Kathmandu Food Tour
We chose to book our Kathmandu food tour through Get Your Guide. There are a lot of options, but this one just felt right. The tour is run by Deepak, a local with a love of food and culture. Let me spoil it now, the tour was an 11/10. All of the food we had was amazingly delicious and food-safe. Deepak is a true expert, with a wealth of cultural knowledge and is very familiar with international travelers. But more importantly, he is a genuinely great person who was a joy to be with. This ended up being one of our favorite tours of all time, and we highly recommend you go on it if you’re in Kathmandu.
Panipuri
Our first stop was just around the corner. This small hole in the wall sells one thing, panipuri. This is a very popular Indian snack, common in weddings and celebrations. These crispy fried balls of dough are thin and hollow, meaning they can be stuffed with all sorts of things. Most Nepali food is vegetarian, and these were filled with a spicy mashed potato filling. They are very time-consuming and difficult to make, so buying them from a street vendor is the most common way to get them.
First, we ate it on its own. They are super crunchy and light, with a perfect balance of soft savory goodness in the center. However, Deepak explained that the word “pani” means water, and you’re supposed to fill them with a vinegar water sauce. Adding the vinegar was a game changer, making it a crispy, melty delight with a nice bite. I love vinegar, so it was right up my alley. Panipuri are light, so you can eat a lot if you’re not careful. It’s the perfect way to start our Kathmandu food tour.
Vegetarian Steamed Momo
Next we got momo, the most popular form of dumpling in Nepal. Apparently, they are very difficult to make, and many Nepalis don’t have the skill. Our guide has tried every restaurant in the area to make sure we’re getting the best ones. They come in a variety of styles, from steamed, pan-fried, and deep-fried. The most common style is steamed with vegetarian filling and buff (short for buffalo meat), but foreigners tend to like the fried ones best. Our momo had a seasoned veggie filling that was packed with flavor.
On their own, the momo are outstanding. The perfect balance of chewy dough and delicious filling. It’s hard to go wrong with a dumpling, but these were especially great. The real kicker came when we dipped it in the sauce. One sauce was a bit like a curry, with a strong spice and turmeric flavor, and the other was a red slightly spicy sauce. For me, this is heaven. I love bread, I love curry, and I love spice. The texture and taste are about as perfect as it gets. I could easily eat a full plate on my own. We loved it so much that we picked more up on our next day in Pokhara.
Nepali Snacks
After walking down the street a bit, we came to a literal hole in the wall, half sunken below ground. This ancient kitchen is a generational shop, with over 180 years of continuous operation. They sell many dishes here, but our guide wanted us to try some of the snacks of Nepal. We tried gulab jamun, selroti, and thekuwa.
Gulab jamun is an indian sweet called a milk ball. They are little balls of sweet dough, fried in clarified butter and soaked in a sugary syrup. At first, I had no idea what I was looking at. It kind of looked like a baked apple with cinnamon on top. I bit in and was smacked with the intense sweetness. It’s incredibly soft, so it’s basically a bomb of sugar in your mouth. Again, I think I could eat a ton of these if I had the chance (noticing a pattern?).
Selroti is called a Nepali donut, although it only resembles donuts in shape. They are slightly harder doughs fried in ghee, and they’re a popular snack for students and people on the go because they last a while. It was good, but very dense and rich, with a strong chew. We all agreed that it was the least favorite thing on the tour, although we did like it.
Last we had thekuwa, a traditional biscuit that is very common to give as offerings during Diwali, or eat during celebrations like weddings. Our guide said it’s common to end the holiday season with months’ worth of crackers. It was surprisingly similar to a shortbread, but with a flakier texture. I began to notice that Nepali food is very diverse in texture, with a lot of crunchy, crispy, and flaky foods.
Nepali Sweet Lassi
Stop four was a lassi stand on a street corner. Like India, lassi is a go-to drink in Nepal. Deepak usually likes to end his tours with it since foreigners like sweet desserts, but because our tour was so late, we went there before they sold out. Surprisingly, Nepali lassi doesn’t really resemble the lassi we know. This is made of buffalo milk, with a very thick texture. It was also topped with nuts and dried fruit, a lot more like a drinkable yogurt.
I’m not sure how we could go wrong here, it’s sweet and sour and simply delicious. Apparently, it’s not so much of a dessert for locals, who enjoy a cup on a hot day as an afternoon snack. For us, it was super refreshing after so much food, but we had plenty of food left to go.
Nepali Meals
At this point, we were getting very full, so we were happy to get to our final stop. Unfortunately for us, our guide had plenty more to feed us. This shop is owned by a husband and wife duo from a specific region in the Himalayas, with a regional cuisine style that Deepak likes. First up, we got a Nepali-style masala milk tea. Like the lassi, it’s made with buffalo milk and seasoned with cardamom and ginger. We absolutely love milk teas, and if you’ve ever had chai before, just take that taste and multiply it by 100. Truly a top-tier drink. As we learned on our last day in Kathmandu, masala can also be served without milk, making it a very versatile drink.
Next up, is a food not from Kathmandu, but from the Himalayas called Thukpa. This is a Tibetan noodle dish that is also served in the region of Nepal where the owners are from. It is a hearty noodle soup with a rich broth and chicken. I am a sucker for noodles and chicken soup, so this was my favorite meal on the tour. By the end I was stuffed, but I didn’t mind. It has the perfect balance of salty broth and ultra-savory bits, perfect for a cold snowy day.
We thought we were done, until they brought out chatamari, bara, and chaku yomari. The chatamari is a rice flour crepe with spicy vegetables, and bara is a classic Indian staple made of lentils. The chatamari was super delicious, an incredible mixed texture of crispy rice and soft flavor-packed veggies. Bara never goes wrong, and it was a great palette cleanser. Last is the yomari, a steamed rice bun stuffed with sesame-flavored jaggery. I simply can not believe we ate all of the food. I haven’t felt that full in a long time.
Final Thoughts
Of course, I knew the food in Kathmandu would be good. I was right! Nepali food is truly amazing, with such a wide variety, we barely scratched the surface. But more than that, this tour was a true glimpse into Nepali culture and people. Deepak is an amazing guide, with lots of information about history, tradition, and the regional variation of Nepali food. The best part of the tour was just hanging out with our group, enjoying the beautiful night in Thamel, and talking the night away. At the last stop, we spent almost an hour just being together and having great conversations over delicious food. We usually like to self-plan, but we’re so glad we went on this tour.
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