Almost everything I ate traveling to Kathmandu Gluten Free
Maybe it was the effect of 20+ days on the trails around Everest Base Camp but after making it to nearly 20 countries GF, I still dream of the brunches I had in Kathmandu and for good reason, just look at that french toast!
In all seriousness, while Kathmandu doesn’t have many app-rated GF spots, snacks are hard to find, and Celiac-safe is not a common phrase you’ll hear, it was a place where I had some amazing meals and found beyond accommodating, with a bit more work and a lot of crossing of my fingers. From the handful of established safe[r] spots to prospecting local restaurants to make something, I ate well, and ate lots (hey, after hiking all that time, I earned it). Add in Dal Bhat, the go to dish for treks and which is usually done naturally GF and entirely delicious and I would go back in a heartbeat, but with some food in my backpack from home to help out too.
Kathmandu gluten free overview: 5/10
Dedicated GF spots
Unfortunately Kathmandu does not have any 100% safe spots currently so be ready for shared eats or packing food in.
Shared GF spots
The French Bakery
Located just outside the main shopping district of Thamel, I can’t praise The French Bakery enough for their food or their vibe. Going basically every day, I had a chance to chat with the owner a bit and hear his story. Surprisingly there was no Celiac in his life, he just saw the need and went with it, and it works!
While a small, shared space, it’s heavily frequented by Celiacs and the Gluten-intolerant alike with high quality breakfast and lunch options from french toast to sandwiches to pasta, even cheesecakes and other goodies. They import flour, have Italian pasta and bake everything up on their own. If you’re heading on a trek (or just in general), I strongly suggest taking a loaf of their amazing bread with you too.
OR2K
Located upstairs above a few gear shops in the heart of Thamel, OR2K is a middle eastern restaurant with a vibe all its own. No chairs, you sit on floor cushions at small tables in an otherwise communal feeling space. Early in the day, you can have the entire place to yourself but by the evening, it really comes alive and is loud and busy in the best of ways. As for safe food, while clearly a shared space, their menu has a GF / Vegan page and they clearly get a lot of gluten free business, though always worth double checking orders given how busy they can be and to separate yourself from the GF lifestyle eaters.
The place gets busy at night, a testament to their food GF or not, and if you go for an early breakfast, you may get the entire spot to yourself as I did twice. As they’re open into the evening, they’re good for a dinner stop, and their Pad Thai is a great dish as is their Buckwheat (yes, that’s safe despite the name) roti bread but it was their Buckwheat pancakes that drew me in and back in.
Note: I had no issues here but it is a busy, shared spot and some reviews suggest mix-ups so as always, double check things!
Honorable mentions
If you’ve read my about me page or other posts, you’ll know that while I will go to great lengths for a gluten free pastry and I can absolutely put function over form to eat at the one reliable place every day. In Kathmandu, I did a lot of that, returning to The French Bakery and OR2K religiously. I did however have a few meals out and about with others and they did not always want my places. Here I wasn’t using FMGF or Google reviews or even menus but rather picking recommended restaurants and either having Dal Bhat which is mostly GF to start or doing what I seldom like to do, and asking for an entire modification.
Baskin & Robbins
In these cases, gluten free seemed to mostly register but cross contamination was a harder concept to relay, even the one night when I was out with my guiding company fully translating. In these cases, I focus on simplifying, rather than explaining the entire concept of CC or asking about every sauce, I skip the obviously questionable stuff and go for the basics with a safe, simple meal. It may look basic but a chicken breast with some mashed potatoes and veggies was absurdly delicious after weeks of lower protein, veggie based meals while walking for miles 16,000′!
There’s also a Baskin & Robbins in Kathmandu (and amazingly, a place that sells their ice cream all the way up in Lukla). Many flavors are GF and they were glad to rinse off a scoop for me. I can’t say this was my safest decision but I made it 3 or 4 times and did not have any obvious issues, which felt pretty remarkable not just for gluten, but given the amount of food I ate after my trek.
I also saw good reviews for French Creperie but their hours and menu never lined up to make it over. So you may want to throw that on your list too.
Grocery store options
If restaurants seem thin, grocery stores were not much better. On the trek, I mostly had eaten a small, but vital assortment of snacks I brought with me and a Snickers bar that I would buy every night when we finished our trekking for the day. While snickers aren’t GF labeled, they are ingredient safe and I would check local versions to avoid any with shared manufacturing labels, whether relevant or not. Back in the Kathmandu or even larger trekking villages like Namche and Lukla, there were more options but not many, aside from fruit & veggies of course.
Whether a larger supermarket outside of Thamel (the tourist/trekker hub) or a smaller market by my hotel, every place seemed to have a couple of things no other spot would: some peanut butter, a different bag of chips, or an occasional energy bar — but mostly snack success came in the form of unlabeled, naturally GF things like fruit, organic nuts (was very timid on those), Bounty bars, Reese’s. Bottom line: bring snacks from home. There’s enough to supplement but not enough to rely on and especially to fill up a trail bag if you’re heading on a trek or climb.
The meals I had were amazing and the few safe spots wonderful, but options are limited, language and CC familiarity are real constraints, and if you’re used to dedicated-only dining or react quickly and severely, Kathmandu will require more planning than most destinations.
