Backstreet Academy Secret Food Tour of Kathmandu

Last Updated on November 29, 2019 by Christine Kaaloa

bara, bara shop thamel, food tour kathmandu, backstreet academy
Bara shops have popped up around Kathmandu due to its popularity. Bara was once a festival food but has turned into a snack /breakfast food

 

 One of my favorite travel pastimes is eating street food. So one of my goals of things to do in Kathmandu was learning about the best foods of Nepal.

But eating Nepal street food can feel sketchy for western travelers. So called in help from my Nepali food guide, Kanti of the Backstreet Academy, who took me on my second Kathmandu food tour: The Secret Tour.

A Food Tour of Kathmandu… a secret one!

If you’re like me, you love learning local secrets, learn about the foods of Nepal and traveling deeper. So I was pretty sold by the idea of a Kathmandu food tour. Throw in hidden gems of Kathmandu and you’ve got a winner. The Secret Tour definitely was that– a deletable winner!

Backstreet Academy’s Secret Tour is a walking tour showcasing some of the best foods of Nepal. You’ll find yourself slipping through darkened doorways which opened to residential courtyards and temples. You’re taken to popular local haunts and visit streets that are known for housing specialty items.

backstreet academy secret tour food tour kathmandu
Food tour Kathmandu
Food tour Kathmandu, best lassi kathmandu, thamel lassi shop
Food tour Kathmandu: Experiencing the Best Lassi in Kathmandu

Meat lovers tour vs a vegetarian tour

Backstreet Academy’s Secret Tour offers five dishes and two variations of its secret tour. One  tour is a menu and route for meat lovers. Another route and menu was  for vegetarian/vegan lovers. The meat lovers tour is a little more customary for Nepali culture, as Nepal is not a predominantly vegetarian culture. While Nepalese culture is not known for eating beef (as cows are considered sacred) they will indulge in buffalo meat.

Popular meat choices are choila and chewa, a spiced grilled buffalo meat with beaten rice.  Foods like momos occasionally have options called “buff” (aka buffalo meat).

Contrarily, I took the vegetarian tour, where my substitute for the buffalo was potato samosa. It doesn’t sound like a comparable tradeoff, but the route and the popular local haunt I visited was very interesting and I was not disappointed. Backstreet Academy gives equal indulgence to both gastronomical worlds.

 

kathmandu lifestyle
Residential Courtyard, Kathmandu.

 

Memorable foods from my secret Kathmandu food tour:

Bara

After feeding pigeons at a local temple, which is said to improve dharma, we went through a darkened doorway, upstairs to a non-descript Bara shop. It was clear there was no way I’d have found this shop on my own and even had I, I wouldn’t have known to trust the food there. But it was a popular local shop for bara and yomari.

Bara shops have gotten popular in Kathmandu. Originally a festival food, bara is a Nepalese pancake, made of lentils. It’s often served with either a side dish of curried soy, mushrooms or potatoes.

bara shop
Bara shop

Yomari

Yomari is a festival food easily recognizable as a unique shape reminiscent of a large seashell or pasta shell. It is made of steamed rice flour with a variety of fillings from bitter molasses, chocolate, khuwa (sweet thickened milk or curd; similar ingredients of the Indian/Nepali sweet ‘barfi”), etc…  The dish is served in Newar households during winter as a way to combat the cold; it is said to be a food which keeps you warm.

yomari, nepali festival desserts, popular Nepali foods
popular Nepali foods: Yomari
Yomari, nepali foods
Yomari

Malpuwa

Kanti took me to a 100 year old family-owned sweet shop in Thamel where we tried malpuwa. Malpuwa is a popular Nepali sweet. It takes haluwa (a sweetened semolina paste) and wraps it in a thin flour pancake.

 100 year old sweet shop Thamel, malpuwa dessert, nepali desserts
Malpuwa: 100 year old sweet shop Thamel
 100 year old sweet shop Thamel, malpuwa dessert, nepali desserts
Malpuwa, a Nepali sweet with mashed semolina.
 100 year old sweet shop Thamel, malpuwa dessert, nepali desserts
Kanti rolled the malpuwa up like a burrito so we could share it better.

