The best restaurants Nepal

This is Kathmandu's refined Japanese restaurant, located in the chic Lazimpat district of the Ambassador Hotel. The sushi bar in particular is stocked with ultra-fresh fish cut into delightful makis, nigiris, sashimis, rolls and more. But there are other Japanese specialties on the menu that would be a shame to miss. Baked fish, tempura, teppan yaki (a kind of Japanese plancha) and many other delicious and authentic dishes. The chefs officiate from behind their open kitchen in a sober Japanese setting.

In the trendy Jhamsikhel district, Annamaya is known only to insiders, because it's so discreet. Located on the top floor of a building, the place is illuminated by bay windows opening onto its large terrace. From breakfast to afternoon tea, you can enjoy healthy Nepalese-style dishes and sophisticated fruit juices. Here, you can sample creative cuisine inspired by distinctive local flavors integrated into continental dishes, such as bowls of assorted cooked vegetables and sesame chicken.

Located near Swotha Square, in the center of old Patan, this small restaurant is tucked away in a quiet cul-de-sac, and even has tables on the terrace in a small back garden. No Nepalese specialities here, but tasty continental breakfasts and dishes, for those who get bored of local gastronomy. Particularly at breakfast, service is fast and impeccable. At lunchtime, the organic salad with goat's cheese, walnuts, olives and sun-dried tomatoes is particularly light. Sandwiches are a hearty option.

Fed up with Nepalese, Western and Chinese Thamel dishes? Here is a Japanese restaurant that will be appreciated by your wallet for its very reasonable prices and will delight your taste buds with exquisite preparations. The raw fish will of course have been frozen and with the power cuts in Kathmandu, you may not take the risk of enjoying the salmon and tuna sushi, makis and nigiris. Mackerel, on the other hand, is fresh. As for the soups, gyoza and other bentos, it's divine! We recommend.

Tired of eating Nepalese or Indian food? Take a break for an evening and climb the steps of this small restaurant, which offers a magnificent view of the stupa from its rooftop terrace tables, eye-to-eye with the stupa. It serves Spanish and Tex-Mex specialities. On the menu: tapas, Andalusian gazpacho, Mexican tacos, paella, as well as Iberian-style spinach momos... All accompanied by a glass of sangria or Rioja. Also great for a drink, given the wine and cocktail list.

This restaurant is the best option around Durbar Square for enjoying the view while lunching or dining on decent plates of Nepalese or Indian cuisine. Its main attraction is its sheltered rooftop, overlooking the temples and the bustle of the square. It's frequented by tourists and Nepalese alike, which is a good sign. The welcome is smiling, the service efficient, and the dishes hearty and tasty. You can round off your meal with a ginger-lemon-honey tea or a good espresso.

It's an institution in Pokhara, run by the Lama family. Moondance is an organic and natural restaurant, with a small farm just outside Pokhara that supplies part of the food for the kitchen. The layout and decoration of the restaurant, which has around forty tables, are very pleasant: the interior, made entirely of wood, is warm and inviting, inviting you to relax over a drink or a meal. The cuisine is based on organic produce, and includes Asian dishes, local fish and fine Indian fare.

Attention vegetarians and vegans! Here's an address with you in mind. In this restaurant, whose walls are decorated with frescoes drawn in a "hype" style, you can enjoy specialties from all over the world: Asian, Himalayan, Italian, Oriental and even Turkish. Meals are served seated on cushions and around low tables. The atmosphere is relaxed and the service meticulous. A fashionable place where jam sessions are sometimes organized, where you won't necessarily come across many Nepalese (or at least only the golden youth).

This touristy hippie chic resto with delicious organic, vegan and vegetarian Levantine cuisine, which exists in Kathmandu, has opened a table here at Lakeside, overlooking the lake. Guests come to enjoy delicious small dishes with spicy flavors: humus, falafels, shakshuka, bowls or antipasti plates, in a colorful, bohemian oriental decor. Large psychedelic frescoes adorn the walls. Sitting cross-legged on thick cushions in front of large wooden coffee tables, you dine in the evening under the subdued glow of a candle.

