Eatouts in Pokhara

Restaurants are everywhere in Pokhara, and food is a major preoccupation. Lakeside, in particular, is one long trough of feeding opportunities. Eating also sets the social agenda: there's not much nightlife after around lO.3Opm, but the congenial restaurants and cafes around the lake are easy places to make friends and find trekking partners. Most tourist restaurants boast a more or less standard menu, featuring an implausibly international selection of dishes and local fish prepared umpteen different ways. The places recommended here pull it off with a bit more authenticity than the rest.What you get might not bear much resemblace to what you ordered, but it'll probably taste pretty good . If pseudo-Western food gets you down, many restaurants do set Nepali meals and some pretty good Indian dishes.

lively place with a bar and back garden. Inexpensive.

A humbler branch of the famed Kathmandu restaurant, fine Nepali and north Indian cuisine, nightly music and dance. Moderately priced.

Great for breakfast or an afternoon snack, seating under umbrellas and thatched pavilions on a vast lawn sloping down to the lake. There are several similar outfits nearby, but this is still the best Inexpensive.

Good bread and croissants; lively for dinner. Cheap.

Sit outside for sedate dining by candlelight, or indoors for the nightly culture show in an acoustic purgatory. Moderately priced.

Funky, shoestring decor and a laid-back feel.

Serene atmosphere, though Tibetan food is almost an afterthought Inexpensive.

Tibetan and Western food in a lovely little bamboo grove. Inexpensive.

Popular and efficient restiurant/bar serving good soups, pastas, sizzlers and vegetarian dishes. Loud music. Inexpensive.

The epicentre of Lakeside eating, with reliable food (especially pizza) , a great atmosphere, a roof terrace and a fireplace for winter evenings. Inexpensive to moderate.

A branch of the Indian fast-food-and-ice-cream chain (real sundaes and milk shakes). Inexpensive.

Cosy Swiss Family Robinson decor, rooftop seating and loud tunes. The food is interchangeable with that of the neighbouring Maya Pub. Inexpensive.

One of Lakeside's original bamboo joints, good for daytime people-watching, drinks and snacks. Inexpensive.

Damside's guest houses tend to have their own self-contained restaurants, so there are fewer separate eating places to recommend.

Simple, friendly hangout Cheap to inexpensive.

A fine candidate for breakfast or lunch ingredients, good views, tolerable croissants and wholegrain bread. Cheap.

Patio dining by the lake, or indoors by the fire in winter. Steaks, fish, cake and pie. Inexpensive to moderately priced.

Marwari restaurant specializing in south Indian dishes. Cheap to inexpensive.

Decent north Indian food in a vaguely upscale setting. Inexpensive to moderately priced.

Passable all-rounder, better for Indian food. Inexpensive

Lovely patio seating right beside the lake, and the home of Damside's premier cake display. Excellent for breakfast Inexpensive.