The best restaurants Nepal

This is one of Thamel's most popular restaurants, and it's Thai. Its assets: a green, shady terrace, attentive service and authentic, high-quality Siamese cuisine. Try the Kaeng Phed Kai or Kiao (green or red curry), pad thai and soups such as a subtle Tom Yum with coconut milk, lemongrass and chili pepper. Whole steamed fish served under cloches is also delicious. A place that will delight vegetarians, as the menu features 100% green Thai specialties. A place to try.

Are you a meat lover in the mood for the best steak in Kathmandu after a long trek? Then this elegant address in Thamel is the place for you. And not just any steak: tender, lean ostrich steak, available in a handful of dishes. The meat is top-quality and imported from Australia. For green lovers, soups, salads and vegetarian dishes are served alongside burgers. We love the smiling welcome, the floor tables with their cushions raised on a platform and the board games available.

In season, the place is packed and, without a reservation, you often have to wait to be allocated a table in this pizzeria with its stylish decor. Retro Italian advertising posters, a brick wall and convivial wooden tables invite you to sit on colorful stools. Thin-crust pizzas are crisp and the ice creams artisanal, just like in Italy. Tiramisu is a star of the menu, while pastas, salads and antipasti are a change from Himalayan dishes. Some evenings, live bands perform.

It's easy to spot with its green bicycle at the entrance. Definitely the place to go for a crêpe bretonne or a raclette. Hari knows France well, having visited on several occasions, and also has another address in Kathmandu. The dishes are hearty, prepared in front of you with fresh produce. Special mention for the buckwheat pancakes, ratatouille, croque-monsieur (with homemade béchamel!), and among the cocktails, the pastis! All served by a smiling team. On the^1st floor, a cosy terrace room.

Mathilde, a Frenchwoman based in Patan, combines French savoir-faire and Nepalese gastronomy in a menu of gourmet dishes to share. Her à la carte Nepalese recipes from different regions of the country (Tharu, Thakali, Newa, etc.) have been drawn from family kitchens, sherpa kitchens and the kitchens of rural dwellers. The dishes are sometimes unusual, but always delicious, made from local produce. The setting reflects the dishes, decorated with great taste and character.

In a large modern veranda, there is an atypical restaurant in Kathmandu where one takes time to relax, breathe and enjoy absolutely delicious meat. As Nina's father is Nepal's biggest meat importer, you can throw yourself on burgers and other divine pieces with your eyes closed. Vegetarians are not forgotten, however, and some tasty suggestions are reserved for them. An address that does good in return for trekking and that is worth the effort despite its location a little far from Thamel.

Don't look for an entrance visible from the street, you'll have to climb to the second floor of a Thamel building to find this small local address frequented by regulars. You'll be seated around small tables set up with kitsch oilcloths. The cuisine is vegetarian and vegan, with local specialties, at very low prices and efficient service. We love the flavors of the dishes here, absolutely authentic and assertive. A real favorite.

This is the small, family-run restaurant to try out in Bandipur. Its entrance is not hard to find on the village's main square, although it is discreet. Once past the very low doorway of this traditional house, you'll discover the kitchen straight away! Then there are a few tables on the terrace, and a staircase leading to the other tables, also on the terrace, with a view of the forest below. We loved the home-cooked dishes, and recommend you make yourself a small assortment of veg and non-veg snacks and share a local Kanak set(dal bhat).

A little piece of Japan in the middle of Patan. This friendly address, with its small dining room, concocts Japanese specialties in front of you in an open kitchen, and frankly has no reason to be ashamed of Tokyo's street food scene. Fresh cuisine, efficiently prepared. We loved the ramen, the house specialty, as well as the teryaki, suhsis, bento box and other lesser-known dishes, such as fried chicken karaage, that we don't often get to taste with such authenticity in Europe.

Long-established, this is one of Thamel's best-known addresses, famous for its Indian specialties and especially its tandooris prepared in a traditional oven, especially the herb-marinated chicken, which retains all its tenderness (you can adjust your chilli level). Naans and thalis are also delicious. For a more authentic meal, take a seat on the cushions around a candlelit coffee table indoors, or in the pleasantly romantic, quiet garden. Very hearty portions.