Fresh Element is an elegant restaurant set in a courtyard and rooftop immersed in the greenery. The impression of freshness is reflected in the dishes. Classic dishes include breakfasts, Nepalese and Indian dishes, pizzas, as well as a menu of Chinese specialties and grilled meats on a lava stone. The Longest Bar adjoining the restaurant is ideal for sipping a creative cocktail or a fine glass of wine.

Housed in the beautifully renovated traditional Peackock Guesthouse, overlooking Dattatraya Square, this charming restaurant is Bakhtapur's finest dining experience. In addition to the usual dishes, there are three fixed-price formulas: a Nepalese formula, a continental formula and a Chinese formula (really delicious dishes). Prices are appropriate to the location, i.e. a little high. The architecture of this restaurant puts you in the local mood: low ceilings, carved wooden pillars and a very pleasant patio for lunch.

Of all the tourist rooftops with terraces, this is one of the nicest. The food is decent, without being sensational. But the prices are reasonable, the choice of dishes relatively wide, and the welcome friendly. An ideal place to relax, have a drink or a snack before or after visiting the old city center, especially since its huge terrace overlooks the whole of Durbar Square. We're going for the view, and to admire the Maju Dega temple, destroyed by the 2015 earthquake and rebuilt in 2018.

There is a plethora of Southeast Asian restaurants in Kathmandu and Patan, and this one is an excellent address. For a change from Himalayan specialties, head for Vietnam. We love the fresh spring rolls, the succulent glass noodles (made from mung bean flour), the crispy meats and, of course, the pho soups, drizzled with vegetables, chosen from a handful of appetizing suggestions. The Vietnamese in the kitchen here are truly gifted at delivering tasty, authentic cuisine, served in a pretty garden.

Situated behind the military hospital, at the beginning of the avenue leading to Swayambhunath hill from Thamel, this burger joint is well placed in an area with many pretty bakeries and cafés. It's almost invisible from the street, located upstairs. The setting is super-cosy and modern, with Scandinavian design, graphic wallpaper and pretty wooden tables. An outdoor balcony allows you to eat leaning out facing the street. The burgers here are delicious - the bar is set high, as they're everywhere - and inexpensive.

Naga cuisine comes from northeast India. This family-run restaurant serves a wide range of delicious dishes from this region, particularly dishes based on beef or smoked pork, but also a thali, and a local menu of momos, soups, sandwiches and more. We recommend the Naga cuisine, of course, but all the dishes are delicious and full of character. To make matters worse, the setting is very pleasant on Lakeside. The decor is stylish, especially in the evenings, when the atmosphere is more intimate with subdued lighting.

Located in the Dilli Bazaar district, a long way from the touristy Thamel area, this Nepalese restaurant is housed in a magnificent 150-year-old stone building with multiple rooms, some of which are suitable for groups. You'll be spoilt for choice: everything is delicious, and the Newar speciality menu includes snacks, dals and maseura tarkari. Ingredients are sourced from the restaurant's organic farm, which organizes folklore evenings with dances and has a ceramics store. Don't miss the Kamasutra bar with its erotic engravings.

Here's an address like you'd find in London, Paris or Berlin, made in Nepal. In this beautifully decorated yellow house with its jacaranda-scented garden, a farm-to-table restaurant servesgreen, healthy, organic, locavore cuisine that's as inventive and tasty as its cocktails and cold-pressed juices. The dishes are appetizingly presented. Every Sunday morning, the restaurant organizes a brunch with a farmers' market featuring local and designer products, as well as evening events with DJ sets, in the trendy atmosphere of a cosmopolitan capital.

Here's an excellent address (which also exists in Kathmandu) for a vitamin-packed breakfast, a good cup of coffee, lunch or dinner on pleasant cushioned benches. Fresh fruit juices are particularly invigorating and detoxifying, like the Beet Redeem (apple, carrot, celery, beet and cucumber). Salads are composed with beautiful ingredients, like the organic house salad of mixed leaf mesclun, apple, pomegranate, walnuts, sesame and sweet-and-sour dressing. We also recommend the chicken supreme and the grilled fish.

