A note on the words: momo are Nepali steamed dumplings, and kothey momo the pan-fried kind; bhatmas sadeko is a cold dish of soybeans dressed with spice; khasi ko masu is goat meat and kukhura ko masu chicken, both served here as curries; sekuwa is meat grilled on a skewer; papad is a thin, crisp lentil-flour wafer and chapati a flat wheat bread; dal bhat is the lentil-soup-and-rice plate eaten daily in Nepal. Khukri is a Nepali rum, Nepal Ice a Nepali beer and aila a distilled rice spirit; Heartland is a Japanese beer. Setsubun, mentioned in passing, is the festival at the start of spring when Japanese households scatter roasted soybeans. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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NEPALICO, Shibuya, on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want to eat something good today as well. This is Hangover Meshi.
Right — dinner this time is Nepali. Curry is what the country is known for. Dal bhat is good and I would happily have had it, but this time I want to drink, with Nepali cooking as the thing to drink alongside.
The place is Nepalico, in Shibuya, over towards the Cerulean Tower.
There are set courses, but this time the a la carte approach: pick whatever takes your fancy and pick at it.
First to drink is, of course, beeeeer!
Nepali beer may well be a first for me.
Compared with Japanese beer the bitterness is restrained and the impression is light. Refreshing carbonation and finish, with a gentle aroma. A clean, easy beer like this really is the right thing to put beside spiced food. Very drinkable.
Spice-grilled chicken on top of a green salad. And on top of that, papad — lentil flour rolled thin and made crisp. You get it now and then at Indian curry houses, do you not.
The spiced chicken is good, and the dressing is spicy and good as well.
A snack I ordered on impulse after reading the line on the menu: the great favorite of the Nepali people!
What sort of bean is this, I wondered — and on eating it, soybeans. The very beans you throw at Setsubun. A crunchy, rattling texture. Dressed with a mild heat and seasoned well, and the contrast with the texture of the cucumber is interesting too: unexpectedly good. I had no idea beans went with vegetables like this.
Setsubun beans generally end up left over, do they not. Next time I shall turn them into bhatmas sadeko and put the great surplus to use.
Next, the thing that says Nepali food to me (possibly only to me): momo.
Nepali-style steamed dumplings! There are pan-fried ones called kothey momo as well, but the orthodox version is probably this one. The sauce is a curry-ish one with a clear scent of sesame. The filling is chicken and pork mixed, juicy and full of liquor. Very good.
Shall I order something grilled, I thought — and asked for the mixed grill to be going on with.
A set with two chicken skewers (on the right), one gizzard (in the middle), one lamb (to its left) and two prawns (far left). If you are here with several people, I suspect the correct move is to order this, pull everything off the skewers and pick at it together. Everything has been steeped thoroughly in spice, which must be why it is all so tender; the scorched scent of the spices comes in on top, and it is extremely good.
This one is chicken cartilage stir-fried with spices. I am very fond of chicken cartilage!
It is stir-fried with spices, but cooked hard enough that the crisp, crackling texture stays right through — delicious! So chicken cartilage is good eaten this way too. Spices really are something. I may try cooking it like this at home.
Another plate ordered on the strength of the line on the menu.
The favorite snack of the Nepali people!! Goat stir-fried with spices. It is goat on the bone, but the meat is tender and there is no off smell at all. The scent of the spices and the scent of the goat come together into something superb. They must be simmering it a long time to get it falling apart like this.
Time to choose the main curry! First, kukhura ko masu curry.
A local-style chicken curry with a real edge of heat. Plenty of coriander in it as well, and they seem to have seasoned it on the hot side — but the heat is at the level where it simply tastes tremendous. The scent of the spices stands up clearly. Delicious!
And this one is the goat curry. Khasi ko masu, the meat of the male goat, is apparently the great favorite of the Nepali people.
It has the feel of the place itself. As with the goat snack earlier, the meat falls apart, there is no off smell, only the scent of goat left, and it comes together with the spices around it beautifully. This one is good. It is a fairly thin, loose curry, so eating it with chapati is the way. Cook the liquid off this and you would more or less have the goat snack from before.
And last: told it was last orders, I slid in a request for the lamb sekuwa.
Two skewers of the lamb that came on the mixed grill earlier. There had only been one then, and I had wanted more.
When it comes to handling lamb and goat, you cannot beat the countries of spice. Extremely good.
Well then — thoroughly enjoyed. Nepali beer, Nepali rum, a highball of Nepali whisky, and even Nepali spirits. A country with a great many kinds of drink. Every one of them has a very fine aroma and goes outstandingly with spiced food. The salt is restrained as well, which makes it all easy to eat. Thinking back over the Nepali restaurants I have been to, every one has been a hit. Which I take to mean that Nepali food is simply very good. This place is good and I recommend it! Now, where shall I go for Nepali food next?
NEPALICO, Shibuya branch (Nepalese / Shibuya Station, Shinsen Station, Daikanyama Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.8
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
