Located at Pokhara’s central lake side with spacious indoor and outdoor seating, Lemon Tree has the perfect ambience anyone could ask for after a long day’s sight-seeing in the beautiful lake city. It is warm and has every aspect of a complete Nepali house; made out of bamboo, hay roofs, and hanging pot plants outside. The homely, warm welcome topped off with kitsch tables decorated with red and white linen, candle light and a little vase, is matched by the equally tempting mouthwatering delicacies at this eatery.
When arriving I could have instantly devoured the sumptuous food but, as it is always exciting to know a little behind the scenes story, I sat down with Gautam Manandhar, the owner of Lemon Tree, to find out where it all began. Gautam has been in the restaurant business since he was 18 years old. Lemon Tree is one of his much successful grandeur, including ‘Jomali’ in Thamel and ‘Don’t Cross Me By’ also in Pokhara. But Lemon Tree is undeniably one of his biggest and most successful ventures.
While we sat in one of the cozy corners of the indoor restaurant and walked down memory lane with Gautam, one of his recommended dishes of the restaurant was being readied in the kitchen by the head chef, Keshab. Keshab has been the head of the kitchen for 10 years. I understood why he had lasted so long as I sampled the first dish – the fantastic, fresh fish from the lake with garlic sauce. His recipes were the heart of the restaurant. It was amazing. The aroma and presentation was enough to make my mouth water. The meat was tender and juicy with the subtle garlic sauce to compliment it. I was already full when I had gobbled up the heavenly dish, but lunch was not yet over.
The best part was left for the last. It was their very special Lassi. And trust me it was indeed very ‘special’ because I have never had one like that before and believe me when I say I have had them all; if lassi is on the menu of any restaurant, I will order it, so you should get the idea. The lassi was smooth and cool. If only I could, I would go there everyday to have the glass of heavenly goodness. And like I said before it was the best part of the lunch, especially in the scorching heat. All that in an affordable price of xxxx Rs. What was even more appealing about the restaurant was that one did not have to wait long for their food to be served. I only had to wait for 15 minutes before my dish was on the table, steaming hot.
By the end of the whole experience, I was not only full, but satisfied too. Gautam wanted me to have more of Lemon Tree’s finest and I wanted to try them all too but I just did not have a single inch in my belly to spare for another dish. The service was great too. To sum it all, I found Lemon Tree a perfect blend of superlative food and absolutely delightful ambience.