A Belgian had to open a real French fry shop in Pokhara to prepare the best fries in town. The burgers are just as good, the meat juicy and the bread golden, as are the famous Belgian croquettes. You can wash it down with a good Belgian beer (Duval and Chimay in particular) or Himalayan Red, a good local draught beer. It also offers roast chicken to take away, making for a great picnic on the lakeshore. You can also eat on site, on the pleasant little outdoor terrace.

Here's a small, friendly local café with an elaborate décor, exposed beams and walls decorated with paintings by Nepalese artists. It serves good coffee at any time of day, as well as breakfasts and vitamin-packed fruit and muesli bowls in the morning, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas at lunchtime and in the evening... An unpretentious place to take a break in Sauraha. Good draught beers and well-balanced cocktails are also served. Attractive terrace with thick varnished wooden planks.

This is the place to go for a healthy snack, coffee or juice. A small place on Lakeside with a few wooden tables and a takeaway counter. We loved the delicious shakshuka and cold-pressed juices like the Pink Panda (beet, pear, carrot, lemongrass, apple, ginger). The sandwiches and bowls (acaï, matcha, curcuma...) are also very tasty. They can be ordered for a lakeside picnic. The Juicery Cafe has two counters on the north and south shores of Lakeside.

This is the best spot close to Swayambhunath for lunch, dinner, coffee or a drink, while contemplating the sacred monkey mountain just ahead. The terrace is superb, illuminated at night by a ceiling of romantic loupiotes. The interior of the café-restaurant is super hip, with an indus-style decor, large volumes behind luminous bay windows and an XXL divinity painting. The à la carte menu includes continental breakfasts, pizzas, burgers, salads, fruit juices... all classics appreciated by the locals.

Here's an excellent address (which also exists in Pokhara) for a vitamin-packed breakfast, a good cup of coffee, lunch or a healthy meal in a pleasant little garden. The fresh fruit juices are particularly invigorating and detoxifying, like the Beet Redeem (apple, carrot, celery, beet and cucumber). Salads are composed with beautiful ingredients, like the organic house salad of mixed leaf mesclun, apple, pomegranate, walnut, sesame and sweet and sour dressing. We also recommend the burgers and grilled meats.

Greasy Spoon is a small, inexpensive restaurant specializing in fried foods. An unpretentious place, where you don't have to eat so much grease, and where the dishes are ultra-fresh. We especially appreciate the outdoor terrace upstairs and the small acoustic concerts every Friday. We recommend sharing small veg and non-veg starters, particularly paneer (Indian cheese) tikka, crispy spiced corn, a choila dish (spicy Nepalese grilled beef) or other specialties.

It's a tiny address you're likely to pass without even noticing. A sort of corridor on the immediate outskirts of the Bodnath stupa, it opened recently and is therefore quite modern. Here you can sample the best dim sum in the area, which the Nepalese call momos, but which here is Chinese. Other pre-prepared dishes in fast-food lunch mode are also on offer, either eat-in or take-away. A meal costs next to nothing, it's fresh, delicious and the Chinese dishes are a change from the local specialties.

Kutumba is Hotel Heritage's gourmet fusion restaurant, with a menu open to authentic Nepalese and Newari cuisine. Dishes are prepared using fresh produce from local Bhaktapur farms. Inside, the large, somewhat solemn, dark room with its pretty crockery lends itself more to dinners, while the large garden and courtyard are better suited to lunches in the shade or informal dinners. The quality of service and the friendliness of both staff and cooks add to the charm of the place.

This cool spot is located just above Bhaktapur's potters' square. Take a table by the windows to enjoy the view, or sit outright on the rootfop terrace. The setting is welcoming and the decor well thought-out, the ceramic crockery in which the dishes and drinks are served making sense with the spectacle on the square below. Plenty of teas a la carte, and the usual palette of well-cooked Nepalese dishes: breakfast, veg and non-veg snacks, thalis, curries, momos, chowmeins...

