17 dishes, priced from real menus
Kathmandu cooks four kitchens at once: Newari, Tibetan, Thakali and everyday Nepali. These are the dishes worth ordering, what each one is, what it costs on menus in the valley today, and where to get it. Prices come from restaurants' own menus on KTMenu and update as those menus change.
Rs 160–595 across 3 restaurants
Steamed dumplings filled with buff (water buffalo), chicken or vegetables, served with a tomato and sesame achar. Try them steamed first, then fried, or jhol, in a thin spiced soup.
Rs 160–250 across 2 restaurants
Tibetan noodle soup with vegetables and meat in a hot broth. A full meal on its own, and the bowl to order on a cold evening.
Rs 150 across 1 restaurant
Cold, slippery mung bean noodles doused in chilli, garlic and vinegar. A Tibetan street snack from around Boudha, and spicier than it looks.
Rs 220–250 across 2 restaurants
Fermented millet in a wooden vessel, topped up with hot water and sipped through a bamboo straw. The drink of the eastern hills; one lasts an evening.
Rs 250–890 across 3 restaurants
Buffalo meat grilled over fire, then tossed with mustard oil, chilli, garlic and fenugreek. Eaten with beaten rice (chiura), usually alongside a drink.
Rs 80–120 across 2 restaurants
A savoury lentil patty fried on a flat pan, plain or topped with egg or minced meat. Filling, and one of the cheapest plates on a Newari menu.
Rs 160–180 across 2 restaurants
A steamed rice-flour dumpling shaped like a fig, filled with chaku (molasses) and sesame. Made for Yomari Punhi in December, served by Newari kitchens all year.
Rs 200 across 1 restaurant
A thin rice-flour crepe cooked on one side and topped with egg, minced meat or vegetables. Often called Newari pizza, though it is closer to a crisp pancake.
Rs 450 across 1 restaurant
A ceremonial platter of beaten rice, choila, black soybeans, boiled egg, ginger and pickles. The quickest way to taste a whole Newari feast on one plate.
Rs 320–350 across 2 restaurants
A soup of nine sprouted beans, made for the Janai Purnima festival. Earthy and warming, ordered as a side or a light meal.
Rs 380–450 across 2 restaurants
Lentil soup, rice, a vegetable curry (tarkari) and pickle, usually with free refills. What most Nepalis eat twice a day, and still the best-value meal in the city.
Rs 480–550 across 2 restaurants
Dal bhat served in full on a metal plate, with several curries, greens, pickles and often meat. Thakali thalis, from the Thak Khola valley, are the famous version.
Rs 280–875 across 4 restaurants
Meat marinated in spices and grilled on skewers over charcoal. Goat and chicken are common; it comes with beaten rice and a sharp chutney.
Rs 320–865 across 3 restaurants
Dried meat, usually buffalo or goat, fried or tossed with onion, chilli and tomato. Chewy, salty, and made to be eaten with a drink.
Rs 160–220 across 1 restaurant
Stir-fried noodles with vegetables, egg or meat. Nepal's everyday fast food, on nearly every menu from street stall to hotel.
Rs 120 across 2 restaurants
Milk tea boiled with sugar, ginger and spices. Served in small glasses on every street, and among the cheapest things on any menu.
Rs 180 across 1 restaurant
A thick yoghurt drink, sweet or salted, sometimes with fruit. The thing to order against a spicy thali.