Caffe Concerto

About Caffe Concerto

Caffe Concerto is a long-running Italian-Nepalese restaurant and jazz bar on Lakeside Road, in the Baidam area near Phewa Lake in Pokhara. Established in 1987 by an Italian-Nepalese partnership - one owner Italian, one Nepalese - it set out to recreate simple, honest dishes from Italy's regional tradition, and has become one of the lake town's most reliable Italian kitchens.

The cooking is authentic Italian, built on homemade pasta and thin-crust pizza. For more of the area's tables, compare the multicuisine Open House and the all-day Rosemary Kitchen. For the wider category, see our Italian dining guide, or plan an easy evening with our first date picks.

The Kitchen

The kitchen keeps to a simple, regional Italian idea. Thin-crust pizzas come in versions from Margherita and Marinara to a Greek style with feta and walnuts, baked from the oven, alongside homemade pasta, oven-baked poultry and meat, and a run of coffees and desserts that includes house-made ice cream free of colours and preservatives. Much of the freshness comes from the owners' own small organic plot, where they grow herbs, lettuces and vegetables. Prices are gentle: pizzas start around 5 US dollars, small plates and sandwiches sit near 4 to 5, and a full three-course meal runs roughly 12 to 15. This is honest, value-driven cooking rather than fine dining, and the pizza is what regulars and travellers come back for.

The Room

The room is rustic and informal, a relaxed blend of Italian and Nepalese decor with jazz playing in the background - the "concerto" of the name. It sits on Lakeside Road in Baidam, the lake-town strip near Phewa Lake where most of Pokhara's travellers stay, within easy walking distance of the waterfront. The unhurried, cosy feel and gentle prices make it an easy choice for a casual dinner, a relaxed first date or a solo plate after a day in the hills, and the long opening hours suit both lunch and a late, lingering evening over pizza and a glass of wine.