Le Sherpa

Le Sherpa operates out of a converted residential property in the embassy district. The garden is the draw — a wide lawn, fairy-lit trees, scattered tables with their own pools of candlelight. In colder months the indoor dining rooms are just as warm, with log fires and a wine list that punches well above Kathmandu's usual range.

The menu is European-leaning with a few Nepali touches: a superb yak carpaccio, a wood-fired pizza menu that uses imported Italian flour, slow-cooked lamb shank with Himalayan mustard, and a weekend Saturday brunch that is Kathmandu's single most popular expat ritual. Cocktails are confident; the house negroni is better than it has any business being.

The garden tables on a clear evening are the most romantic two-tops in the city. Book one as far ahead as you can in high season. The staff are practiced at stretching a dinner into a four-hour conversation if that's what the evening wants.

Why it fits First Date

First Date belongs here because the garden does the romance for you. Candlelight, open air, a menu broad enough to suit any palate, and a service staff that understands when to come back and when to stay away.