Editor’s Note: Kastahamandap Nepal Spice Kitchen was originally reviewed on Okinawa Hai on April 29, 2009; you can read a PDF copy of that original review HERE. The post below is an updated take on this attraction, published September 21, 2016.

CONTRIBUTED BY LOUISE DUPUY

Kastahamandap

Have you ever wondered what the favorite dish of Japan is? Sushi? Udon? Surprisingly, it’s curry! Whilst most Japanese would mean their own spin on this most Asian of cuisines, happily on Okinawa, you can sample curry from other parts of the continent. Let me introduce you to Kastahamandap Nepal Spice Kitchen and a world of flavor you’ll never forget.

kastahamandap

(photo by Pamela Oliveras)

Situated right off Highway 58 just a short drive from Camp Foster’s Commissary Gate, is where you will find Kastahamandap Nepal Spice Kitchen. It has a red facade and a memorable logo; a pair of decadent eyes muse over you from above. Inside is a small, unmanned entrance, with a colorful Ganesha painting (Hindu God of new beginnings) on the left, and a secluded, Japanese-style table on the right (low, with a bench surrounding it, and a place to store your shoes before entry).

 

Kastahamandap

Pass through this into the main part of the restaurant, and be greeted by yet another Ganesha, this time a beautiful statue. There is a small counter in the far left corner, separating the modest kitchen from the dining area. A member of staff will come over to seat you and hand you a menu.

Kastahamandap   Kastahamandap

The tables on the right are large enough for 4 people (probably 4 adults and 2-3 small children actually) and are adorned with beautiful, traditional table cloths bearing Hindu symbols. The other tables are glass and wood, seating between 2-4 people. The decor is in keeping with the name; Nepalese and Hindu arts adorn the walls, my favorite being the huge panorama of the Himalayan mountain range.

Kastahamandap

The food is incredible. They have a good selection of set menus to choose from, as well as individual curries to try. I decided to go with a set. I went with D, consisting of a naan, rice, salad, tandoori chicken, two curries of my choice, and a dessert. It was served in a traditional way, on a large stainless steel platter and with the food in little stainless steel bowls. The curries I opted for were the dhal (a chickpea dish I recommend to everyone), and a chicken dopiaza (my favorite curry). Sublime. I felt like I was back in India, very authentic in terms of flavor and ingredients. When it first comes out, it looks like a small portion, but it was very filling. Dessert was a very sweet vanilla ice cream, which was also good. This set comes with a drink; I chose Mango lassi, an Indian yogurt drink. Again, delicious and authentic. Prices are very reasonable, with the largest set still costing well under 2,000 Yen.

Kastahamandap

Drinks-wise, they have a decent selection. You can get soft, alcoholic, and they have a great range of Indian favorites. I Mentioned the mango lassi, but they also offer Chai, as well as other varieties of lassi. Aren’t driving? Why not sample one of the beers on offer?

Kastahamandap

Service was fair. The staff is polite, though the language barrier can be an issue at times. They accept card as well as cash (yen), which is very handy.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable meal. I liked the atmosphere, the decor (there are more Ganesha statues to spot), and of course, the food. Definitely worth a try.


Addendum by Kari Frazier, 9/2016:

Eating Gluten Free at Spice Kitchen

Kastahamandap Spice Kitchen is a great choice if you have Celiac Disease or any level of gluten sensitivity, because of the way they prepare their naan! Many restaurants of this type make the naan in the same area as the curry, and the flour dust flying everywhere creates the risk of cross contamination. At Spice Kitchen, there is a little station near a window that remains open all the time, and all naan preparation is quarantined to this area. Additionally, the person making the naan does not touch the curry and does not serve customers.

There are several curries you can safely order from the menu, and if you let the server know you have an allergy to wheat (they do not know what gluten is, but they know what wheat flour is), they will let you know which items to avoid. All the curries have an option to come with plain rice, so you’ll have something on your plate to soak in that delicious, spiced goodness!


Kastahamandap Nepalese Spice Kitchen

Payment: Kastahamandap accepts Yen & credit cards

Hours: Open daily 11.30am-2.00am
Lunch menu: 11:30am to 3:00pm
Dinner menu: 3.00pm until close

Phone: 098 936 6355

Address: 1 Chome-10-10 Kitamae, Chatan
Google Map

GPS Coordinates: 26.2982654, 127.76066820000005

Directions: Come out of Foster Commissary gate, take a right, and take the first left by cowcow. Kasthamandap is directly opposite. There is parking right in front and to the side of the restaurant. See you there!

31 COMMENTS

  1. We went to the restaurant by Kinser in Urasoe last night. We thought it was delicious. We didn’t say our spice level, so I’m not sure what they gave us, but it came a little too spicy for my husband and me. The Naan was absolutely delicious though. It’s huge, fluffy, and flakey. The waiter also spoke English very well. We were impressed with the whole experience. The chicken choula was not our favorite though… it had too much fresh ginger covering the whole thing, but if that’s your thing, then you may like it. The restaurant seemed really clean to us, and no bugs in our food.

  2. Went to the new one by kinser today. This was my second time there. Love the spinach curry until i found a spider at the bottom on my curry. Didnt see it until i was halfway through with it. Felt very sick. I let them know, they took the plate back but never came back to say anything. We got up and left and still no apology. They’re very nice people so I hope they were just that embarrassed and not just being rude. Nevertheless I cant see myself going back =/ BE CAREFUL WHEN EATING HERE OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER.

