Nepal Travel Guide

Nepal's national dish and the trekker's best friend — lentil soup (dal) poured over rice (bhat) with vegetable curry and pickle, refilled endlessly at no extra charge at most trekking lodges. Eaten twice daily by most Nepalis, it fuels the bodies that carry loads up the Himalayas and proves that simplicity, executed well, is a form of perfection.

Tibet's gift to Nepal — steamed or fried half-moon dumplings filled with spiced minced buffalo, chicken, or vegetables, served with achaar (tomato-sesame sauce). The Kathmandu momo scene has evolved into an obsession; restaurants like OR2K and local hole-in-the-wall steam shops both take it seriously.

A warming broth of hand-pulled noodles with vegetables, meat and broth spiced with Timur (Sichuan-like pepper native to Nepal) — the trekking lodge staple that warms cold evenings at 3,500m better than anything. Found everywhere from Kathmandu teahouses to the highest lodges on the EBC route.

The traditional Newari ceremonial platter — beaten rice (chiura), boiled egg, black soybean, dried buffalo meat, ginger pickle, and chhyaang (rice wine) — eaten at festivals, weddings and on the communal floor of a Newari home. The most culturally specific food experience Nepal offers.

Tibetan-style tea churned with yak butter and salt — warm, fatty and completely unlike any tea you've had. Essential at altitude where the fat content helps with cold and acclimatisation. An acquired taste that most trekkers come to associate with the welcome warmth of a high-altitude lodge at dusk.