With this post I will be starting the articles on review of eating joints or restaurants at the places I travel with my family and friends and other travellers. I will keep updating the same articles with more eating joints or restaurants review as I travel subsequent times to the same place so that one article can easily enlist the good/bad eating joints/restaurants of a certain place.
I hope you love these series and find these articles helpful while making a choice to eat out when you travel to that particular place. I will try to keep the reviews of restaurants or eating joints as brief as possible. Well, first article shall be from one of the most special places of my travel that is a list of good restaurants in Leh – Ladakh Ladakh 🙂 …
Good Restaurants / Eating Joints in Leh – Ladakh
Lamayuru Restaurant , Old Fort road, Leh
VERY MUCH recommended !! Situated on Old Fort Road, Lamayuru restaurant is one of the best places in Leh to have food. They server almost everything except South Indian. I had been there 5-6 times and every time just loved the services as well as the quality of food with good to go prices as well. Even for veggie + eggie like me, it had good amount of variety on offer. We tried breakfast as well as dinner many a times. Use Gesmo Wikimapia Link to find this one on map, it is the one just before Gesmo on left as seen on the map.
Gesmo Restaurant, Old Fort Road, Leh
VERY MUCH recommended!! Situated on Old Fort Road, Gesmo Restaurant or call it a German bakery or something serving North Indian food, the place have it all topped with their special Yak Cheeze Pizza and special ambience at night, the place very much deserve a visit if you are in Leh. Service is a bit slow when compared to Lamayuru but complete worth it. It is right adjacent to Lamayuru restaurant only. Gesmo Wikimapia Link
Neha Snacks, Main Market, Leh
Missing your favourite Alloo tikki or Puri Chole in the cold desert of Leh – Ladakh? lol, Neha Snacks in Main Market is the place for you then. Good food and great prices, will surely gonna bring back the taste buds from home. MUST TRY!!
Shubh Punjabi, Main Market, Leh
One of the friends had been there to Shubh Punjabi restaurant and recommends it very much. Lassi is a MUST TRY thing over there according to him.
Little Italy Restaurant, Near Main Market Leh
We went there only once, its near Main Market where you need to climb stairs as it is on the first floor. The food was extremely nice though there was only rice on offer but not rotis as cooks have not arrived in Leh being off season. Yet, the Dum Aaloo and Matar Panner tasted too yummy. Never had such a Kashmiri Dum Aaloo ever, yeah not even wen I was i Kashmir 😉 … So, if nothing works out for you, then you may try this one as well.
Jeevan Cafe, Changspa Road, Leh
VERY MUCH recommended!! Right on Changspa road, very good and reasonable priced food. Good variety and specially the breakfast is really good. Service is quite good too. Jeevan Cafe Wikimapia Link
Hotel Sten Del Restaurant, Deskit, Nubra Valley
Though not much of a restaurant, it is a Hotel but if you are looking out for some good food in Nubra Valley – Deskit, then do not look anywhere else rather just go and search for Hotel Sten Del or Sangam Bar and Restaurant. The food was just amazing and yeah, they have a garden bar as well to enjoy a drink or two.
Restaurants / Eating Joints to Avoid in Leh – Ladakh
Dreamland Restaurant, Old Fort Road, Leh
Just a one liner, PLEASE AVOID!! Pathetic service, average/bad food and priced high too. Had the worst food on my recent 12 days trip to Ladakh. Same feedback by one of the friends too who incidentally went to it. Just to be sure, here is the map link: Dreamland Wikimapia Link
Reader’s Suggestions
- Lamayuru and Gesmo Restaurants, Leh: Htv8 says below “Vote for Lamayuru, and Gesmo restaurant. Nice food, nice service, and reasonable price. You find good sour soup and yogurt with honey here in two shops. Chicken tandoori is good to. The chef of Gesmo is from Nepal, and offer very good taste.”
