At first, Bir may seem like a town meant for coffee and momos. The major road in Bir has several cafés that serve similar menus, with their main focus on one or two local dishes. If one is just passing through town on their way to the paragliding site, it is easy to think that there is little more to enjoy here in the culinary aspect.
However, the culinary options in Bir are much richer than the café strip suggests. Bir is known for paragliding, which is why most visitors are not really aware of much other food available in the town. Their experience is limited to just three types of dishes – momos, thukpa, and coffee.
Head into the Tibetan colony for something different in Bir
The Bir Tibetan Colony was where my real food discoveries happened. This settlement, established after 1959, is home to small family-run restaurants that have been cooking food for the local community. Prices were lower here, and the flavours felt closer to home cooking than café fare.
A slow walk through the colony, with no fixed plan, turned up my best meal of the trip. Travellers who choose hotel booking online near this part of Bir usually end up closer to these smaller eateries than to the main café strip.
Thenthuk: the dish worth ordering in Bir
Ask for thenthuk if it appears on a menu in Bir. This is a hand-pulled noodle soup, made fresh rather than boiled from a packet, and it has a heartiness that thukpa rarely matches. The noodles are torn into flat, uneven pieces by hand, then simmered in a rich vegetable broth with fresh greens.
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It takes longer to prepare than the standard café thukpa, which is exactly why it tastes better. Ordering thenthuk in Bir was my easiest way to eat something the café circuit does not usually offer.
Other dishes to try beyond the standard menu in Bir
Thenthuk is not the only reason to explore beyond the main road. Several restaurants in the colony serve their own versions of momos, often with fillings and dipping sauces that differ from the tourist-facing versions.
I looked out for tingmo, a soft steamed bread that pairs well with vegetable curries, and butter tea, a Tibetan staple. Small shops also sell fresh bakery items, useful for a quick breakfast before a morning walk.
Where to eat in Bir without following the crowd
Be wary of restaurants where the menu is available in English. Such eateries are usually oriented to customers who enjoy short-term visits. Instead, you should look for smaller places with handwritten names, mostly run by families based on the main street providing food service.
Although the meals were limited and slow, the quality of the dish was high, as indicated by locals choosing this place over alternatives. As for prices at such restaurants, they are considerably lower than the cafes I tried nearby, catering to paragliders. A full bowl of thenthuk cost me less than a cup of coffee from the tourists’ venue.
Timing your food exploration around Bir
Morning is a good time to explore the colony before it gets busy, especially if a visit to Chokling Monastery is also on the plan. Prayer times draw a small crowd, and the restaurants nearby are quieter before midday.
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Evenings worked well for me too, once the paragliding groups headed back to their guesthouses and the colony settled into its own rhythm. Either way, a couple of hours set aside for wandering and eating pays off more than rushing through a checklist of sights.
Planning a longer stay in Bir
A trip of two whole days is sufficient to visit a couple of places to eat from both cafés and restaurants in the colony. A three-day stay means a slower pace, giving room to revisit some impressive restaurants. A good idea is to not leave hotel booking for the last moment, as the colonies fill up very quickly in October.
In the non-peak months, however, Bir is much easier to navigate, with difficulty finding a place to eat not being an issue. Booking my hotel room online before the trip also meant spending less time looking for accommodation and simply enjoying the food in the colony once I was in Bir.