Nepal's Best Food: 6 Best Meals You Must Try

May 19, 2023 By Marco Russo
Nepal's Best Food: 6 Best Meals You Must Try

Traditional cuisine, as well as famous international dishes, are found in Nepal. Our Nepal food guide consists of our top 5 favourite meals while touring Kathmandu and Pokhara and trekking the Annapurna Circuit. The best meals in Nepal are what you eat, the traditional food, and the best things to do in Nepal?

In this Asian country, we enjoyed hiking the most. What was the second activity we did? It was undoubtedly eating. While we might be in the minority here, we are huge fans of Asian cuisine - the smell of spices, the flavours, and the local restaurants.

Our homeland, Italy, offers street food that we miss greatly. Even though we have Indian or Nepalese restaurants here, the taste is different, the authenticity is less, as one might expect.

A favourite thing to do immediately after arriving in a foreign country is to visit the local restaurant. The same was true in Nepal.

During the Annapurna Circuit, we ate good food in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Although we grew tired of the food near the mountaintops, the thought of a steaming bowl of fresh dal bhat still entices us.

Nepalese food - how would we describe it? There are many vegetarian meals, and most people eat rice with them. It is a blend of Asian, Tibetan, and Indian cuisine.

When going through our photos, we decided to make an exception for what we usually do in our travel guides: talking about the best things to do and rarely talking about food because tastes differ significantly.

The following are five meals that all visitors to Nepal should take advantage of and encourage you to incorporate into your daily routine.

Today, we still cook Aloo Gobi and Dal Bhat at home from time to time. Our memories of Nepal are always evoked by the food prepared with all the widely available ingredients today.

It is essential to try precisely one of these dishes in Nepal: Dal Bhat, Momo Dumplings, Thukpa soup, Aloo Gobi, or Pakora.

The following is a guide to what you can eat in Nepal - the best part is that these simple meals are found everywhere.

Best food in Nepal, when visiting Nepal this 2021

I'm sure you've heard that we're huge fans of Asian and Indian food, and our visit to Nepal inspired us to try new dishes at home. Unfortunately, we broke every rule we had when in Nepal.

The smell of momos on the parking lot as we drove from Kathmandu to Patan tempted us to try them, even though we never normally eat at stalls where the bus stops.

A dodgy-looking restaurant is not usually a place for eating meat. Nevertheless, the queue of locals at the restaurant (or rather, the shack where the cook was parking his equipment on the floor) persuaded us to take a chance.

One truth about Nepal is that some of the best meals we had there were cooked at the most disgusting eateries we have ever seen.

There are a lot of top-notch food stalls and small Nepalese and Indian restaurants, so wander around for your favourite!

Popular food in Nepal that you shouldn't miss when travelling this 2021

When talking about the popular food in Nepal, we have listed out a few of our favourites that we recommend every traveller go for when trekking in Nepal or for cultural exploration. These mentioned popular foods are the must you must try when in Nepal.

#1. Dal Bhat the ultimate power bank

The best things to eat in Nepal are not incomplete without mentioning the local cuisine, which features rice, lentil soup, herbs, and spices with coriander, onion, ginger, and spices served with seasonal vegetables.

In this country, Dal Bhat is a signature dish that cannot get avoided. If you eat Dal Bhat every day, you will find that the taste and ingredients differ depending on where you are.

Higher altitudes present a more rustic variation of this meal, as growing vegetables is harder. Locals eat Dal Bhat two to three times a day, as we could verify by seeing it. High in the mountains, especially among hikers, this meal is very nourishing.

We spent 20 days at Everest Base Camp (EBC), which means we ate Dal Bhat for dinner 20 times. It might have been repetitive, but we always looked forward to the next version.

#2. MOMOS, that flour filled tiny dumplings

The vegetarian and meat-filled steamed white-flour dumplings are served with dipping sauce and various filling varieties.

The vegetarian and meat-filled steamed white-flour dumplings are filled with dipping sauce and different filling varieties. In addition to the vegetarian and meat-filled steamed white-flour dumplings with dipping sauces, momos come in various filling varieties.

The day following our arrival in Kathmandu, we dined at a small street restaurant with only locals, where we had momos. We got a plate of dumplings filled with green chilli sauce and cottage cheese for 300 rupees.

We did have a vegetarian option, and we were indeed delighted to find one. Making momos at home is easy if you love momos as much as we did in Kathmandu.

#3. PAKORA

Fried vegetables like onion, eggplant, spinach, or cauliflower are used as ingredients in Pakoras; a traditional snack often served as an appetizer.

It couldn't be simpler to prepare this bite. The mixture is stir-fried after being mixed with gram flour sauce and dipped.

We bought this meal from a roadside stall on our way to Patan to stay full until the next stop. Although we rarely eat fried food, if you are searching for a traditional appetizer that will blow you away, Pakora is for you.

#4. THUKPA

In Nepal, you can warm up with this rich and spicy soup.

Tibet was the original home of Thukpa, but it spread throughout neighbouring countries over time. It is a broth served locally produced vegetables and noodles and varies from region to region.

According to us, the Nepali woman has her family recipe, and they are all delicious. Soup rich in ingredients is not surprising in cities where grocery shopping is convenient.

A lack of vegetables makes Thukpa more watery as you climb higher in the mountains. However, this isn't a negative. We were amazed at how much food we could access in the EBC trekking area.

#5. Yomari

Yomari is another delicious Newari dish that makes this list. Rice flour and chaaku are the main ingredients in Yomari. Yomari is an unusual yet delightful item that takes a long time to complete.

We got a delightful chance to savour the traditional dish in the corner of Patan Durbar Square. When asked by the store owner about preparing the delicacy, they were kind enough to explain to us about the yomari making procedure.

Yomari can be found filled with khuwa, chaku, and meat. There are Newari restaurants that serve Yomari but do check the menus first. Yomari may not be available at all Newari restaurants. It is a delectable treat for sweet tooths.

#6. Sherpa Stew

Trekking to the Everest area is popular with locals who enjoy eating Sherpa stew. With a soup made of rice, vegetables, and dough, you're full all day.

Despite being easily accessible in the Himalayan region, only a few restaurants in Kathmandu serve the dish. Try sprinkling schezuan pepper on top to make it even more enjoyable. Lunch or dinner is suitable for this dish.
As we told you earlier regarding the Everest Base Camp trekking, we were delighted to experience the exquisite delicacy on our trekking trip.

Well, our food experience doesn't end here; we have a lot more stored, which we shall be sending in the following article.

Thank you, readers; if you have any questions regarding our experience, do write to us.
Through info@himalayanhero.com; we are delighted to share our experiences through our travel agents in Nepal.