A Room That Doesn't Rush You

There is a particular kind of morning that belongs to families with small children: nobody is in a hurry, but everybody is hungry at a slightly different pace, and somebody usually wants to look at the ducks by the lake before the eggs even arrive. Dear Breakfast, tucked into Street 16 in Lakeside, opens its doors at 7:00 am for exactly that reason, so a family can sit down and let breakfast unfold rather than rushing it.

The room itself asks nothing of you. It is unhurried, and the morning light makes it easy to stay a while. Nobody here is watching the clock, and nobody minds if breakfast takes an hour rather than twenty minutes, or if one child finishes before the other has properly started.

A Table Set for Every Age

Family breakfast in Pokhara works best when nobody at the table has to compromise, and that is how the spread at Dear Breakfast tends to fill. The littlest ones usually gravitate towards something sweet and soft, older children want something closer to what the adults are eating, and the whole range sits on one menu rather than a separate list for grown-ups. A few plates on the menu suit a mixed table particularly well:

  • Banana & Nutella Pancake — fluffy pancakes with a banana and Nutella drizzle, easy to cut into small pieces and share
  • Caramelized Banana Crepes — warm caramelized bananas, Nutella and powdered sugar
  • Two Eggs, Any Style — scrambled, fried, boiled, poached or sunny-side up, with toast, for whoever wants something plainer
  • Dear Breakfast Special Bowl — apple, banana, strawberry, seasonal fruit and granola

Fruit, Eggs and the Easy Middle Ground

Between the sweet plates and the savoury ones sits a good deal of easy middle ground. Fresh fruit is light first thing in the morning, and a shared bowl asks nothing of anyone's patience. For a heartier appetite, the Classic One-Pan Dear Breakfast or the Full Monty cover eggs, sausage, hash brown and toast in one plate, useful when a table is sharing rather than everyone ordering separately. Pancakes, eggs and a fruit bowl all sit on the same menu, so a table can mix them freely — it is rather the point of a pancake and waffle morning with children in tow.

Coffee for the Parents, While the Plates Empty

Somewhere between the fruit bowl and the last bite of pancake, the parents usually reach for coffee. It is one of the quieter pleasures of a family breakfast: the children are occupied, the plate in front of you is still warm, and there is a moment to actually taste your coffee rather than drink it on the move. For a parent who would rather start lighter, the Light & Healthy Breakfast of two eggs, sausage, tomatoes and roasted potato is plainer than the full spread but still enough to see out a morning. Nothing about the pace here pushes anyone towards the door once plates are cleared, and a second coffee is entirely reasonable while the last pancake gets finished.

Before the Day's Plans Begin

Families in Lakeside tend to have somewhere to be afterwards: a boat out on Phewa Lake, or a slow wander along the Lakeside path before the afternoon heat sets in. Eggs are filling, and toast or pancakes are the kind of breakfast that carries a morning of walking. Opening at 7:00 am means the day's first plan can wait until after breakfast, rather than choosing between the two.

Finding the Table on Street 16

Dear Breakfast sits on Street 16 in Lakeside, Pokhara, open every day from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm — come as you are, with whoever is at your table. For a fuller sense of how mornings work in this part of Lakeside before you arrive, our lakeside breakfast guide is a good place to start, and the family table is easy enough to find once you know to look for Street 16.

Yours, every morning,
— Dear Breakfast