Formerly the Saturday Café, this small establishment taken over by the Himalayan Java Coffee brand, has nothing in common with the other franchisees. To get there, you have to go up the first floor and pass in front of the kitchens from which a sweet smell of chocolate emanates. In addition to its pretty terrace with a breathtaking view of the stupa, one comes here for the bookstore located on the first floor, to enjoy a good book, while tasting one of their tasty pastries (brownies, carrot cakes, cookies, shortbread ...). Nice roof-top too.

The address is well-established and long-established, and for good reason: it's the oldest restaurant in Sauraha. The tables are laid out in the garden, a pleasant, calm setting with an original, colorful decor. The friendly, smiling staff help to create the restaurant's special atmosphere. The waiter, wearing a topi, proposes the menu, which includes mainly Indian dishes: they are tasty. For the record, the massala takeer is a delight... All the elements are there for you to enjoy a pleasant evening.

We've fallen in love with this Korean restaurant in the heart of Lakeside, which serves the finest cuisine typical of the land of the morning calm. The restaurant operates outdoors. By candlelight, on a cast-iron grill placed on the table, you'll be able to taste delicious dishes cooked on the barbecue emblematic of this gastronomy, accompanied by pickles, small portions of spicy, sweet or sour vegetables... The bibimbap and kimshis (for those who like them) are also delicious. Attentive service, convenient wifi.

The best momos in Pokhara (that's what the sign at the entrance proudly proclaims)! Small shop run by a nice couple of Tibetans, where only four tables have been set up. One does not come here for a western atmosphere, but simply to sit in a small corner of Nepal. The best: momos with potatoes and cheese! Other specialties like thipthug thugpa. To accompany a soup, taste the Tibetan bread.

Behind the discreet entrance to this restaurant, the tables are set in a beautiful, vast garden. This is the restaurant's main asset when you're looking for shade, coolness and calm for an outdoor lunch. The cuisine is acceptable without being unbelievable, with a menu similar to Bakhtapur's other tourist-oriented restaurants (international dishes, momos and thalis sets). It's a nice place to take a coffee break or a cool drink during a long tour of the imperial city.

A small family address known to the insiders. Two rows of tables, in a room that does not pay a mine. To eat a Dal Bhat at a normal rate (120 Rs), taste a curry at less than 100 Rs, or to enjoy a true piece of chicken (chicken sizzler). Tight budgets should appreciate.

One of the best places in town to eat Korean food. Run by a couple, this small family-run eatery is a hit with travelers and locals alike. On the menu, a bevy of dishes illustrated by photos: vegetable kimbap (rice and vegetables wrapped in seaweed), barbecued beef bibimbap (barbecued beef pieces served with sautéed vegetables and rice), ramyum (spicy noodle soup)... In short, tempting dishes at modest prices.

In the restaurant's calm, verdant courtyard, you forget you're in the heart of bustling Thamel. But the setting is not the only asset. From breakfast onwards, organic coffee is served, along with homemade cakes and freshly squeezed fruit juices. For lunch and dinner, the menu features classics with no nasty surprises: fine salads, burgers, pasta, Nepalese momos... Here, the clientele is as much Nepalese as Western.

Here is an address that will not be to everyone's taste because it is literally taken by storm by groups of tourists in the evening. "Chulo" is a Nepalese term for a stove. We like the setting: this magnificent wing of a royal palace more than 150 years old. We also appreciate the tasting menu with its typical Nepalese and Newar dishes whose recipes are said to come from the great grandparents of the founders, and the dances, kitschy but bewitching. A place mainly for tourists, but after all why not!

In the heart of an old 19th century Newar building, you come here as much for the atmosphere as for the typical cuisine. Throughout the meal, the dancers intervene several times on the small stage. Nothing artificial for all that, the atmosphere is relaxed for everyone, even the waiters who are very friendly. This restaurant offers a beautiful evening of discovery around Nepalese specialties, newar dishes, very copious tasting menus (quite expensive it is true) against a backdrop of traditional dances. Rakshi offered by the house.

