Best Restaurants
in Rishikesh

Dining in Rishikesh

Rishikesh sits where the Ganges spills out of the Himalayas into the plains of Uttarakhand — a city of ashrams, suspension bridges, and white-water rapids that has been drawing seekers for centuries. The dining culture here is built around two facts: the city is officially vegetarian (alcohol is banned, meat is difficult to find), and the Ganges is the view every restaurant owner aspires to claim.

That vegetarian constraint, far from limiting the table, has produced something exceptional. Rishikesh's best kitchens draw from the mountain pantry of Uttarakhand — Pahadi dals cooked with wild turmeric, Garhwali breads baked on stone, lotus stem curries that take three hours to get right — and present it within a fine-dining register that the Taj and the Roseate hotels have spent serious money perfecting.

The dining neighbourhoods split naturally: the area around Laxman Jhula attracts the yoga-retreat crowd; the Muni Ki Reti side is quieter, dominated by the large resort hotels and their serious restaurants. Reservations at the top hotel restaurants are essential — the Taj and Roseate are both small properties with limited covers.

The singular pleasure of dining in Rishikesh is the Ganges. Every meal worth having is eaten within earshot of the river. At the Taj's rooftop bar, the river bends below you with the Rajaji forest beyond it. Let the water set the pace — Rishikesh rewards unhurried eating.

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