- Amdo: Lamalady recommends it at the link here and says “Amdo in the main bazaar beats all these places hands down.” Also, Garima writes here that “Amdo food in the main market. First floor restaurant. Only saw locals in there, which also means its a down to earth place. Try the spinach and cheese momos”
- MY SECRET RECIPE: Ravi says here in community thread, that MY SECRET RECIPE, on Upper Thukcha Road, near its junction with Changspa Road, and right opposite WWF India’s Field Office in Hemis Complex. This place is easily missed unless you look out for the signboard on a crumbling compound wall. You enter either through the small gate here, or through an alley leading off Changspa road lined with hawkers selling trinkets. Either way you reach a rambling courtyard with a little homely cottage in the centre. The place is run by a group of women with a bright sunny interior. The decor is delightful. Please try all their dishes, although the place is mostly known for its coffee & cakes. The omelettes were yummy, my young daughter swears by their pizza, the spaghetti (vegetable, mushroom variants) was delicious and comforting after returning from long getaways from Leh, and don’t forget to wash it all down with their nourishing smoothies!
- Chopstiks Restaurant, Leh: Htv8 says below “There is another good Chopstick restaurant as well. It is right in the corner of Lamayuru, and go straight, on the left side, it is on the first floor. It has beautiful outside view on a full moon night. Inside, it has good decoration, and you are sitting in a warm room.”
- BBQ Shop, Leh: Htv8 says below “Another BBQ shop, which is in Opposite way with Chopstick (just go straight from LAmayuru, and on the right side), you have beautiful garden view, serve good eastern breakfast. The price here is a little bit more expensive then others.”
- World Garden Cafe, Changspa Road – Leh: Nidhi says below “My favourite the World Garden Cafe on Changspa. Its an open air cafe with a few tables under tents as well. They have all cuisines North Indian, Italian, English, Israeli etc. They also serve some amazing desserts most recommended are their Mars Chapati and Sweet Jesus. Its a very calm n soothing place. You dont realise you are such a busy road as Changspa. There is a stream nearby.” Suman also recommends it here
- KC Garden: Dipanshu Bansal says here, KC Garden is awesome and Planet M recommended restaurant.
- Cafe IRIS: Lakshit says here, Cafe IRIS is an excellent option for snacks and dinner.
- Dogra dhaba: Yash Dhaliwal says here, Dogra dhaba, Next to GESMO.
I think the best place to eat in leh - Bon Appetit: Lamalady recommended here, chocolate momos at this place.
- Tibetan Kitchen: Kiran recommends it at the link here and says “Very good food, good service & reasonable.”
- German Bakery: Anshul recommends it at the link here and says “German Bakery is also good , Their Yak Cheese is awesome. Other then that they have a quite good ambience and dishes. I particularly loved lemon ginger honey and mint ginger honey there in Ladakh.” Beware of imposters though as there are many German Bakeries in Leh 😉
- Summer Harvest: near the Main market for Momos & yummy Thukpa….. Real good place to hang out … as posted by Ananya in her lovely and crisp Travel Tale: A Dream called … Ladakh”
- Pumpernickles: Had dinner at Pumpernickles next to German Bakery (the original i suppose with a Sardar boss)…Tastiest Lemon Honey Ginger Tea with a biggg burger, as posted by Ananya in her lovely and crisp Travel Tale: A Dream called … Ladakh”
- Bon Aroma: One restaurant that served yummy food at decent prices was Bon Aroma, placed in the road to the Main Bazaar. Pretty cheap by any standard. The food was delicious… as posted by Soham on the DoW Blog linked here
- Sunbeam cafe: at Old Fort Road – This one serves very good Thukpa, Kothey and Chocolate Banana Pancake, as posted by Neeraj in the community thread linked here
- Maska Chaska Restaurant: The food at Maska Chaska Restaurant was pretty awesome! Its near Ladakh Bike Rentals, as posted by Pranav in the community thread linked here
- IL Forno: The place was buzzing with foreigners. The food was lip-smacking. Just try their IL-Forno Pizza. Its among the best ones I had in my life, as posted by Pranav in the community thread linked here
- Wazwan Restaurant: Then tried the Kashmiri cuisine at Wazwan Restaurant in the main market. The Kashmiri Nan was to die for!, as posted by Pranav in the community thread linked here
- Happy World Restaurant: on Old Fort road, Leh. Amazing food with reasonable price. Also The restaurant inside Thiksey Monastery serves wonderful Themthuk., as posted by Subir in the comments section below.
