A venue unlike any other
The oasis you had to discover
Kathmandu has always been loud. Loud in the best way and the worst way. Horns leaning on patience. Motorbikes threading gaps that don’t quite exist. Music, voices, bargaining, laughter, frustration - all layered at once. Thamel, in particular, doesn’t ease you in. It meets you head-on.
That’s why Kilroy’s had to be discovered.
Not that it was hidden in a secretive way - our logo on every rickshaw saw to that! But in stepping out of the noise and down a short arcade off the main street, you crossed a threshold.
And the moment you did, something magical happened. The music beckoned. An oasis invited you in.
Inside those walls were some of the tallest imposing trees in the city, with water cascading down a mountainous stone fountain with no interest in who you were. You crossed a small bridge, which slowed you just enough to take it in. Before you saw a menu or spoke to anyone, Kilroy’s of Kathmandu had already asked something of you. Not your attention… your curiosity.
That feeling still matters to us. Kilroy’s was that kind of place once. And that’s the feeling we’re interested in finding again…
The idea was simple: contrast. Not luxury for its own sake, but relief. A sense that for the next hour, or two, or three, you didn’t need to compete with the city. You could sit. Talk. Eat without rushing. Stay. And just be.
Inside, Kilroy’s offered choices. Garden or dining room. Bar or terrace. Trekkers fresh off the trail, couples on first dates, expats unwinding, Nepali businesspeople hosting clients - all coexisting without anyone feeling out of place.
That mattered more than we knew at the time.
Kilroy’s trusted the experience to do the talking. In a city of intensity, we offered welcome without judgement. Atmosphere without trying. Food without pretension.
That feeling still matters to us. Kilroy’s was that kind of place once. And that’s the feeling we’re excited to rediscover again…
A chef on a mission
“What brought you to Kathmandu?”
To this day, I am asked this question whenever I mention that I owned restaurants in Nepal. Back then it was asked so frequently, that I put it on the menu. Here is that transcription
”Everyday I am frequently asked this question and the short answer is that a crazy Frenchman dragged me out here! In truth, it began around 1994 when I went to Bermuda on a two-year contract as Chef Patissier at the stunning 'Waterloo House' in Hamilton.
During that time, I met Robert Desjardins and we started to play golf together. Gradually, we talked of future plans and interestingly he talked of a mysterious Shangri La nestled in the Himalayas (that he first discovered in 1969!), where he had planned to set up a chain of mountain lodges. Eventually, with the help of Basu D. Ghimire, a former trekking agent whom he had befriended on one of his annual visits, he started work on the project.
At 22,000 ft by Everest Base Camp where the idea for Kilroy's of Kathmandu was created.
By now I had returned to London, but in January 1998 I came out to Nepal with Robert to trek up to the base camp of Mount Everest.
During that trek, I floated the idea of a restaurant in Kathmandu as a good starting point for any future projects. About six months later, back in
London, I got a call from Basu to say that he had found some premises & that "I should come tomorrow!"
As it happened I had set myself a goal to open my own restaurant by the age of 27.
After a few phone calls to Bermuda - and with time running out on my self-imposed objective - I decided to take up the challenge and arrived out in Nepal on 6th September 1998 with two college text books, my recipes and a head full of ideas.
Twelve weeks later, Kilroy's of Kathmandu opened and we have never looked back."
A partnership in the making
A Valentine’s Eve encounter
In 1999, Arati was guest relations manager leading a team of 60 people at a casino in Kathmandu.
Across town, Thomas was busy in his eponymous restaurant 'Kilroy's of Kathmandu' which was taking Kathmandu by storm.
As it happened, an enterprising radio DJ booked out the restaurant for a Valentine's Eve party and tickets were being sold all across town.
Joining those 300 guests at the celebrity event being held at Kilroy's, Arati requested to see the Chef to ask about a menu choice - the party menu on offer was not what she had heard about in the press!
Being that chef patron, Thomas duly created one of his signature dishes and served it to her personally before cheekily asking for a photo together.
A few weeks later, they dated and romance blossomed. The pair subsequently married in 2000 in Badhrakali temple in the heart of Kathmandu before setting off to the UK to for a church wedding a few months later.
Today Arati and Thomas have a daughter Jade, and celebrate 27 years together after such a chance meeting.
Here’s the photo taken together of that first night they met.. it takes pride of place in their home
Older, wiser, and still smiling!
Photos taken more recently of Thomas, Arati and their daughter Jade.
An incredible team of people
Taken in 2005 | The cooks, waiters, dishwashers, management, maintenance, security, and administration teams that made it all possible.
I am forever grateful to you all!
The menu at Kilroy’s
What they said about Kilroy’s
Dubby Bhagat, from his review in The Himalayan Times: