Here’s a quick and simple guide to the restaurants in Lakeside, Pokhara that are cheap and good for budget backpackers.
When I searched online, a lot of the info I found was just random lists of restaurants or it didn’t focus just on the really budget options for people who want to save a bit of money. This article focuses just on the budget options. They all serve good food, and you’ll get a proper meal that will fill you up. It’ll be very cheap as well.
I stayed in Pokhara for about 2 months in summer 2024, and I spent most of my time eating at the restaurants on this list.
Note that these restaurants focus on local food and simple dishes. You get dal bhat (obviously), and you get all of the standard Nepali dishes like fried rice, noodles, momos and sandwiches. The menus do tend to be simple, but you also get chicken curries, varied breakfast choices, butter chicken, a selection of vegetarian curries, Indian dishes and other things that make a nice change from the usual.
If you’re looking for cheap international and more varied food in Pokhara, have a look at these two articles here…
The 9 Best Cheap Restaurants in Pokhara, Nepal | Travelling Mandala
The Best Cheap Eats in Pokhara – Karl Rock’s Blog
Just note that I stayed at the northern (Disneyland, Vegan Way and Catwalk) end of Pokhara, not down at the southern end of the lake. Most budget backpackers stay at this end I’m talking about, so that shouldn’t matter much to most people. At the end, I have one suggestion for people down at the other end of Lakeside.
Apologies because I didn’t take any photos of the actual restaurants. You’ll find them easy enough, though.
What are Budget Food Prices Like in Pokhara?
In budget restaurants in Pokhara, prices are around this point:
Vegetarian dal bhat – 250 rupees ($1.85)
Chicken chow mein – 200 rupees ($1.50)
Chicken fried rice – 200 rupees ($1.50)
Coca cola, Fanta or Sprite – 70 rupees ($0.50)
Beer – As I remember, it’s about 400 – 500 rupees for a big, 500 ml beer in a restaurant ($3.00 – $3.75). It varies quite a bit. You can also save by going to the shop instead of a restaurant.
Local raksi (alcohol) – This is a nice budget alcohol option. You probably shouldn’t drink more than about 300 rupees worth in a day.
Be aware that you can get food even cheaper if you eat street food rather than restaurant food.
PP Local Area
To make it easier to find these restaurants, I’ve grouped them into areas.
The first area is around PP local (a popular budget restaurant itself). These restaurants are either PP Local, next to PP local or there on the same road as you walk towards the main cross roads at Phewa Marga and where the bigger high street starts.
PP Local
PP Local is an obvious choice, and lots of people eat there. You get all of the standard choices at good prices, and they do chicken curries, vegetarian dishes and a few other things that make a bit of a change. The people who own it are always friendly, and it doesn’t take long for your food to come.
Here are some prices:
Dal bhat – 260 rupees
Breakfasts – 190 to 320 rupees
Veg fried rice – 160 rupees
Pasa Local
I used to go over the road from PP local sometimes to a place called Pasa Local. I used to eat dal bhat or chicken curry, and I didn’t explore the menu too much, but it’s a decent, simple, local restaurant. You’ll get a good meal at a good price without any fuss.
Cheapest and Best
Cheapest and Best Restaurant is cheaper than the other budget restaurants, and the food is very good as well. They named it well.
It’s not on Google Maps. If you walk from PP local towards Phewa Marga and the main high street, it’s on the other side of the road from PP Local. It’s somewhere around the Marwadi Restaurant.
They do the standard dishes like dal bhat, veg curries, fish curries, noodles and things like that. Plus other things to shake it up a bit. I can’t remember the prices exactly, but I think it might really be the cheapest restaurant in Lakeside. At the same time, the food is really good. A husband and wife do the cooking, and they do everything from scratch, in front of you. You get really good food, and you get plenty of it as well.
Marwadi Pure Vegetarian Restaurant
Marwadi is an Indian restaurant, and it’s fully vegetarian. It’s a good choice for vegans and vegetarians, people who’ve been in India and miss Indian food and people who want a big menu to choose from. There’s a lot of variety with things like dhosas, idly, koftas, paneer tikka, palak paneer to name a few things you can get. There are also deserts as well.