- Rhinchen Cafeteria, Khardungla Top: Avik says below “Though may not be the best, but to get snacks and hot drinks at that altitude of 18300 ft (probably highest cafeteria in the world) is indeed great.” I too agree with it. Really great place to have some snacks, tomato soup is my favorite though 🙂
Conclusion
I hope you find the above list quite handy when you go out to eat in Leh – Ladakh. I request you to please share your views and feedback as well on these restaurants if you have been to any of them or others where you had a meal in Leh – Ladakh so that it we are able to compile a comprehensive list under one place for such Restaurants / Eating Joints all over Leh – Ladakh. I am sure this will certainly help other fellow travellers planning their trip to Leh – Ladakh.
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Had gone to Leh in Sept 2015 with my wife and stayed for 2 days. We had our dinner for those 2 days at Tibetan Kitchen, the food was delicious specially dumpling soup. Though its Tibetan menu is very much limited but the food was really awesome, my wife still says that she would like to visit Leh only to have food at Tibetan Kitchen.
Prices are moderate, not very low, not very high but the food quality surely is excellent.
We tried Gesmo, but didn’t like it at all, except for its bakery products. The food was very oily and not to my taste.
Above mentioned are strictly my personal opinions as per my experience and does not mean to offend any one.
Thanks
Thank you for your reviews bro, I am sure this will surely help others making a choice 🙂
Sure bro.
Dear Dheeraj,
I have been enjoy reading you website very much. Best resource for Ladakh lovers.
We will be going to Ladakh in late September. Will it be easy to find the some places to eat in Nubra Valley and Pangong Tso at that time of the year. We are considering whether we should book the hotel with meal plan or not, but would definitely love to explore around if possible. Appreciate your advice.
Regards
Van Nguyen
Thank you so much Van for the appreciation. Yes, late September is still fine to travel to Ladakh and there will be hotels and camps running during that time at both Nubra Valley as well as Pangong Tso
Is nubra valley open if i travel in last week of april
Yes, Nubra Valley remains open all round the year barring few days of heavy snowfall at Khardung La
Restaurants we tried during our trip
Neha snacks : we tried tikki, chat papri , pakoda. All were great. Chole bhature also looked tampting but we didnt try it. Food was not oily and was tasty.
Chopstick noodle bar: we went there twice and loved the food. Best dimsums. Soup was good. Spring rolls and honey chilly potato were great .my friend tried thai food which was good according to her. Good service and very good presentation.
Tibatian kitchen : good food but chopstick noodle bar was better. Good tomoto soup. Nice veg fried momos.
Clouds cafe, thiskey: this is new restaurant , 4 months old. Best food we had in ladakh. We stoped there for washroom which was very very clean and tried pastry which was tasty and fresh. So decided to had lunch and food was awesome. We had pizza , grilled sandwich , pasta , garlic bread , burger, shakes n freah lime soda. Very good service. Food costs 1400 for 4.
Rhinchen cafe , k-top: good and hot maggi , coffee and tea. Best one can get at such a height.
Thank you so much Sapna, for all these updates. These will be quite helpful. I will update the article accordingly as well.
We had a wonderful trip. Thanks to DOW. Keep up the good work.
we also tried restaurant at Zimskhang Holiday Home Alchi. Had refreshing fresh lime soda and yummy shakes. Washrooms were spotless there. They also gave us fresh apple from tree.
cafe inside Hall of Fame serves very good coffee. Nice place to sit and play board games.
Dheeraj, please recommend some restaurants on sham valley route. We got very bad food at Nimmu which we didn’t eat and then had langar at Gurudwara.
Aah great, those are some new places. I will add in there. Well, in Nimmu, though food might not be that good, however, I have had Chowmein which was fine and also mostly we stop there for Samosas and Tea on left side first or second shop while going to Leh from Alchi. I think someone has put up a DoW Sticker too there. Samosas are decent there.
Thanks a lot, super glad to know it 🙂
Happy World Restaurant on Old Fort road, Leh. Amazing food with reasonable price. Also The restaurant inside Thiksey Monestry serves wonderful Themthuk.
Thank you Subir, this is updated in the list.