Momos

Slipping through another doorway alley, we entered a courtyard to Ranjana Soda, an outdoor food cart selling their specialty of momos. In Nepal you’ll find a large variety of momos:  the most common are buff momos, chicken momos and vegetable momos. If you ever see “Buff” on a Nepali menu, that term is abbreviated for buffalo meat. There are parts of Nepal in which it is against the law to slaughter a cow.  Each type of momo was distinguished by their shape– that’s a good way of telling them apart.

Lassi

Tucked off to the side in a square not far from Durbar Square, we visited a local lassi shop selling delicious lassis as low as 40Rs a cup. Gauging from the local crowd it was drawing in the mid-day heat, it was a popular lassi shop. Sweet lassi is a favorite in both, Nepal and India. Scooped from a large container, the shop was manned by three men and was popular with locals. There were sprinkles of walnuts and seeds on them and going down, it was super refreshing.
best lassi in kathmandu

Must try foods in nepal, must try foods nepal, lassi , nepalese lassi
lassi

Samosa

We didn’t try the Nepali pizza. Instead, Kanti took me to Tip Top Sweets, a popular tucked away joint off New Street where they sold samosas and Nepali sweets. Samosas are a deep fried wrapped dough crust filled with spiced, curried and/or mashed potatoes.   This particular shop is known for its crust, fluffy, light, like a cookie with a secret sweet sour sauce. They also sell kachori, a similar deep fried dough crust filled with lentils.

tip top samosas, best samosas in kathmandu
tip top samosa

Dahi Puri Chaat

I’ve tried the common street pani puri and chaat in Varanasi from a street food hawker. Dahi puri chaat is a different form of pani puri. This dish we tried from a popular local street truck in the New Street area. Dahi means yogurt, puri is a deep fried hollow ball, chaat is a mixture of things of chutney, onions, lime juice, fried noodles. You can get a plate of puris for 70Rs on the streets and it is heaven in one mouthful bite.

best pani puri kathmandu, pani puri nepal,
Pani Puri

Sightseeing Kathmandu

The walking tour of the neighborhoods of Thamel were a welcome balance to the Nepali foods we gorged on.  On our way to the next food vendor, Kanti would point out a popular local temple ritual, a secret local temple,  or a street you’d shop at for wedding celebrations.  She’d tell me the history of the area or its popularity with locals. Each neighborhood introduction paved the way for a type of food.

 

secret temple where we fed pigeons
Secret temple where we fed pigeons
things to do in kathmandu, kathmandu travel guide, swayambuth stupa
We visited Kathesimbhu Stupa, a 17th century smaller copy of the famous Swayambhunath monkey temple, tucked away in a small hidden courtyard in Thamel. The stupa is dedicated to Hariti, the goddess of smallpox, and is a place where many new Nepali youth bring their dates
freak street kathmandu, freak street thamel
freak street thamel: Once infamously known as a popular hangout for marajuana smoking hippies. Today it’s lined with a lot of boutiques and souvenir shops.
Kathmandu secret streets, thamel streets, things to do in kathmandu
A street lined with jewelry necklace makers, who specialized in jewelry for wedding celebrations
bead street kathmandu
Bead Street: An area in Thamel where married women go to buy a beaded necklace.
New Street Kathmandu
New Street is an area that locals shop at for household goods, clothing, jewelry and technology. It’s lined with parked motorbikes and the rumble of street traffic.

 

Conclusion

Go on an empty stomach. Although the menu looks small, the tour will feed you a lot. I had an absolutely wonderful time. The biggest secret Backstreet Academy and their food guides shed light on are the popular mainstay foods that are close to Nepali hearts, traditions and palates.

To book your foodie or cultural tour, visit Backstreet Academy and tell them I sent you!


Watch my food tour of Kathmandu :

(Part 1: Secret Nepali Food Tour: Going deep into Kathmandu)

( Part 2: Mouthgasmic Nepali Snacks to Gorge on)


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Disclaimer: I researched this tour and requested sponsorship so I could share it. I  received a tour in exchange. I always keep it real- all opinions are always my own. Personally, I highly recommend Backstreet Academy for the value it provides to all travelers looking to experience an authentic Nepal. I thoroughly enjoy both tours. Keep an eye out for the second tour I took with them!

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