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Eating Out In Nainital - From Street Food to Multicuisine Restaurants

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From spicy, aromatic street eats to a smorgasbord of Indian, Continental, and Chinese dishes (known as "multicuisine"), Nainital offers many options to tempt your taste buds. Attuned to the palates of tourists, the restaurants along Nainital’s Mall Road serve everything from North Indian delicacies like aloo parathas (flatbread stuffed with spiced potato) to international grub like pepper steaks and pizzas.

Typical dishes


Crunchy, deep-fried lentil biscuits called chaat and meat or vegetable dumplings known as momos are popular snacks. The spicy potato dish aloo ke gutke, which is boiled and roasted, is a must-try Nainital specialty.

Mall Road


The restaurants on Nainital's Mall Road cater to domestic and international tourists. Tuck into rich and buttery dal makhani (black lentil curry) and rotis (Indian flatbread) at Embassy restaurant, known for its North Indian and Indo-Chinese cuisine. If enjoying lake views while you dine is a priority, head to Café de Mall for coffee and sandwiches. Want to linger for lunch or dinner? Try their pizzas and sizzlers. Mall Road is also dotted with pastry joints like Sakley’s, where you can sample apple pie and chocolate truffle pastries.


  • Embassy, The Mall, Mallital, Nainital 263001, Uttrakhand; Tel: +91 5942 235597

  • Café de Mall, The Mall, Mallital, Nainital 263002, Uttrakhand; Tel: +91 5942 235527


Tibetan Market


Wandering through the alleyways of the Tibetan Market, you'll find many eateries serving traditional Tibetan and Indo-Chinese food. Tune your ears to the clank of metal ladles on cast-iron frying pans and follow the smoke rising from unassuming Sonam Chowmein Corner. It's one of the most notable Tibetan food stalls at the market and you'll be able to spot it by the number of customers thronging at its entrance. Sonam specializes in chow mein (stir-fried noodles with meat or vegetables) and soft, steamed momos (dumplings made with meat or vegetables).


  • Sonam Chowmein Corner, The Flats, Mallital, Nainital 263001, Uttrakhand


The Flats


Some of the makeshift eateries in The Flats neighborhood, don't even have a name, but they're good places to find inexpensive street food. Don't hesitate to slurp lemon sodas or pop pani pooris (crisp, puffed balls of dough, filled with tangy water) into your mouth with your hand, because that's what locals do. You might want to end your meal by trying dahi-jalebi, bright orange lentil fritters in sugar syrup served with thick curd. Another place to try Indo-Chinese fare in The Flats is Chinatown which serves melt-in-the-mouth momos and flavorful thukpa (noodle soup).


  • Chinatown, Near Gurudwara, The Flats, Mallital, Nainital 263001, Uttrakhand




The town of Kathgodam, an hour's drive south of Nainital, makes a great day trip for foodies. Restaurants and sweet shops along the Haldwani - Nainital road give visitors the chance to sample Kumaoni hill cuisine. Smells of locally made sweets like baal mithai (a chocolate-colored, chewy hill sweet made with evaporated milk cream and cane sugar) waft from brightly colored shopfronts. Kathgodam's varied restaurants serve anything from South Indian vegetarian fare to European cuisine. Udupiwala, the town's popular vegetarian restaurant, offers fluffy idlis (steamed rice cakes).


  • Udupiwala Restaurant, Haldwani - Nainital Road, Kathgodam, Near Railway Station, Nainital 263139; Tel: +91 5946 244004