It was only when I travelled to Nepal that I truly appreciated how similar it is to India. The intermingled Hindu & Buddhist religious spaces transported me to Kashi at one moment and McLeodganj at another. I didn’t understand Nepali language, but I could easily default to speaking Hindi and the locals would respond.

Use of Indian currency, UPI apps and the porous borders heightened this feeling of oneness. Even in the foods, I read about thakkali khana set which is like the Indian thali and daal bhat which is my daily home fare.

Nepali Food is Largely Non-Vegetarian (Surprised!)

Amidst all this familiarity, the lack of vegetarian food came as a tough surprise. I am a strict Indian vegetarian (lacto-vegetarian to be specific) which means that I have dairy but not eggs. And to make matters tougher, I also prefer vegetarian-only places – “pure veg” restaurants as they are called in India. Other vegetarians in India relate when I say that we have a phobia of non-vegetarian food getting into our meals in a mixed kitchen. Moreover, the usual Nepali restaurant has a predominantly non-vegetarian menu. The vegetarian choices are too few for us Indians who are used to getting the full spread!

In my first couple of days, I was so engrossed in my explorations that I skipped a couple of meals. I fell back on large glasses of coffee and milkshakes. One of the bakeries around Boudhanath stupa was tempting, however, all the pastries had egg in them. So, I settled for the softy ice-cream in cup. I would have preferred the cone but even that had egg in it.

At that time, I wasn’t aware of Cafe Utpala one of the top-rated vegetarian restaurants a short walk behind. With a relaxing garden ambiance and an eclectic choice of cuisine, it is run by the nearby Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Nepal.

Read my 10-day Nepal Itinerary here: https://maproute.in/my-10-day-nepal-itinerary-an-intense-yatra-of-katmandu-valley/

Soon, I understood that I will have to make special meal-time detours to vegetarian restaurants if I was to sustain. With a private taxi, such a detour could cost as much as 300 Nepali rupees. I checked the Happy Cow website, my go-to in tough situations. I also did random Google searches to uncover vegetarian places.

Vegan & Vegetarian Food Hubs of Nepal: Thamel & Pashupatinath

The next morning, I was at an MTR outlet having hot idlis, wada and filter coffee. I never imagined I would be eating South Indian food that too from Bangalore’s Mavalli tiffin on this trip. Well, the food fulfilled my expectations from MTR. Funnily, in Bangalore, I didn’t appreciate them as much as I did here in Kathmandu!

Thamel, the tourist hub of Kathmandu is also the hub for vegan and vegetarian cafes. The top-rated eating places for Kathmandu on Happy Cow are Lovely Heart and Always Happy Food – both of which are in Thamel. Not surprisingly, the cuisine options vary between western, Indian and Nepali catering to the different types of vegetarian and vegan tourists.

Pashupatinath temple area on the other hand caters to the typical Indian religious tourist. There are several snack shops and dhabba-style restaurants right outside which are ‘pure’ vegetarian. Special mention for Kailasa Food & Sweets restaurant which had a spacious seating area and friendly staff. They had delicious food and were happy to prepare almost everything without onion and garlic. They seemed used to such demands, from Jains like me & other Hindus looking for a sattvic diet during their pilgrimage.

My difficulties multiplied when I headed outside Kathmandu.

Nepali Sweet Shops to the Rescue!

“Why is it so tough to get vegetarian food here?”, I lamented to Arunodaya, the owner of Mayur café, a quaint place located right by the renowned Datta temple of Bhaktapur. “Because there is no demand for it”, he said quickly. However, he empathized with my situation, and gave me an insight, “Try the sweet shops, there are a few near the lake”. I never did go to those sweet shops because they were completely out of my way. Thankfully, for the morning breakfast, Arunodaya replaced the eggs with Tofu for me. Thus, I managed to get the protein needed for further explorations.

Sometimes there is a silver lining when we take detours for vegetarian restaurants. In Lalitpur, I ate at a vegetarian restaurant called Tip Top Sweets. It was a sweet shop that also served meals. I couldn’t resist finishing the meal with a plate of rasmalai. Especially, because the black daal was too spicy!

This restaurant was a kilometre from Patan Durbar Square. I opted to walk to it through many small lanes. Moreover, after the meal, I explored the area further and visited the Matsyendranath chariot in Lagankhel which was a wonderful sight of local devotion and religious fervour. Further in the area, I visited the Batuk Bhairava temple and Ashoka stupa. Maybe if I did not have to go this way for the meal, I might have skipped these places.

Buddhist Kitchens

The other place to look out for vegetarian meals are the Buddhist kitchens. Many of them are vegetarian or vegan. I had a gala time with the freshly baked breads, salty tea, bean stews in the Namo Buddha monastery situated 40 kms from Kathmandu. At their vegetarian Thrangu cafe, I was able to have Nepali cuisine like the Newari Sadheko and Mustang aloo. This monastery stay was a great rural and spiritual experience for me while also catering to my vegetarian requirements.

There are also, other rural stay options in Nepal for strict vegetarians. These include alternative farm stays like Mahabharat Homestay which provides trekking, yoga retreats, volunteering and other interesting options. I would look out for such alternative stay options when I want to explore the Nepal mountains.

I find that the vegetarian, vegan ecosystem in Nepal is still developing but there are interesting options when we search for them. As long as we keep contingency snacks like protein bars and milk packs with us, we can keep exploring even the most remote areas of this mountain country.