The Best Restaurants in Pokhara – A Local’s Guide

I called Pokhara my home for quite a few months after initially falling in love with the city after returning from a month of trekking through the Annapurnas.

One thing that I love about Pokhara is that there’s a variety of amazing food throughout the city, especially Lakeside. When I was living there, I had a homemade breakfast, but I loved spending my afternoons working (and eating) in a cafe or restaurant.

You’ll want to indulge at the best restaurants in Pokhara, especially if you’ve just finished a trek! Here’s an old local’s guide to the best restaurants in Pokhara.

If you wanna get that Instagram…

Go to The Juicery Cafe! 

This place has healthy, yummy, and beautiful food! It’s the perfect place if you have a little bit of a sweet tooth and need a delicious and nourishing breakfast or snack. This was one of my go-to’s for a quick smoothie.

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Wifi? Yes.

Located: In NORTH Lakeside.

Recommend? The French Toast!

If you want a taste of SouthEAST Asia

Pho 99 is your best bet!

This place has the closest thing to real Vietnamese food you’ll get in Nepal. The pho portions are huge. I would come to Pho 99 when I was feeling under the weather or if the actual weather was a bit chilly.

Wifi? Yes.

Located in: Center Lakeside, above Evoke Cafe.

Recommend? Pho Ga (pronounced fuh- gah, chicken soup noodles)

If you want to Facetime/Skype home or get work done

Pokhara Java Cafe has AWESOME wifi.

This place serves great coffee, but the real superstar here is the wifi! In Pokhara, it can be difficult to find STELLAR wifi, but this place has it! It’s where I do the majority of my blogging & facetiming.

Wifi? THE BEST.

Located in: North Lakeside

Recommend? The honey lattes! Though be warned if you’re a coffee purist – they’re super sweet!

If you want a place to hang out with friends

Or2K has a great layout and lively atmosphere!

This is a great restaurant to bring friends to, as everyone sits around tables on the floor. If that isn’t your thing, sit outside and enjoy the lake view. You can get all sorts of food here, from Israeli couscous to pizza to daal bhat! This is one of the best restaurants in Pokhara – it’s good for hanging out, doing work, and eating!

Wifi? Yes

Located in: Center Lakeside

Recommend? The MINT LEMONADE. And the pizza (although you can’t go wrong here).

If you want a bang for your buck (and the most amazing food)

Go to Mo2’s!

I’ll admit to having an obsession with this place. My friends and I have come here four times in a week. It’s cheap, absolutely delicious, and the owner is the friendliest man ever! I couldn’t rave about this place enough. It was the last place I ate in Pokhara and I knew I was going to miss it so much. This is, in my opinion, the BEST restaurant in Pokhara.

Wifi? Yes- AND it’s reliable!

Located at: Barahi Chowk, upstairs!

Recommend: You can’t go wrong with anything here (my friends and I would know, we’ve eaten here a LOT), but if you’re only coming here once, JHOL MOMOS. These are momos in a lime/soybean soup. It sounds… interesting, but it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. I love it so much, I dedicated my little wall scribble to it.

If you eat here, try to find my note on the wall!

If you want a little bit of a nicer meal

Moondance has great meals!!!

Moondance is a very affordable meal, but it isn’t as casual as the places I’ve mentioned above. I really enjoyed EVERYTHING I ate here – especially the dessert. This was a place that my friends and I went for a treat meal if we had a hard week or wanted to celebrate something.