What to eat between Kathmandu and Pokhara

Everybody stops at Malekhu for fish. Not everybody should.

The Trishuli river fish at Malekhu is genuinely good when it is fresh, which depends entirely on the hour and the stall. Arrive at eleven in the morning and it will be excellent. Arrive at three in the afternoon on a slow day and you are eating something that has been sitting in oil.

Better bets along the corridor.

Naubise, first hour. Very good sel roti and hot milk tea at the small stalls before the climb.

Malekhu, second hour. Fried Trishuli fish. Ask which pan is fresh, and choose the busiest stall rather than the largest.

Kurintar, third hour. The dal bhat at the highway restaurants here is consistently better than at Mugling, and the plates are refilled without argument.

Mugling, midpoint. Everyone stops here. That is precisely why the food is mediocre and the toilets are the worst on the route. If your bus stops at Mugling, use it for the stretch and hold out.

Dumre onward. The last good dal bhat before Pokhara. After this the road climbs and options thin.

A practical note. Bus stops on this route last between fifteen and twenty-five minutes. Order the moment you sit down, and do not order anything that has to be cooked from raw.