Thanks for the tips, Dheeraj and everyone. Just arrived in Leh after a week long drive from Delhi to Leh via Manali after being stuck at Baralacha for over 24 hrs. Going to try the local food but can you suggest any restaurant that serves south Indian food, need a break 😉
Aah, sorry on that front. Did not saw anyone of those, perhaps never searched hence 🙁
The Tibetan Kitchen, should be in the list.
Thank you, I will add it to the list.
Please also add Tibetian Kitchen (Tibetian food) and Bon Appetite (continental food)
Thank you I will add them to the list.
Can someone update me about veg restaurants in leh ladakh…preferably which cook only veg ?
Sorry Ramprakash, you can try Neha Snacks for sure where I know only veg is cooked. Apart from that I am not aware of the restaurant where only veg food is cooked.
Dheeraj.
I am in leh. Looking for the local beer(Chaang).. My driver says it’s tough to get in this time. Do you know where I can find this?.. Also the Yak cheese. My driver says we would get it on the way to pangong.. Please respond at the earliest. Here for only a day
Satish, Yak Cheese you can get in Gesmo Restaurant I believe as when we were there he was offering us to take it. They serve Yak Cheeze Pizza too. Regarding Chang, he is right because I think the season in when around March to May but it depends if some local has some stock of it available or not. Rest I am sorry brother, no idea where exactly to get it. I had it twice in that period only and in local houses of Ladakh / Spiti only not in market.
Thanks dheeraj.. Will have to settle with cheese only this time..
Hello Dheeraj,
I had requested a couple of days back about two of us doing Spiti & Lahaul from Shimla to Keylong ( Sept. 4 to 10)by shared taxi or bus & asked your suggestions for places of visit & stay. Further from Keylong we would to Leh on 11th & from 11th to 21st we want to cover local sights, Nubra valley(2 days), Sham Valley withLamayuru ( 1 day), Pangong visit ( 2 days) & Tso Moriri visit ( 2 days). we have our flight from Leh on 22nd. Kindly suggest a good itinerary for a journay by shared/ public transport. Also is there a chance that we can join as co passengers in taxis of others / shared vehicles?
Please suggest a possible itinerary for us. Thank you so much.
Prakash I did reply you brother, check the link: https://discoverwithdheeraj.com/how-to-calculate-cost-or-budget-for-leh-ladakh-trip/#comment-79170
Thank you Dheeraj. Just missed to checkout at the right link. You are really doing a yeoman service for Ladakh/Lahaul Spiti explorers. Wish you great outdoors.
regards, Prakash
Best wishes for the trip Prakash and we will wait for your pictures and trip report back in the community. If by chance you happen to be happy to help the local community, please try and support the DoW Causes up there. You can check more details about them at: https://discoverwithdheeraj.com/india/responsible-travel-f38/dow-causes-step-towards-responsible-travel-t358.html
If you are in Leh, don’t eat at the Hotels or the guest houses. It’s better to eat in the restaurants. One restaurant that served yummy food at decent prices was Bon Aroma placed in the road to the Main Bazaar. Pretty cheap by any standard. The food was delicious.
Wonderland restaurant at Changspa was amazing. Good service, tasty food and reasonable rates. We actually din’t prefer any other restaurant for the 5 days in Leh!!
Thanks Amit for posting it!!
this should be of mighty help, thanks! 🙂
Indranil, do check the community thread as well at the link for couple of more: List of Good Restaurants in Leh – Ladakh
Also, if possible, try and add your experiences as well in the community 🙂
sure ‘ll! 🙂
P.S.- is there any bar-restra in Leh?
While on our visit to Ladakh in June this year,we ate many times in Mentokling Apple Garden restaurant. It falls on the left on Zangsti Road as you go towards Changspa Road from the main market, a few yards before Moravian School. The food was good, especially the sizzlers and some chinese dishes but their service is absolutely slow. The staff has a laid back attitude and the other guests didnt seem to mind that. The other place was Leh View. Their service and food is okay and we specially liked their biryani which was actually very far from the original biryani but very tasty and tangy masala rice.
Thanks alot Sharmeen for sharing these feedbacks. I will keep them here as they looks average and readers can go over the comments to judge for themselves 🙂
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma
On my recent visit to Leh i tried all the top three restaurants Lamayuru, Gesmo, Neha snacks.
