Cream-filled, chocolate-coated donuts. Peanut sprinkled, raisin embedded cinnamon rolls. Apple-stuffed, caramel covered apple strudels. Butter moist, double fudge chocolate brownies. Cream cheese layered, cinnamon infused carrot cakes. Lime zest topped, citrus saturated key lime pie.
Kathmandu is full of pastry delights: a recently-converted vegan’s nightmare and a sweet lover’s paradise.
Before I left the States, I had a serious Oreo and Snickers habit that I just couldn’t kick. When I arrived in India and bought my first package of Oreos, I was sorely disappointed when they didn’t taste the same, not even close! In fear of my beloved Snickers also having a below par taste, I cautiously bought a Snickers, praying it was just as good as the American-made candy bar. To my disappointment, all chocolate and even baked goods in India were not nearly as delicious and so began my walk away from sweets for five months.
Upon entering Nepal, I was absolutely shocked when I discovered the pastry and sweets scene in Kathmandu: impressive bakeries everywhere! The streets of Thamel are full of posh, trendy bakeries and cafés focusing on donuts, cakes, cinnamon rolls and pies. These bakeries are delivering on sugar-rich, painfully tantalizing baked goods. My first bite of a chocolate-filled donut, I was skeptical beyond all imagination but was marvelously impressed with the soft battered goodness. It was even better than I ever remembered donuts tasting. So naturally, to make up for the five-month chocolate deprivation, I have spent the last three weeks stuffing my face full of sugar in every form to bring you this amazing collection of the best bakeries in Kathmandu.
Brezel
By far my favorite bakery, Brezel wins the number one spot on my list. Nuzzled between Nepal Investment Bank and Radiance Spa on Kantipur road in Thamel, Brezel offers a variety of high-quality treats: cakes, donuts, croissants, cookies, strudels, baked breads as well as pre-packaged organic muesli and porridge. The divine chocolate cakes and lavish apple Danishes are far above the rest, oozing cinnamon apple filling with every bite.
The chocolate-coated (and stuffed) donut here is the best donut I’ve had in Thamel, especially when warmed up (electricity permitting), making the decadent chocolate gooey and heart-achingly rich. It’s so delectable, in fact, that I can’t eat my donut in the bakery, I have to get it to go or I will over-indulge and buy a second!
Hot Breads
My second favorite often-frequented bakery is Hot Breads, wedged between Kathmandu Guest House and Hotel Access Nepal on Kantipur road in Thamel. This exquisite bakery offers the widest variety of baked treats than the others listed: fresh strawberry tarts, custard Danishes, fruit cakes, holland tarts, banana muffins, stuffed veg pizzas, veg croissants, baguettes, and many more!
Hot Breads also doubles as a cafe, specializing in espressos, cappuccinos, Americanos, and macchiatos. With reasonable prices, you can have a piping hot cappuccino and a chocolate croissant for under 2 USD. Centrally located and next to a bookstore, Hot Breads is a tourist-favorite, as evidenced by the constant flow of customers, keeping the bakers and baristas busy.
Mandap Restaurant and Cafe
Also centrally located in the tourist hub of Thamel, Hotel Mandap’s restaurant and cafe makes the list of favorite bakeries. On par with Hot Breads, Mandap Cafe offers a similar assortment of goods, with an emphasis on cookies and tea. The cookie scene here sets Mandap Cafe apart from the other bakeries: coconut, peanut, chocolate, walnut, moon cookies galore! Frosted cookies, cinnamon raisin cookies, oatmeal cookies!
The tea selection is diverse: earl grey, green, Darjeeling, mint, jasmine, chai, English breakfast, Irish breakfast, along with a few others. The distinguishing factor: a welcomed change of pace from the run of the mill cafés with noisy patrons, Mandap provides a cozy, intimate ambience on the cafe patio, perfect for ordering a tea and enjoying your favorite book or catching up on celebrity gossip (or work, depending on your profession).
Bakery and Confectionary
For those of you more adventurous and willing to stray away from the tourist scene, I highly recommend Bakery and Confectionary on Paknajol Marg, two minutes north of Durbar Square. A simple and straightforward name, this unsuspecting bakery offers the most bang for your buck with the best prices of all the sweets shops: goods starting at 10 rupees! Bakery and Confectionary also offers ice cream, mouth-watering coconut and butterscotch lassi, and the best chai tea of all the tea stands on Paknajol Marg (considering my current caffeine addiction, I speak from experience).
My favorite item here is the chocolate donut, which is sliced in half and filled with light-as-air whipped cream, sandwiched back together and topped with chocolate. Taking a bite of this sinful pastry oozing cream sends me into a mild state of euphoria with every bite. Gluttony at its finest. As if this place wasn’t magical enough, they also have the softest, most delicious brown bread I’ve ever had the pleasure of finding in Kathmandu AND for only 35 rupees! It’s almost too good to be true. Word of warning: this place is incredibly busy and is often sold completely out of goods by evening time so if you plan on having sandwiches for dinner, make sure to get there early!
The best part of the bakeries in Kathmandu is affordability: most desserts range from 10₹ to 90₹ (.10c to .90c USD). For less than a US dollar, you can have an tantalizing, sinful treat. (Hello, diabetes!) What makes it even better (or worse, if you’re trying to be a health nut) is that everything is half off after 8:00PM. Let me repeat: everything is half off after 8:00! Sugar-fanatics start congregating outside the bakeries around 7:30, hoping to get their last incredibly inexpensive sweet-fix of the night, with most bakeries selling completely out by8:30PM.
While Kathmandu has hundreds of bakeries, Brezel, Hot Breads, Mandap Cafe and Bakery and Confectionary stand out from the rest with their high-quality delectables, great price and comforting ambiances. If you’re ever in Thamel, make sure to hit up one of these places to satiate your sweet tooth!
