Hotel Shambala is a Nepali and Tibetan fusion hotel located on the prestigious Embassy Road at Bansbari, Kathmandu. Just a few minutes away from the city, this boutique hotel serves you with Nepal's first infinity swimming pool, 65 rooms including deluxe rooms, standard rooms, and three suites, a spa and a 280-degree view from its 8th floor where the Cloud 9 Bar and Lounge is.
Cloud 9, whose name translates as “Above the sky”, offers you the most breathtaking views of both the Shivapuri hills on one side and Kathmandu’s city on the other. The rooftop bar combines the ideal contemporary atmosphere with a touch of Tibetan culture. When everyone was at home in 2020, Cloud 9 worked arduously to refurbish their space and gave it the moniker Cloud 9 Bar and Lounge, known initially as Cloud 9 Café and Lounge.
The bar offers sitting indoors, outside, and on the pool deck, giving you a view of the city and the hills from Nepal’s first infinity pool. It has a capacity of about 60 people at once. The bar space and the beverages they serve are the place’s speciality. They serve food, which is usually light and flavoured with Tibetan and Mexican flavours. The cuisine of Cloud 9 is a fusion of Mexican, Tibetan and Nepali ingredients and recipes.
Chicken Quesadilla
Quesadilla is made of seasoned ground meat wrapped in a tortilla and grilled to give it a smoky flavour. The Chicken Quesadilla at Cloud 9 was quite satisfying and of a good size. The perfect-textured tortilla was used to pack the picadillo, made up of ground smoked chicken combined with tomato, green pepper, capsicum, American cheddar cheese, and their seasonings. The quesadilla’s sides were well-toasted and had delicious, traditional Mexican flavours. It came with guacamole and soured cream on the side.
The quesadilla had a delicious flavour. American cheddar cheese bliss filled the initial mouthful, gradually followed by the flavours of additional ingredients and spices. The entrée was well complemented with the guacamole and sour cream on the side.
Chicken Syafale
In Syafale, the tortilla is stuffed with seasoned pork and cabbage and shaped into semi-circular forms. Depending on the location, these shapes are either pan-fried or deep-fried.
At Cloud 9, the ground chicken is paired with salt, pepper, chopped green onion, and their own spices before being filled into flour dough and fashioned into a semi-circle. It is then deep-fried in oil. It comes with three unique side sauces from Cloud 9’s kitchen.
The ground chicken stuffing and crunchy fried flour coating on the syafale were just right. The mix of the juicy inside and the crisp outside provided enough delight. The special chilly sauce from Cloud 9 paired with the syafale just made the dish perfect and melt in mouth.
Grande Nachos
Nachos consists of fried tortilla chips topped with cheese and a range of other ingredients, such as meats or vegetables like chilli peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and olives, as well as condiments like salsa, guacamole, or sour cream.
The nacho chips used in the Cloud 9’s Grande Nachos are produced in the locale. On the chips, they had bean sauce that had been baked in the oven. The nacho chips are covered in shredded cheddar cheese and are combined with the minced green chilli, onion, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Lemon juice is then drizzled on top to give the meal its final salty-sour flavour.
The Grande Nachos had a satisfying crunch in every mouthful and were quite crispy. The well-seasoned veggies on top were really reviving. It went extremely well with the crisp nacho chips and then deliciously sour veggies that followed.
Since the bar at Cloud 9 is its biggest draw, we sampled a couple of their drinks. The bartender team at the establishment created every beverage we tasted. These cocktails are only available in Cloud 9.
Blushing Bride
The ingredients in Blushing Bride are coffee, vanilla, egg white, cream, and spice syrup. It is a cocktail drink made using brandy as the foundation.
The cocktail initially had a very distinct aroma. It had a faint aroma of coffee and egg whites. The Blushing Bride was served chilly and with little chunks of ice in it. It had a very strong alcohol flavour, especially a brandy taste. The aftertaste of coffee and cream gradually masks the alcohol taste. The beverage had no hangovers and was quite refreshing.
Make It Hot
The beverage “Make It Hot” comes in both cocktail and mocktail varieties. I decided to consume it as a mocktail, free of alcohol.
The green chilli used in the drink, “Make it Hot”, adds heat to the drink and mango flavour soothes the burning rages in the mouth.
If you want a “Make It Hot” cocktail, vodka can be used as the alcohol foundation because, either as cocktail or as mocktail, the beverage will not disappoint you at all. It is named “Make it Hot” because it makes your mouth hot after every sip.
Titaura Special
The Titaura Special is the bar’s most well known and distinctive beverage. Tiraura is a snack food with a flavour that is simultaneously salty, sour and sweet. The cocktail known as “Titaura Special” is created by blending vodka with a spicy sauce produced from the various titaura flavours. It is only present in the Cloud 9 Bar and Lounge and has skyrocketed in popularity.
Titaura special has a very distinctive flavour. It has a low alcohol taste and a higher proportion of flavourful beverages in the beginning. The last minute aftertaste of alcohol just barely becomes apparent. The beverage is incredibly light and convenient to use.
If you want to have a drink after work and watch Kathmandu at night while lounging by the infinity pool, the Cloud 9 Bar and Lounge is the ideal location. The atmosphere is really peaceful and comforting. As a result, the location exhibits Nepali culture in contemporary and Tibetan ways, as well as Mexican deliciousness.
“We are more concerned about the satisfaction of guests than the revenue generation,” says the operational Manager Rabin Manandhar.
For more information, contact:
Rabin Manandhar
Operational Manager
+977 9801826001
Compiled By: Rebika Bishokarma
Photos By: Bidyash Dangol
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