An institution in Pokhara, Caffe Concerto is a pizzeria and jazz bar that marries pizza and live music to perfection. This two-level restaurant has a pleasant setting. The cuisine is mainly Italian: pizzas made just like in Italy, with thin, crispy dough, but also pastas, salads, ice creams... There's always music playing in the background, but it's at dinnertime that the evening comes to life when the musicians take their places, making it an excellent place to enjoy a glass of wine.

Tired of Nepalese, Asian and Western cuisine? Here's a resto that's a little hippy, a little bobo and a little touristy, serving delicious organic, vegan and vegetarian Levantine cuisine. In the heart of Thamel, on several floors, you can enjoy delicious small dishes (humus, shakshuka, bowls, falafels or antipasti platters) in a colorful, bohemian oriental decor. Sitting cross-legged on thick cushions in front of large low wooden tables, you can dine or sip a cocktail under the subdued glow of a candle. Also an address in Pokhara.

In the heart of Thamel, this completely renovated establishment is a mecca for Kathmandu's trendy youth. The chef offers Nepalese, Indian and Chinese specialities as well as some continental dishes (pizza, fish & chips). It is said that the crispy chicken momos are among the best in the neighborhood. The breakfast is copious. Service smiling and considerate, TV screens galore without being noisy, and small peaceful and colorful courtyard. In short a nice and rather quiet place where it is good to take a break.

This café overlooks Durbar Square and even has a few small tables on the terrace where you can relax and watch the activity around. Inside, there is a "neighbourhood café" charm and, if you avoid the crowds of tourists, you can lean down at the counter and find a Nepalese willing to give you some good tips on the area. Remember that you will pay here more for the view and the moment than for the quality of the menu or the quality of the café, although it is not undrinkable.

It's hard to find a nice restaurant in the vicinity of the Pashupatinah temple, close to the airport and drowned in a dense suburb of Kathmandu. JAR for Just Another Restaurant is a relaxing bubble in the area, ideal for a delicious lunch break. The restaurant opens onto its garden through large bay windows. The bar is ultra-modern and plays on pop art codes. The menu offers salads, burgers, wraps... and some very good Nepalese dishes (momos in particular), although beware: some dishes are very spicy!

A small, very local café where it's good to settle down on pretty wooden tables, in a well-decorated place adorned with green plants, pretty black-and-white photos of Nepalese portraits and a shelf with old cameras. A pleasantly arty setting frequented by young hipsters. It serves excellent coffees, a delicious coconut chocolate frappé, homemade lemonades, tasty Nepalese dishes such as keema noodles and momos, and excellent burgers. Also sandwiches to take away for a picnic.

Pokhara's Roadhouse Café is very different from Kathmandu's in Thamel. From this lively Lakeside street along the lake, you can't miss the bar's remarkable design, with its exposed stone wall. Inside, under a high-ceilinged hall, a successful indus style with convivial tables, a cinderblock counter (!) and brick walls, the setting is superb. The menu features pasta, lasagne, sandwiches, burgers and pizzas, all hearty and tasty. This is a busy restaurant (with tourists), so reservations are recommended.

A fun, trendy place to take a break and eat well in an arty atmosphere. Shantiko Kitchen serves organic coffee from Kar.Ma Coffee (whose brand exists in Kathmandu, among other places), proof of the quality of its offer, and proposes only vegan and vegetarian dishes, with a lot of creativity. Why not try a butter masala paneer - be careful, it stings! or a homemade curry? The panelling on the ceiling and the graffiti mural of the tiger attract a rather urban and young crowd, as do the beautifully presented plates.

This restaurant with a French name is an unpretentious but very popular address in Bodnath, which also has a hotel. The setting has a lot to do with it: surrounded by greenery, the terrace is magnificent and romantic, especially in the evening when it's lit up with loupiotes. We love the small plates of gourmet snacks, veg and non-veg, and the dishes are always well prepared, tasty and diligently prepared, even if it's an extended menu (Nepalese, Indian, continental, burger, sandwiches, etc.), which is the classic offering of Kathmandu's restaurants.

This small restaurant serving salads, green cuisine and healthy dishes is located in the heart of Thamel, on the^3rd floor of a small shopping center invisible from the street. A refreshing little green haven with floor-to-ceiling green plants, and cool tables outside but in the shade on a covered terrace. The Forest salad (kale, lettuce, broccoli, avocado, grapes, pear, spinach, red onion and a lemon sauce with cranberries, sesame and sunflower seeds) is delicious, as are the small sesame chicken snacks and homemade lemonade.