The Bakery Cafe Baneshwor

The Bakery Cafe is a Kathmandu institution, a small local chain that helped introduce casual dining to Nepal. It was founded by Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshapati, a pioneer of the city's restaurant scene who had earlier opened Nanglo on Durbar Marg and set up a bakery in 1982 to supply his restaurants. The first Bakery Cafe opened at Teendhara in 1991, and its Durbar Marg flagship closed in 2014 when the lease ran out, while the chain now has branches at Baneshwor, Pulchowk, Teendhara and Jawalakhel, plus a newer restaurant, Pali by The Bakery Cafe, in Mandikatar, where the head office is also based.

The Baneshwor branch is the one with the most distinctive story. In 1997 the cafe began employing hearing-impaired staff here, at a time when people with hearing and speech disabilities were often seen as a burden on their families. The chain remains known in Nepal for employing hearing-impaired waiters and waitresses, and its founder was still being remembered for this when he died in 2021. Ordering is easy: point to the menu, write it down or try a simple sign, and staff will take care of the rest.

The menu mixes Nepali favourites with international comfort food. Buff momo is the classic order, alongside chicken chilli, piro aloo (spicy potatoes), a Newari platter set, chicken sizzlers, pizzas and spaghetti carbonara. The cafe also handles takeaway, home catering, birthdays and a meal delivery service, which shows how embedded it is in local family life.

The branches open daily from 11am to 10pm. The Bakery Cafe suits families, groups of friends and visitors who want to eat where Kathmandu residents eat. Some branches feel more like an upmarket fast-food restaurant than a bakery, so come for a relaxed meal rather than pastries.

The Baneshwor branch is on Chhakku Bakku Marg, and the Pulchowk and Jawalakhel branches in Lalitpur are convenient for visitors staying in Patan. The chain's founder also set up the Nepal Restaurant and Bar Association and served as president of the Hotel Association Nepal, and by the time Wikipedia's article was written about 45 of the chain's 290 staff were hearing-impaired.