  3. YUM! My family of 5 just ate here and it was great! Well priced and with all of our curry orders we had a choice of rice or naan bread. There are a few levels of spice. Mild, normal, hot, very hot, and very very hot. Our kids (9,7, and 3) ate the normal. It had a nice spice to it and wasn’t too hot (even for the one that doesn’t like spicey stuff). My husband and I had the hot. It only a touch more spice. We may level up next time. We had the spinach cheese curry, spinach chicken curry, buttered chicken masala and aloo gobi curry (cauliflower and potato). We all chose the garlic naan and it was delicious! We spent about $50 and were all full :). Nice atmosphere. We will go back!

  4. My family and I ate here tonight. We are a family of 4 and our two children are ages: 4 and 8. There are no children’s menu items as stated above, but there are plenty of children friendly options on the a la carte menu and the curry can be made mild, to suit children’s taste buds. My husband and I were beyond please as we tried 3 different curries, naan, and tandoori chicken. Next time I eat here, I’ll pay better attention to the finer details, so I can at least tell you what kinds of curry we had, and the name of the set (that was plenty for the two of us). I also suggest trying the drink: lassi; While different, to say the least, it was delicious and an experience in itself. All together, this place is a keeper on our list! 🙂

  5. All you commenters with the “no highchairs or booster seats” issues…. wow. Next time get take out or remember the place is there to make food, not cater to children who need a high chair. How is that relevant to how good the food was? There’s no pictures of the food, so how about you explain what you ate and grade that. Rather than basing your grade around high chairs. Which has nothing to do with the food. At all.

    • We found that many restaurants on Okinawa did not provide high chairs or booster seats for small children. We chose to bring our son’s booster seat with us from home to keep him confined. This one, actually, which we purchased for our daughter when we lived in Germany 4 years earlier. It was inexpensive, didn’t take up much room, was easy to clean (and by bringing it from home we didn’t have to worry about germs from previous occupants), and also doubled as their seat at our family table. It lasted us through 2 children and even though both our kids are too old for it now it is the one baby item I’ve kept for when our friends visit with their children. If you choose to bring your little ones out to eat anywhere (US or Okinawa or abroad) I highly recommend investing a few dollars into a seat like this.

  6. We visited this restaurant last night with our kids. The food was very good and our kids stuffed themselves until they couldn’t eat anymore. The one downside to this restaurant is that they don’t offer any kind of a children’s menu.

  7. There is difference between north indian and Nepalese cuisine. Just being an indian,you wouldn’t know the difference..you have to understand both cuisine..A little bit of chinese cuisine and a little bit of indian cuisine and a little bit of Nepaliness makes Nepalese cuisine.. Indian curry its thick and they use tomato puree for curry.. where as the gravy of Nepali curry is because of onion and ginger garlic paste..use of spices is comparatively low!!

  8. This restaurant wasn’t too bad… It was empty when we went… We tried the lunch sets… They were okay. The naan wasn’t my husbands fav… We have had better naans, in alibaba’s…
    No high chairs available.

  9. I know this resturent very well and tried this several times, it is good. Being an Indian, I must correct the writer that there is absolutely no difference between north indian and nepalese cooking. difference is between the cooks and how they want to make the taste. also perfect indians dont use sauces. the resturent doesnt have any south indian dishes. momo is a nepalese food. chola is popular vegeterian dish all over india…

  10. Friends live around the corner from here so we walked over last night and checked it out. We were not disappointed. The katmando set was wonderful. We also enjoyed the steamed momo, the sizzler, and the tandoori chicken. Very flavorful. The choices for the different naan was also great and we watched them make it to order. The service was good and so was their english. Would definitely go again.

  11. FYI there are NO high chairs here -we just brought in our stroller which was OK since it was quiet but we couldnt have done that on a busy night. The food was DELISH especially the Special Nan…oh wow my mouth is watering just thinking of it!!

  12. We saw this on our bike ride the other day – what a COOL restaurant! The funky exterior alone would have drawn me in – what a bonus to know the food will be excellent, too! Thanks, Pamela!

  13. I went there last night for dinner with my husband, baby, and a friend. It was so good, we all ate too much! I love that the set comes with lassi, chai, or cola. I do wish that I had asked for a mango lassi, instead of plain, and 2 servings of naan instead of bread. We ended up ordering extra naan and not eating the rice. 🙂 I definitely recommend it to people that like Indian food.

  14. It is really yummy! The beach location is still open according to the owner, but only for dinner…the new one is open for lunch and dinner! Service was also very quick, which had been a problem for us in the past at the beach location.

  15. After hearing great reviews about this place, I tried it last Sunday. I thought the food was really good. My husband and I got the 2 person set to share: 4 curries, soup for both, naan, rice, tandoori chicken and another type of meat, 2 drinks, and dessert. The set was a little more than 3,000 yen, and was more than enough to share. We also ordered the special naan, which was stuffed w/ cheese and garlic and some other spices.

  16. my hubby, 1 y/o daughter and i went here last weekend and we all loved it! the food was excellent and they must be working out the service issue b/c there were 3 other tables and we didn’t wait long for our food (which, when you have a 1 year old is almost as important as the food itself!)

    We split the 2 curry lunch set and the “plate o’ meat” as my husband called it, with all the different types of meat…all three of us left satisfied and can’t wait to go back to try the garlic naan.

  17. I have heard rave reviews about the food but not about the service. Be prepared to be patient and enjoy the Naan – I hear it’s fabulous. We’re going to try it in May!!!

    Great ingredient descriptions – I always wonder what the difference is between certain foods and now I know!!!!! I love to learn something new everyday!!!!