What, Where and All That I Ate in Nepal
Flavours of Travel: While there are many facets to my travel stories, I relish exploring, eating and learning about the local food. In my belief, every dish has a story. I may not be able to decipher it every time but indulging in food is my favourite way of adding taste to my travels. It holds a special importance in my journeys. Be it anywhere in the world, I eat thrice a day at least and I am always looking forward to something interesting for every meal. Trust me, it takes a lot of patience to hold on and take pictures before eating. I know I need to watch my weight but a good meal always translates into a good day for me.
Also, at some places, it is not very easy to find your comfort food, especially when you have restricted preferences. (Not me though) In that sense, I must say I found Nepal extremely comfortable even for those who were vegetarians. Since Nepal has more than 100 tribes, they have different styles of cooking. Overall, I can conclude that Nepalese use less of spices but are always up for variety on the platter. And I absolutely love them for promoting Daal Bhaat-24 hours power. This combination of Daal–Bhaat-Tarkaari! (Lentils +Rice + Vegetables) is an accomplished meal.
Read – https://www.manjulikapramod.com/2017/06/20/11-days-i-indulged-in-naturally-nepal/
DAY 1
Even before I had boarded my flight to Kathmandu, I knew what would be my first meal in Nepal. My friends had already told that one cannot miss the momos there. And now, I can vouch for them. The moment I entered Kantipur Temple House, my hotel for the first night in the capital, I ordered a plate of chicken momos. I didn’t rest until I ate it all.
DAY 2
I forgot to click a picture of the breakfast that I had at the Kantipur Temple House. It was a decent spread. And I must mention that they did their best to make salted buttermilk for me but they couldn’t because they tried making it with sweet yoghurt. However, the eggs, tea, pancakes and jams were great. As per the itinerary, on day 2, it was already time to travel to Panauti. I had both lunch and dinner at the homestay where my stay and food arrangements were made. The lady owner and her daughter prepared meals for us.
In the afternoon, we ate a full Nepali style meal. For the dinner, we chose to go for snacks. My friend and I asked the lady to make some momos for us. She was quick to oblige. Since these were home-made, we didn’t have to keep a tab on how many we ate. I also tried my hand at adding the filling to the dough and giving it shape before steaming some of them. We ended the day on a sweet note by indulging in Lakhamari, a sweet prepared by the Newari community of Nepal.
DAY 3
From Panauti, our troupe travelled to the famous jungles of Chitwan. There was lots of food but in the lap of nature. And thus, it tasted all the more fresh and delicious.
Nepali/Nepalese Spinach, Cauliflower, Lentil and Rice
DAY 4
DAY 5
From Chitwan, we travelled to Lumbini. There, we were hosted by Buddha Maya Hotel. It was a comfortable stay, the room was spacious and the food served at the restaurant was really good. I ate both lunch and dinner at the restaurant but somehow, I missed clicking pictures. This is the picture that I clicked at the breakfast table on the next day when we were all set to leave for Pokhara.
DAY 6
Before it turned out to be an eventful day at Pokhara, I got some good clicks of local food on the way too! As per the guide, we were not sure of finding a decent restaurant on the way, thus Buddha Maya hotel had packed some eggs, fruits, sandwiches and cakes for us before we hit the road. However, when we passed through a village and took a loo break, we did snack in between. Some of the nearby shops and especially the quick bites got my attention immediately. A vegan friend bought some lentil pakoras while I tasted some samosas and the Sel roti. Others bought chips for munching.
The Lentil cutlets or pakoras. They were yum!
Sel Roti is a Nepali traditional homemade, sweet, ring-shaped rice bread/doughnut
The evening in Pokhara was well-spent in partying and having fun. The dinner and drinks were hosted by Nepal Tourism Board.
DAY 7
The breakfast buffet at my hotel, Temple Tree Resort & Spa, Pokhara was a good spread. I indulged well and had my complete morning meal before leaving for the International Mountain Museum to celebrate the Mount Everest Day with the team of bloggers and travel agents from around the world.
The lunch was arranged at the Gorkha Village Restaurant inside the Museum. It was a buffet which had the usual Nepalese food which consists of lentils, rice, chicken, veggies, noodles and dessert.
STREET FOOD TRAIL IN POKHARA
In the evening, we had all the time to ourselves and some of us decided to explore the street food in Pokhara. In this evening walk, I was joined by my 3 blogger friends from Delhi. We all love exploring food and they happily posed for me too.
Abhinav from A Soul window, Swati from Buoyant feet and Dipanshu from Dunia Dekho.
This Wai Wai bhel chat was a spicy treat, absolutely perfectly made for our Indian taste buds. I really loved the way the lady made it from a fresh packet of Wai Wai, mixed it with other condiments and served us in the same packet after opening it. I must mention that everything about her small, ready-to-move setup was absolutely hygienic.
Do you get golgappas in Nepal? Yes, you do!! The water along with it was very spicy.
If you wish to eat some corn by the Fewa lake, you have that option right away.
Barbeque by the lake!
DAY 8
We flew from Pokhara to the capital city. Back to Kathmandu and back to Kantipur Temple House, I ordered some Pad Thai during the lunch. In the evening, we went for an elaborate Nepalese setting at Bhoj Griha. It was time for popcorns, momos, roksi (local drink in Nepal) and lentils-rice-veggies-chicken.
DAy 9
It was a well spent day at Bhaktapur. After falling in love with its beautiful architecture, we had our lunch at Sweet Home Bhaktapur. It is conveniently located adjacent to the famous Durbar Square.
DAY 10
And at last, we know that if you wish to eat Pakoras, you can head to Thamel in Kathmandu.
DAY 11 and DAY 12
Day 11 and Day 12 was all about International Travel Bloggers and Media Conference and Himalayan Travel Mart. And I gave up on clicking pictures due to the long queues at the buffet. But I am sure the pictures above give you a fair idea that I had a great time in Nepal and I indulged in many flavours. Thank you, Nepal Tourism Board and Nepal Airlines for making it possible for me.
Nepal has lots to eat and explore!
Happy Travelling!
Good thing I just had my dinner of this post would have made me salivate. I haven’t been to Nepal as an adult and for some reason I never though of it in terms of food, but it’s clear to see that even though there are influences from all its neighbors in what they cook, they do have some unique preparations that look and sound delicious. Happy to see you try street-food as well.
It looks like you ate really well in Nepal! I’ve not heard of many of these dishes, but those momos look interesting! Funny to see a German bakery there, who doesn’t love cinnamon buns!
That looks like a wonderful food tour. I love Nepali food, especially kothe momos and thakali. From these pics, it is evident that the food choices were unlimited. If I were to pick any two, I would go with the samosas and lakhamari. Cheers!!
I agree with you 100% – sampling the local cuisine is an amazing way to add a level of depth to your travels. Sure, it’s nice to have a familiar meal every now and then, but there’s just so much yumminess out there to sample! Looks like you were able to try a whole host of items!!
You had a nice yummy trip of Nepal and I bet after returning you must have put on some weight. Those Wai Wai bhel looks innovative and interesting. I will also try Pad Thai Noodles. Bhojan Griha where we can watch dance with food is lovely place.
Wow, soo much food! I think potentially my favourite dish there would be the BBQ skewers! However a close second would be the bread doughnuts!
You certainly ate and enjoyed the local Nepalese food! The momos seem to be popular there and they look delicious. I’d love to try the semolina cake!
Now my mouth is watering. I love trying out local food wherever I go too. Alot of the food here looks similar to Indian food and the momos remind me of the Chinese dumplings. I’d love to try out the bread doughnuts though.