Without a doubt, one of the best Indian restaurants in town. This establishment founded in 1998 blends the rich and diverse flavours of South Asia to create a unique Indochinese cuisine. Located in a historic palace in the heart of the city of Kathmandu, Bawarchi takes its name from the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire, the Bawarchies being sublime cooks who revisit and sublimate old Asian recipes. Let yourself be tempted by a tikka masala panner, accompanied by white rice and nan, all washed down with a good Nepalese tea.

Greenery, calm and elegance: this restaurant, a stone's throw from the hustle and bustle of Thamel, scatters its many tables in a large garden with sheltered terraces and green plants. A very pleasant setting. From Nepal to Tibet via Bhutan, the flavors of the Himalayas are served here: sets of each nationality in particular (the Nepalese is very spicy!), Tibetan thukpa (noodle soups), gyakok (hot pot). Excellent pork bao, hearty and sprinkled with greens.

Caroline, who has lived in Nepal for many years, runs this restaurant, which offers a wide selection of bistronomic classics with a modern French twist (salade toulousaine, steak au poivre, mousse au chocolat), as well as upscale seasonal specialties. The place has become a meeting place for Westerners living in Kathmandu. And it's a favorite with visiting travelers. The setting is remarkable, in the heart of the historic Baber Mahal Revisited palace, and the dishes are refined. A tasty moment.

Beneath the portraits of the ancestors hanging on the walls, the staff is taking care of the little things and the waiters are putting the small dishes in the big ones! This is the place to go if you want to taste the true and authentic Nepalese cuisine. It's all in millimetres, but your taste buds will want more! The menu is fixed and offers a tasty glimpse of the sumptuous era of the Rana dynasty. You can taste a variety of dishes with different portions. Reserve for a chic dinner in a grandiose setting.

Here's a restaurant that doesn't look like much, but it's always full. Low-budget travelers come to join a Nepalese clientele. A guarantee of quality. And for good reason: the dhal bat is good and copious! The recipes are prepared according to the purest thakali tradition (a community originally from Mustang). Most of the ingredients even come directly from the region of Kali Gandaki where the village of Tukche is located, which gives the dishes that very special flavour. For an immersion in the heart of typical Nepal!

Located in Durbar Square, just behind the Krishna temple, this tiny restaurant offers a relatively dark ground-floor dining room, and another room with a small terrace on the second floor. There's no menu here, just the day's produce, local dishes such as lentil pancakes, stewed meat and potatoes. You can also order an assortment accompanied by Chhyang, the local rice alcohol. A super-authentic address where you just have to point to what you want to eat. Beware, however, that the dishes can be very spicy!

This is the Padma Hotel's rooftop restaurant, perfectly situated on the perimeter of the Bodnath stupa to offer superb views, day and night. There are many restaurants around this square, but this one is both authentic and tasty, and the space has been renovated. We really enjoyed the Nepalese thali set, prepared with great care, and the generous salads, brimming with vegetables. The service is fast enough, and the fruit juices and breakfast are of the highest quality, in keeping with the hotel's reputation as a good address.

It's easy to spot with its green bicycle supporting flowerpots and its pretty garden where the tables are laid out. Definitely the place to enjoy a good crêpe, just like in Brittany! Hari knows France well, having visited several times, and has developed a passion for crêpes. The plates are hearty, prepared à la minute with fresh produce. Special mention for the buckwheat galettes, but also for other French dishes: ratatouille and croque-monsieur (with homemade béchamel).

There are at least two good Japanese restaurants in Patan, but this one stands out for its more pleasant setting, with an outdoor terrace refreshed by soothing green plants. In this authentic Japanese restaurant, you can enjoy delicious ramen, gyosas (a change from momos), tempuras and, of course, sushi (with frozen fish, given the distance from the sea). For those who are undecided, the composite bentos are a good way of trying out specialties, especially at lunchtime.

In Nepal, restaurants are not afraid to serve a wide variety of cuisines. Royal Nirtchen & bar is no exception, serving Nepalese, Indian, Mexican and Italian splats. We can confirm that you won't find the taste of Bolognese pasta here, but the place is nice and the dishes are decent and hearty. We'd advise you to opt for a local dish, better executed and truly delicious and tasty. The cocktails are also very good, and not too sweet.