Visitors sometimes pause at the word "buff" on our menu. It is buffalo meat, and in Nepal it is the everyday red meat: beef is not eaten by a large part of the population for religious reasons, and cow slaughter is restricted. Water buffalo fills that role.
For Chinese cooking this turns out to be a good substitution rather than a compromise. Buff is leaner than beef, with a firmer grain and a deeper, slightly gamier flavour. In dishes where the meat is sliced thin and cooked hot and fast — which is most of the Sichuan repertoire — that firmness is an advantage. It does not fall apart, and it holds up to strong seasoning.
The dishes to try
Boiled Buff Sichuan Style at Rs. 950 is the showcase. Thin slices are poached briefly and served submerged in chilli oil with Sichuan peppercorn and garlic. It is the classic shui zhu treatment, usually done with beef, and buff takes it beautifully.
Shred Buff Celery at Rs. 770 is the gentler option — matchsticks of buff dry-fried with celery until both are just cooked. Shred Buff Pickled Chilly, also Rs. 770, swaps the celery for pickled chillies and picks up a sour, fermented edge.
Braised Buff with Potato at Rs. 870 is the comfort dish: slow-cooked until the meat gives, with potato absorbing the sauce.
Grilled Buff at Rs. 870 and Boiled Buff Tripe at Rs. 950 round out the section. Tripe is not for everyone, but it is properly cleaned and properly cooked here, and it is a texture worth trying at least once.
On the hot pot menu, buff slice is Rs. 650, and it is one of the best things to cook in a chilli broth — thin enough to be done in seconds, firm enough not to disintegrate.
For anyone missing beef
If you have arrived from somewhere beef is standard, buff is the closest thing you will get, and in these particular dishes you may not miss it at all. Our buff section runs to six dishes on the menu.
