Nepal’s most progressive fine diner opens in Canberra (we’re as shocked as you…)

Posted on 5 June, 2026

Canberra’s dining scene can sometimes throw up complete surprises.

Exhibit A: Tusa is a fine dining restaurant operating from the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal, which has drawn the attention of the world’s top food writers – from the New York Times to Conde Nast Traveller.

It is a restaurant that elevates the biodiversity of Nepal and its unique take on spice, centuries-old fermentation, and presents seven-course degustations in a new and progressive way.

And now, Tusa has arrived in Canberra!

Taking over the space formerly housing Vincent in Barton (later becoming Mukbar) Tusa has embarked on a soft launch this week to deliver “nouveau” Nepalese cuisine in a city that embraces the joys of multicultural eating.

Chef Parashuram Pathak, co-founder of Tusa, grew up in Nepal and then set about training and cooking in the finest restaurants in the world. In 2008, he became Sous Chef to Dominique Crenn at Luce San Francisco, who would later be named Best Female Chef in the world.

He became the first Nepalese chef to work in the kitchen of famed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. He worked around the Middle East before coming to Australia in 2011, where he became executive chef for the Intercontinental Hotel Group.

Still, Parashuram had a dream of elevating the rich history of cuisine in Nepal, and in 2024, alongside two similarly-minded Nepalese chefs from the Merivale Group – Sagar Shrestha and Rupesh Bohara – realised that dream by opening Tusa. Located in a beautiful traditional red-brick house in the UNESCO-listed city of Bhaktapur within the Kathmandu Valley, Tusa last month received a rave review from Conde Naste Traveller.

“Theirs is a kitchen where staple dishes like rice and goat curry (Khasi ko Masu) not only take guests around the nation through Tusa’s interpretation – the rice meant to accompany the goat leg replaced by proso millet, unique to far western Nepal, cooked with the honey-notes of saffron from Dolpa and meaty morel mushrooms foraged across Jumla’s forests – but are also served with an infectious sense of discovery,” says the magazine.

The New York Times last year declared Tusa was “Kathmandu’s most ambitious restaurant,” praising the collective international experience and philosophy of the three owners as well as their technique of cooking over an open flame.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by PSR (@tusa_nepal)

Parashuram said it made sense to open an Australian offshoot of the restaurant, given the experience of the three founding chefs in Australia, noting the encouragement of recently retired Australian ambassador Felicity Volk, who is a huge fan of the Nepalese restaurant and who has encouraged Canberra’s diplomatic and Parliamentary community to go experience it for themselves.

“We want to bring our food to Australia, and Canberra seemed a good spot, particularly this setting in Barton,” says Parashuram.

He said the restaurant was sourcing many of its specialty ingredients (such as jaggery and dry spices) from Nepal, but also praised the quality of Australian meat, seafood, fruit and vegetables which allows the team to continue the tradition of Tusa’s reverence for fresh ingredients and their provenance.

While Tusa in Nepal presents ingredients such as wild morel mushrooms harvested from the remote Humla Region, Dale Chuk (sea buckthorn), wild freshwater eel, Yak dairy products, Mustang Apple, and Jumla Marsi Rice, in Canberra, Parashuram and Sagar are sourcing such out-of-the-way ingredients as stinging nettle and linseed and substituting buckwheat for flour.

“We also embrace the rich Australian soil and its ingredients such as wild hibiscus (Rosella), pristine seafoods which can substitute the freshwater river fishes which are widely found in Nepal, and of course, Australia’s globally renowned beef, lamb and pork.”

The kitchen team will split their time between the two restaurants in Nepal and Canberra while also quarantining time to travel throughout Nepal and explore their country for new ideas and ways to bring more of their unique recipes to the table.

“We have so many ideas; I want to ensure diners enjoy a meal that shows the Nepalese cuisine in a completely different light.”

Certainly, the menu at Tusa Canberra is a world away from the more conventional Nepalese restaurants we have here, which tend to serve curries, rice and momos. For instance, Tusa’s version of beef tartare is Beef Kachila and Toasted Rice Cracker, presenting a quenelle of marinated lean beef marinated in herbs and spice.

The Chicken Saag is presented as a beautifully moist chicken steak, marinated overnight, sous-vided, and served with mustard greens two ways (puréed and sautéed). Fermented daikon is added for crunch and contrast.

The barramundi is similarly marinated overnight for depth of flavour and presented on a bed of tomato-based broth with mustard and dill. The addition of black-eyed peas adds texture and nuttiness, and the fish is perfectly tender.

For dessert, we enjoy a stinging nettle cake, transformed into prettiness by French-inspired sponge layers and infused with Rosella jam and mascarpone.

While the dishes are beautifully presented, unconventional, and elevate the dining experience, we note the prices are substantially below our usual fine-dining expectations. Mains are all below $30, entrées are well below $20 and desserts are $14.

The gentle warmth of the food and dark embrace of this much-loved location make Tusa a perfect place to enjoy winter dining (which thankfully is not as cold as Everest…)