My favorite places to eat in Pokhara

In Lakeside, where we live, there are plenty of restaurants and cafes, but much is also aimed at tourists and therefore a bit expensive – by Nepalese standards.

Nevertheless, it's cheap here compared to Norway, so it took us some time to realize that it was actually relatively expensive in the area we live in.

Suddenly, we stumbled upon small eateries tucked away amidst everything else, which have charming staff, traditional local dishes, and really cheap prices. Here are my best tips for dining spots that can be hard to find on the map.

This restaurant is located a seven-minute walk away from the hotel we are staying at and has a really exciting menu.

Here you can expect to be surprised with unusual flavors and combinations no matter which dish you choose, such as banana and vegetable wrap or paanipuri.

The latter is a traditional dish consisting of crispy balls filled with curry, along with yogurt or water that you pour in yourself. Here I have eaten several dishes that cost around seven NOK!

This place is run by a super cozy family, who also grow all the vegetables in their own garden! The vegetables are super fresh and flavorful.

Here I ate the best Dal Bhat I have tasted so far. Dal Bhat is the national dish of Nepal, consisting of lentil soup (dal) and rice (bhat). It often comes with pickled and fresh vegetables, and tarkari, which is a vegetable curry. Another dish that is highly recommended is the falafel, really juicy!

This restaurant is located right by the lake, which makes it a very pleasant place to sit.

We ended up here because many of the students missed a really good kebab and hadn't been able to find one, but this place makes a really good chicken kebab with fries and salad.

The world's sweetest man works here!

We have been completely charmed by this little shop with its ten seats and orange walls. If you want momos, this is the place to go.

Momos are also a typical Nepalese dish and are very similar to dumplings. You can eat them alone or in soup, and they are served with a chili sauce called achar. If there's one dish I'm going to miss, it's momos.

It's not just in the city that one is served delicious dishes.

Trekking and village visits truly allow one to experience the diversity of Nepalese and Tibetan culinary traditions – they change from place to place and from family to family.

It's fun to experience how many variations one can get of the same dish! Dal Bhat, for example, sounds very simple, but due to so many variations, it almost feels like a new meal every time I have it.

Men, to tell the truth, after having it for both lunch and dinner four days in a row while trekking, it tasted quite good to have something else once we were back down from the mountain.