Sometimes the food comes at ultra fast speed, which is good if you’ve got a busy Lakeside schedule.
The prices are really low. You’ll get good food, plenty of it, and it won’t cost much at all.
Masala dosa – 250 rupees
Veg curry – 250 rupees
Chana Masala – 250 rupees
Malai kofta – 320 rupees
Phewa Marga (Phewa Road)
Phewa Marga (Phewa Road) runs from the cross roads at the end of Pokhara’s high street down towards the edge of the lake where you can hire a boat.
There’s a whole bunch of budget grill type restaurants on this road that serve barbecued meat and fish. You’ll see it all on display in front of the restaurant. I’m pretty sure there are also plenty of vegetarian dishes and other choices in these restaurants as well.
I can’t name any restaurants in particular. Just go and check them all out.
Street Food on the Lakeside Footpath
At the end of Phewa Marga is the footpath that runs the whole edge of the lake. There are people selling street food all along this footpath. Again, you can just go and check it all out.
The main cluster of food stands is next to the sports field at the end of Phewa Marga, but there are also a few people in other places along the footpath.
Some of the restaurants on the lakeside footpath also don’t charge very much.
Between Vegan Way and Sabina Momo
The next cluster runs between Vegan Way and Sabina Momo.
Vegan Way
Vegan way isn’t really budget like the places mentioned so far, but I’ll mention it because it’s very popular. They also do a big variety of dishes, including lots of international foods, so it might make a nice change for people who want something different.
This isn’t budget like the other places I’ve mentioned. As I understand it, it’ll normally cost you something like 400 – 500 for a meal, but you’ll get plenty of food. It’ll be good as well.
It also acts as a bit of a community centre, with lots of people hanging out there and lots of adverts for yoga and other activities.
Europa Restaurant
If you go from Vegan Way towards the main part of town, on the left side you’ll find Europa Restaurant.
This is a small, simple place that’s often quite busy. They do all the standard stuff, and they also do things like burgers, omelettes and Spanish breakfasts.
It’s also very cheap. Here are some prices:
Veg dal bhat – 250 rupees
Chicken momos – 200 rupees
Dal makhani – 180 rupees
Rest Point
Rest point isn’t quite as budget as the other places, but it’s not expensive at all. The food’s also good, and it’s nice sitting at in the front part, next to the lake. You can waste time away in Rest Point, and the food is always good. They’ve got some different options too, like kebabs, falafel, fish and chips and BBQ food.
It’s a good, budget choice if you want something different and you want to sit somewhere comfortable as well.
Sabina Momo
Close to Rest Point is Sabina Momo. I only ate here a couple of times, but I know it’s a good budget option, and it’s also very popular.
I just had dal bhat 2 times, and so I can’t comment on what the food is like in general. The dal bhat was good.
Go and check out it out for yourself.
Little Outside Place Nearby
Nearby, outside on the road, to the left of Sabina Momo as you’re looking at Sabina Momo is a simple, open fronted restaurant.
This place was always really popular, and it’s probably worth checking out as well.
The Other End of Lakeside
As I said, I stayed at the northern end of Lakeside, and this guide is more geared towards that end. I don’t know so much about the other end, but you could have a look at the Marwadi Restaurants down at this end of town.
Marwadi Pure Vegetarian Restaurant
There are a few Marwadi Restaurants down at this end of Lakeside as well. Have a look for yourself for the Marwadi Pure Vegetarian Restaurants. They’re part of a chain, and you should get the same good, budget Indian food in these places as you get in the one at the other end of Lakeside.
Lakeside Has Loads of Budget Restaurants
One final thing to say is that there are tonnes of good budget options in Lakeside, and you can really just head out and find a good one yourself. This list will help you find them easily, but you don’t need to hunt very hard to find good, cheap food in Pokhara for yourself.
If you’re searching this because you’re planning a trip to Pokhara and are wondering if you’ll be able to find budget food, yes you will. Pokhara has an abundance of good restaurants that sell cheap food. Vegetarian and vegan food is also served all over the place.