All 3 were excellent but my favorite was NEHA SNACKS..yummy tikki choley, samosa chaat, uttpam, jalebi. In fact tikki choley were better than any other place in northern India.
Regards
Chandan
Thanks for sharing the feedback Chandan, will surely help others too.
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma
You could have even mentioned some prices, you know. Just to get an idea of how much it will cost to make a trip to Leh/Laddakh.
Thanks alot Matheikal for the tip, I will try to collect the prices as over next trip and link it here.
However, For doubts related to budget for Leh – Ladakh trip, I am sure the link below will help you alot for getting an idea of overall budget:
How to calculate cost or budget for Leh – Ladakh trip
Still, in case you have any doubt, kindly let me know.
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma
Wow, i liked this post. I have always wanted opinionated posts on restaurants. And yours is right there. i ‘ll remember when I go there.
PS:i also like your status of highways on the right
Hi Sneha,
Thanks alot. Glad you liked both the info. present on the blog. Well, yeah it is just a start of new category and more articles will come up for the same as and when I visit other places. So, stay tuned 🙂
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma
1. Vote for Lamayuru, and Gesmo restaurant. Nice food, nice service, and reasonable price. You find good sour soup and yogurt with honey here in two shops. Chicken tandoori is good to. The chef of Gesmo is from Nepal, and offer very good taste. 2. There is another good Chopstick restaurant as well. It is right in the corner of
Lamayuru, and go straight, on the left side, it is on the first floor. It has beautiful outside view on a full moon night. Inside, it has good decoration, and you are sitting in a warm room. 3. Another BBQ shop, which is in Opposite way with Chopstick (just go straight from LAmayuru, and on the right side), you have beautiful garden view, serve good eastern breakfast. The price here is a little bit more expensive then others.
Thank You So Very Much!! The comments no reads in the article 🙂 … Extremely nice of you to share such nice reviews. I have updated all of them up in the article.
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma
For one who wants to understand more about the reviews mentioned here/shop directions, I updated the links. You guys can have a look on them.
1. Lamayuru and Gesman restaurants.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105912546160690136410/2012082905LehCityLamayuruGermanRestaurant?authkey=Gv1sRgCO2Xgo2X-cLuWw#
2. Chopstick restaurants
https://picasaweb.google.com/105912546160690136410/2012090103LehChopstickRestaurants?authkey=Gv1sRgCMS0mJuJgNOqKg#
3. BBQ restaurants
https://picasaweb.google.com/105912546160690136410/2012090400LehBBQCoffeeShop?authkey=Gv1sRgCMzkw7W-oJj-zwE#
Thank you so much for all these lovely pictures 🙂
I think you can add Rhinchen Cafeteria, Khardungla Top. Though may not be the best, but to get snacks and hot drinks at that altitude of 18300 ft (probably highest cafeteria in the world) is indeed great.
Thanks alot Avik, yes, damn I missed that despite having one of my favorite places to have tomato soup.
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma
My favourite the World Garden Cafe on Changspa. Its an open air cafe with a few tables under tents as well. They have all cuisines North Indian, Italian, English, Israeli etc. They also serve some amazing desserts most recommended are their Mars Chapati and Sweet Jesus. Its a very calm n soothing place. You dont realise you are such a busy road as Changspa. There is a stream nearby
Thanks alot Nidhi for such a review and feedback. I have updated the review in the article itself. Gonna, definitely help alot of people if we all can create such a comprehensive list for one best eating joints of Leh – Ladakh 🙂
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma
Yes, this is a nice initiative. It will form a good collection of restaurant reviews. Any suggestions on where to eat in winter? I am going there for a week this Jan 2013. I’m quite sure all of these places will be closed in January..
Thanks. Well, in winters, most of them will be closed. I can take a chance with Lamayuru because even local visit this place alot for their parties and all. So, wild guess, it might be open. Best place to eat in winters would surely be hotel and that is the reason why they offer prices with meals mostly, whosoever is open. Changspa most likely to be completely shut as it was when I was there in April.
Regards
Dheeraj Sharma