant association, and he is delighted to receive foreign guests, although he doesn’t get many. There is good spice-encrusted tandoori chicken to enjoy, excellent lamb curry and the usual spate of Indian vegetarian specialties. At lunch, the restaurant serves masala dosas , the lentil-filled crepes of southern India.

But what I really like about this place is the music. From 7 to 10 p.m. nightly, Ghoomti features authentic Nepali musicians, male and female singers, a sitar, a tabla drum and a harmonium, which is a portable organ with a sound all its own. It’s a place to lose yourself in the local mystique.

Travelers less comfortable in local settings can still hear good Nepali music while they are eating. At the Hotel Soaltee Oberoi’s Himalchuli restaurant--perhaps the best hotel meal in the city--there is music and dancing nightly, a sort of free culture show.

The Oberoi, located on spacious grounds a little outside the main part of the city, is without question Nepal’s most luxuriously appointed hotel and the restaurant itself is beautiful.

Start a meal here with yakhni , a rich lamb broth, and progress to charcoal-grilled meats or Nepali specialties. One dish not to miss is malai kofta dilbahar , dumplings fashioned from minced cottage cheese and potatoes. Khasi ko bhutuwa is cubed lamb, stir-fried in mustard oil, a true Katmandu Valley specialty. Another dish to try is chana ki dal , a mild stew made from yellow lentils.

And then there are the Western-style pancakes. Almost everyone returning from a trek heads over to Mike’s Breakfast, an outdoor restaurant with abundant shrubbery, bamboo chairs and local birds and bees hanging about. The restaurant is a bit hard to find, since it is located in a shady courtyard between two of the city’s more deluxe hotels, Hotel Sherpa and the more venerable Yak and Yeti.

“Mike” is Mike Frame, a former Peace Corps volunteer from Northfield, Minn., who has lived in Nepal for almost 30 years. Wandering into the courtyard around 1 in the afternoon, I found myself invited to a table already filled by two Swiss, some weather-beaten Englishmen, a Scot and a young, sinewy German who had just completed a 20,000-foot ascent. What they ate collectively could have ended a small famine.

Pancakes are highly recommended at Mike’s, made from scratch from a mixture of white and whole-wheat flour and dribbled with local butter. Mike’s homemade syrup is delicious, too, and attracts a swarm of thirsty bees. There is dense, excellent cornbread, farm-fresh eggs and fresh-squeezed orange juice, even if Nepali oranges remind you more of tangerines.

Only the brave eat the pork sausage, but order chicken with confidence, especially the pan-fried variety. Mike gets his from a local farm, where he also gets organically grown vegetables. And don’t worry about the water. Like the sign here says, “Even the ice has been boiled . . . we like our customers to stay healthy.”

While the food at Mike’s will not seem surprising, the scene and the people certainly will. Go there for a taste of the familiar while you swap stories with other travelers from around the world.

GUIDEBOOK

Noshing in Nepal

Recommended:

Bhanchha Ghar, Kamaladi, local telephone 225-172; dinner for two, $10-$25.

Thayabhu, Lazimpat Plaza, tel. 411-570; dinner for two, $10-$20.

Nanglo, Durbar Marg, tel. 223-498; lunch for two, $5-$10.

Ghoomti, New Road, no telephone; dinner for two, $5-$15.

Himalchuli in the Soaltee Oberoi, Tahachal, tel. 272-550; dinner for two, $15-$25.

Mike’s Breakfast, Durbar Marg, no telephone; breakfast for two, $5.