The first morning back
You know the feeling. You have come down from the Annapurna trails and the road has levelled out under your feet. Phewa Lake is where you left it, and Lakeside is making its usual unhurried noises: a shutter rattling up, a scooter somewhere, a kettle on in the next doorway. Nobody is asking you to be anywhere. For the first time in a while, the morning belongs to you.
This letter is for that morning. Days of dal bhat, instant coffee and early starts teach you to love simple, practical food. Back in town, though, the thing most people want is a plate big enough to need both hands and a table where they can sit for as long as they like. We are on Street 16, and we open at 7:00 am. You can come at first light, still stiff in the knees, or you can sleep until the sun is properly up. Either way the room is warm.
Start with the big plates
Nobody walks into a café after a long trek wanting a polite portion. A generous plate feels good after a long walk. That is everyday common sense, not a promise of anything more. These are the plates on our menu that most naturally suit a hungry traveller:
- Full Monty: the proper, no-compromise plate for the person who has been dreaming of one since the last teahouse.
- Dear Big Breakfast: exactly what the name says, for the table that wants the full spread.
- Classic One-Pan Dear Breakfast: a familiar, comforting way to begin.
- Dear Middle East: a shareable, colourful feast for the middle of the table.
- High-Protein Breakfast: for anyone who likes a plate built around protein.
- 3 Eggs Any Style: simple and direct. Choose how you like them and let the rest of the morning slow down.
- Hash Brown Potatoes: golden, crisp-edged and made for sharing, or not sharing, as you wish.
Choosing without overthinking it
If you are travelling alone and starving, the Full Monty or the Dear Big Breakfast is a safe place to begin. If you would rather taste a few things, there is nothing wrong with ordering 3 Eggs Any Style and a side of Hash Brown Potatoes and building a plate of your own. Protein keeps you feeling full, and potatoes are a good, honest source of carbohydrate. Neither fact is news to anyone who has just walked for days, and we will leave it there.
Travelling with a friend you spent days walking behind? Put the Dear Middle East in the middle of the table and pass things around. Some of the best conversations of a trip happen over a shared breakfast, when nobody has to look at a map. If you are curious about how the egg dishes work, we wrote a longer note about protein breakfasts in Pokhara.
Something to drink, and nowhere to rush
Order a flat white if coffee is what you have been missing. It is a small, ordinary pleasure, and after long days of whatever the trail offered it tastes very good. If you want something lighter beside a heavy plate, a seasonal fruit juice is a fine companion. Fresh fruit is light, and that makes it an easy counterpoint to a big plate of eggs and potatoes. Ask what is in season when you order.
Then stay. Linger over the second cup, or have a juice after the coffee. If you are in no hurry, we love that. Our note on coffee and slow mornings in Lakeside is about exactly this: the quiet that the lake gives a morning, whether you are heading up the trail or coming down from it.
A small note for the day ahead
After breakfast, do what the town does best. Walk slowly along the water and sit somewhere with your feet up. You could do some laundry, or write a few postcards that will arrive after you are home. Nothing here needs to be earned or optimised. You have walked, you have eaten, and the lake is still there.
If you read us before you set out, you may remember our letter about breakfast before trekking. Think of this one as its other half: that was written for the early start, and this is for the welcome home.
Yours, every morning,
— Dear Breakfast