Top Restaurants in Kathmandu: Where to Go and What to Order

Below are the restaurants worth the trip, grouped by what you actually want tonight, from a Newari kitchen in Patan to the hotel dining rooms on Durbar Marg. Each one has its full menu on KTMenu.

For a Dinner That Is the Occasion

The Chimney, inside Hotel Yak & Yeti on Durbar Marg, has been serving since 1968 and is the closest thing Kathmandu has to a historic dining room. The Russian borscht it opened with is still on the menu. Third Eye on J.P. Road has been in Thamel since 1989, seats over 300 across three floors and a rooftop, and won Nepal's Best Restaurant Award in 2025. Its tandoor is the reason to go: tandoori chicken, chicken tikka and paneer tikka.

Durbar Marg is where the rest of this bracket sits. Mezze by Roadhouse does Mediterranean plates and wood-fired pizza from a rooftop, and Penthouse Rooftop Bar and Lounge trades on the same view.

For Nepali and Newari Cooking

This is where Kathmandu is genuinely hard to beat, and where the money goes furthest.

• Honacha, Patan. A century-old family room behind Krishna Mandir, ten dishes, and the cheapest serious food in this guide.
• Bhojan Griha, Dilli Bazaar. A restored 150-year-old house that belonged to a royal priest. Eleven dishes, including a full samay baji set.
• Cafe de Patan, Patan. Family-run, steps from Patan Durbar Square, eleven dishes.
• Gaga Restaurant, Baneshwor. Nepali and Tibetan, twelve dishes, and the momo menu we hold in most detail: veg, buff and jhol.

For Pizza and Pasta

Roadhouse Cafe on Chaksibari Road opened in 1992 as Thamel's first wood-fired pizza restaurant and is still the reference point. Margherita, diavola and spaghetti bolognese are the orders. Marcopolo in Thamel is the other Italian name that comes up consistently.

The best pizza in Kathmandu, ranked by reviews

For Vegetarians

OR2K on Mandala Street has run for over twenty years on cushion seating with your shoes at the door, and the whole menu is vegetarian. Hummus with pita, shakshuka and the Buddha bowl lead a menu of twelve dishes. It is the only kitchen here where a vegetarian orders from the full menu rather than a section of it.