Vegan Guide to Kathmandu

Published October 2022

Here is our Vegan Guide to Kathmandu in Nepal, featuring our favourite vegan, veggie and vegan friendly options in the Nepalese capital. It also includes a selection of vegan friendly hotels in Nepal, our experience at the first ever Himalayan Vegan Festival, and the forthcoming vegan tours to Nepal and Everest Base Camp which both start in Kathmandu, with the award winning Vegan Travel Asia.

Vegan Restaurants in Kathmandu

Loving Heart

Opening Hours: 9am-9pm every day

Loving Heart
Z-Street
Thamel
Kathmandu

Located on the ground floor of Hotel Avatar in the heart of Thamel, this 100% vegan restaurant serves Nepalese and international cuisine. This is where we enjoyed our first ever Nepalese dal bhat and also our first ever momo experience. We can confidently say that we are now huge fans of these Nepalese staples and you really won’t go wrong if you choose to enjoy them at Loving Heart. Check out the Buddha Bowl too, it was very good indeed, you just have to eat here during your time in Kathmandu, it’s exceptional.

Hamrovegan

Opening Hours: 9am-9pm every day

Hamrovegan
Kumaripati
Kumari Marg
Lalitpur
Kathmandu

We had a packed schedule whilst in Kathmandu, meaning that we didn’t manage to visit Hamrovegan, however we did manage to sample their seitan, seitan pickle and homemade vegan yoghurt at the Himalayan Vegan Festival. The seitan was superb, as was the yoghurt, we will definitely be paying them a visit next time we are in Kathmandu.

C-YA Vegan

Opening Hours: 9am-8pm every day

C-YA Vegan
Just South of Jhamiskhel Big Mart
(opposite side of the road)
Patan
Kathmandu

The team from C-YA Vegan were also at the Himalayan Vegan Festival so we sampled some of their dishes at the food market. Sadly we didn’t get to visit their restaurant during our time in Kathmandu, but as one of only three 100% vegan restaurants in town, we decided to feature them in our vegan guide to Kathmandu anyway.

Vegetarian Restaurants in Kathmandu

Utpala Cafe

Opening Hours: 7am-9pm every day

Utpala Cafe
Pawo Gompa Rd
Kathmandu

Ok the outskirts of town, adjacent to the UNESCO world heritage site of Boudhanath Stupa, and next to Ka-Nying Monastery is this simple veggie cafe set in peaceful gardens. On our first visit, we ordered vada with tomato chutney and a slice of divine looking vegan banana chocolate cake. The vada chutney combo hit the spot as always, and the cake was moist and indulgent. Our following visit was to enjoy a gala buffet as part of the Himalayan Vegan Festival, and the team at Utpala excelled themselves with a huge array of local and international plant based dishes, the finest hospitality and traditional entertainment. And yes, we had the vegan banana chocolate cake again, and it was just as good as the first time! We loved the food, the staff team are super friendly, and the cafe gardens are a tranquil spot where you could easily wile away a good few hours. You should all visit here for sure!

Always Happy Food Co

Opening Hours: 7am-9pm every day

Always Happy Food Co
J P Marg
(opposite Penguin hotel)
Kathmandu

Very impressed with this food counter with limited seating. The tortilla wrap we had was excellent, packed with salad veggies, seitan sausage, vegan chilli mayo, extra black beans and extra avocado. It was so good we’ll struggle not to return to this excellent vegan option in Kathmandu. The entire menu is vegan, but they have ‘extra’ dairy cheese and dairy milk for customers who want to add to their food or smoothies. This is such a shame as it is so close to being 100% vegan!

Places Restaurant

Opening Hours: 8am-11pm every day

Places Restaurant
Chaksibari Marg
Kathmandu

Veggie menu with clearly marked vegan options, from which we ordered tofu and veg skewers, followed by the ‘Places Vegan Tart’. The skewers (served with rice and a BBQ sauce) were absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection. The sweet and tangy sauce was perfect and the spicy homemade vegan mayo was an excellent addition to the dish. The tart was rich and flavourful, providing the perfect sweet end to our lunch. This bright and airy space on the first floor is their new location and we liked it a lot. All of the staff (and owner) who we spoke to were friendly and welcoming, even more importantly they all understood the difference between veggie and vegan.

Sabal Khaja Ghar

Opening Hours: 6am-10pm every day

Sabal Khaja Ghar
43/33 Paknajol Marg
Kathmandu

Excellent local veggie spot, tucked away at the end of an alleyway in a courtyard garden, you will find yourself surrounded by locals eating local veg and vegan food. The staff member who served us fully understood what vegan meant and ensured that our amazing Nepalese Thali was free from butter ghee and dairy, and that our moreish momos were vegan too. Super cheap, super friendly, super local. Highly recommended.

Vegan Friendly Restaurants in Kathmandu

French Bakery Kathmandu

Opening Hours: 7am-9pm every day

French Bakery Kathmandu
Paknajol Chetrapati
Kathmandu

This vegan friendly spot deserves inclusion as they have a separate vegan menu which is always good to find. No more worrying about ingredients, communication or explaining what vegan means! They advertise soy, almond and coconut milk for your coffee but on the day that we visited, only coconut was available. Coconut cappuccinos all round please! The menu featured vegan breakfast favourite, scrambled tofu on toast, whilst other dishes include wraps, salads, burgers, pasta and sandwiches, also a selection of ‘Asian Fusion’ dishes were available. As it was breakfast time we ordered the ‘Big Breakfast’ consisting of grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms, grilled tofu, hash brown, spinach and multigrain toast. It was exactly what we craved and certainly hit the spot. Whilst this may not be the cheapest option in town, it’s a very nice coffee shop cafe, perfect spot to relax with a coffee and they’ve even got vegan brownies for that sweet fix.

Vegan Festival in Kathmandu

Himalayan Vegan Festival

The first ever Himalayan Vegan Festival was an incredible experience and the perfect opportunity to plan our first ever trip to Nepal. Initially scheduled to take place in Kathmandu, Nepal and Thimpu, Bhutan during 2021, the festival was sadly postponed due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. September 2022 finally saw the festival take place, in the Nepalese cities of Kathmandu and Pokhara. It was an honour to be invited and speak alongside inspirational and influential vegans from around the world.

Festival guests included a trio of plant vegan food creators who between them lead the way in development, innovation and distribution of some of the finest plant based products on the planet. Seth Tibbot, founder of Tofurky needs no introduction as he is a true trailblazer, Derek Sarno, co-founder of the excellent Wicked Kitchen and responsible for the development of the Plant Chef range at Tesco, and Abishek Sinha, CEO and co-founder of GoodDot, a plant based meat start up in India who are currently seeing huge growth. So when we were invited to a first tasting of a brand new GoodDot product, which was to be prepared by Chef Derek Sarno, we of course said yes. Many thanks to Mr Sharma and Exec Chef Vinay from The Soaltee for helping us to make this happen!

Vegan Tours in Nepal

Everest Base Camp

Join vegan mountaineer, Kuntal Joisher and his team of expert Sherpa on this 18 day vegan trek to Everest Base Camp. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to challenge yourself both mentally and physically on this epic Himalayan adventure which starts in the vibrant and exciting city of Kathmandu.

Nepal Vegan Adventure

This 14 day vegan tour from award winning Vegan Travel Asia promises to “head off the beaten path and delve into the heart and soul of the Himalayas”. With departure dates in March and October every year, this Nepal Vegan Adventure is an incredible opportunity to experience everything that Nepal has to offer.