Pokhara is a bustling tourist hub a quick thirty minute flight (or extremely long bus ride) away from Kathmandu. There are too many restaurants in this city to count, but I put together this list of my favorite restaurants that I tried in my two weeks in Pokhara.
My husband and I were supposed to trek the Annapurna Circuit but I got sick so we spent more time in Pokhara than originally planned. However disappointed we were that our trek didn’t work out, we really enjoyed getting to explore the multitude of restaurants in Pokhara and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Table of Contents
Best Restaurants for Dal Bhat & Nepalese Food
Pokhara Thakali Kitchen
Location: Google Maps
The dal baht here is spicier than most but everything tastes amazing and they are wonderful about offering refills. We ate at Pokhara Thakali Kitchen a few times and there were always locals eating there too. This was my husbands favorite dal baht in Pokhara. While I really liked it, I’m embarrassed to admit I would prefer a little less spice. We paid 1050 rupees ($8) for two dal bhats and a cup of tea.
Yarsa The Thakali Kitchen
Location: Google Maps
Yarsa is a large restaurant right on Lakeside Rd. When we went there weren’t many people there, but I really liked their vegetable thali set. They were generous with refills on everything and it had a good spice level for me. We paid 1050 rupees ($8) for two dal bhats, a tea, and a coke.
Nepali Kitchen
Location: Google Maps
The dal baht here was good, but I liked the first two mentioned here slightly more. The dal itself was different than most others we’ve tried. It was brown instead of green and tasted more like black beans than lentils. Overall the meal was less spicy than others but still had good flavor, I especially like the curry vegetables. The restaurant was affordable and there were both locals and tourists eating there. We paid 820 rupees ($6) for two dal bhats, a coke, and a small pot of tea.
BB Fast Food Restaurant
Location: Google Maps
This restaurant was close to our hostel so we went a few times for lunch. We did not try their dal bhat, but we liked the chow mein, fried rice, biryani and momos. The prices are great because it’s a few blocks off Lakeside Rd. They have a full menu of Indian food as well as the Nepali food. We paid 800 rupees ($6) for egg fried rice, chicken chow mein, veggie momos, and two drinks.
Other Asian Cuisines
Marwadi Restaurant - Indian
Location: This restaurant isn’t on google maps for some reason, but it’s located on the corner of Lakeside Rd and Street 5
This was the restaurant I visited the most often in Pokhara. Party because it was really close to our hostel but mostly because it was so delicious. It is a vegetarian restaurant so they have many veggie, chickpea, lentil and paneer curries. They also do Indian thali sets (bottom photo.) During dinner hours they have someone making naan and roti in a traditional oven right in the dining room. We liked the food so much it even made my Top 3 Meals of the month in November!
Aozora Japanese Restaurant - Japanese
Facebook: Aozora FB Page
I ordered the chashu ramen and chicken gyoza and I loved both! Andrew had a rice and egg dish and a cucumber salad and he enjoyed them as well. I was surprised by how good the chashu was and by how much was in the ramen. I feel like normally I get two pieces of pork in ramen, but this had six pieces! The food here really was above my expectations and I definitely recommend a visit to Aozora. We paid 1660 rupees ($13) for two entrees and two appitizers.
Natssul Korean Restaurant - Korean
Website: Natssul
This Korean restaurant was one of our favorite meals in Pokhara! I had the kimchi soup with pork and tofu and Andrew had the chicken bibimbap. Both were excellent and served with five banchan that were wonderful as well. The meal was our priciest in Pokhara, we spent 1800 rupees for the two entrees and a coke. Compared to US and other Western prices though, this was still a bargain at around $14 USD.
Casual Cafes & Lunch Spots
Grabbit
Location: Google Maps
I got a veggie and paneer kathi wrap, french fries, and a cup of tea on my first visit, and on my second I tried the chicken crunchy burger and the Grabbit aloo fries. The wrap and sandwiches are on the smaller side, but they were both tasty and really affordable so I still enjoyed this place. It is a great spot for lunch. They have coffee as well but I didn’t try it. We paid 700 rupees ($5) for a kathi wrap, a sandwich, and an order of fries.
Kissaten The Cafe Bakery
Location: Google Maps
Kissaten is a cute cafe with a large menu of coffees and teas and good wifi. I did not enjoy my matcha latte I ordered and I haven’t tried the coffee so I can’t comment on that. I did try the chicken grilled cheese that came with fruit and fries for lunch and it was quite good. They also have a Western breakfast menu that looked really good that I didn’t have the chance to try. We paid 1000 rupees ($7.50) for a matcha latte, iced tea, grilled cheese, and a piece of banana bread.
Western Food
Best Godfathers Pizzeria
Location: Google Maps
This pizza restaurant has a casual bar type atmosphere with a pool table. While it definitely doesn’t taste like typical American or European pizza, it was a decent meal and they have many different toppings to chose from. We paid 1600 rupees ($12) for two cokes and two veggie pizzas.
Frituur #1
Facebook: Frituur No 1 FB Page
I was craving some non Asian food and stumbled upon this cute Belgian restaurant. Andrew and I both had a veggie burger and fries and they were both delicious. The veggie burger had two separate patties on it, which I really enjoyed! The top one was made out of carrots and other veggies and the bottom patty was made of rice and beans. I can’t say how the meat burgers are, but if they are similar in quality to the veggie burger and fries, I’m sure they’re delicious. We paid 1100 rupees ($8.50) for two veggie burgers, two fries, and two ketchups.
More Pizza and Pasta Options
Surprisingly we didn’t get too tired of dal baht or other Asian food so we didn’t sample more Western food. If you are looking for more Western options though, both Caffe Concerto and Med 5 have good reviews on Google. They are both located on Lakeside Rd and people that we talked to from our hostel enjoyed them.
Let me know if you have any questions about Pokhara in the comments below.
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