Our story
8848 Himalayan Fusion & Bar is named for the height of सगरमाथा — the mountain the world calls Everest — and cooks the food of the trail that leads up it.
01 · Kathmandu
Anyone who grew up in Kathmandu can tell you where the best momos are, and will argue about it. The ones we remember were in small rooms with fogged windows, an aluminium steamer stacked five high, and a bowl of sesame-tomato achar so good you'd order another plate just to finish it.
That's the kitchen we wanted to bring to the Shenandoah Valley: hand-pleated, served fast, eaten hot.
02 · The trail
Walk the trail to Everest Base Camp and you eat the same things the Sherpa guides eat: dal bhat twice a day, thukpa when the wind comes up, masala chiya at every teahouse. Kathmandu's Indo-Chinese stalls came up the trail too, so there's chilli chicken at 3,800 metres.
Our menu follows that route, camp by camp. It's why the menu page has an altitude.
03 · Reservoir Street
The room is dark wood and brushed brass, lamp-lit, a little formal and very warm, like the old hotels in Kathmandu where climbers used to sign the wall. There's a full bar with Himalayan spice behind it, and it stays open late on weekends.
Come in cold. Leave full.
8,848.86
metres
height of Sagarmatha, re-measured in 2020
29,031.7
feet
for the Americans at the table
12,476
kilometres
Kathmandu to Harrisonburg, as the crow flies
2
kitchens
one wok, one tandoor, both on fire
On the string
Pinned up behind the bar. Tap one to read what’s written on the back.
The mountain, in your hands
The massif in brass contour lines, like the relief model on a Kathmandu guide’s desk. Drag it round. Tap a glowing camp to fly there, read its story, and find the dish we’d eat at that altitude.
Tengboche monastery · 3,867 m
Bowls like this ring in every monastery on the way up. Tap it to strike it, or circle the rim slowly and steadily and it will start to sing.