Below Namrung lodge menus are dominated by dal bhat, noodles and pasta. From here upwards, kitchens reflect Nubri life: barley, buckwheat and potatoes are the staple crops, and butter from dzo and yaks goes into tea. Ask your lodge for Tibetan bread, a fried flatbread served with honey or jam, and for tsampa, roasted barley flour mixed with tea or milk into a porridge.
Salt butter tea, made with tea, salt and butter churned in a wooden cylinder, is an acquired taste but warms you quickly and replaces salt lost on the trail. Buckwheat pancakes and local potatoes boiled and served with chilli sauce are other good choices. Apple dishes also appear, from orchards in the villages around Lho.
Dal bhat is still the safest and most filling meal, with free refills of rice and lentils, but trying local food is a good way to support farming families and to understand how people live here. Avoid meat above Namrung; it is carried up from lower valleys without refrigeration.
Good for
- Couples
- Solo
- Families
- Groups
Questions travellers ask
What is tsampa?
Tsampa is roasted barley flour, the staple food of Tibetan and Nubri communities. It is mixed with tea, milk or butter into a dough or porridge and eaten for breakfast or as trail food. It is filling, easy to digest at altitude and grown in the fields around Namrung and Lho.
Is it safe to eat meat on the Manaslu Circuit?
We advise against meat above Namrung. It is usually carried up from lower valleys over several days without refrigeration, and Buddhist villages often do not slaughter animals locally. Stick to dal bhat, eggs, potatoes, Tibetan bread and noodles, and eat meat again after Dharapani.
Do lodges in Namrung serve vegetarian food?
Yes, almost every dish on lodge menus is vegetarian or can be made vegetarian, including dal bhat, fried rice, noodles, potatoes, pancakes and Tibetan bread. Indian vegetarian travellers find this one of the easiest treks for food, though Jain diets without root vegetables need advance planning.
