The best restaurants in Hunza are mostly in Karimabad, on the road that climbs to Baltit Fort. Go to the Hunza Food Pavilion for local dishes, Café de Hunza for walnut cake and proper coffee, and the Kha Basi Café in the royal garden at Altit for Hunza food in an apricot orchard. For dinner with a view, the Hunza Serena's restaurants and the lakeside hotels at Attabad are the smart choices. For budget meals, head down to the plain biryani and karahi places along the highway in Aliabad.
This guide goes area by area, says what each place is good for, and ends with practical tips on hours, cash and the winter season.
| Place | Where | Go for |
|---|---|---|
| Hunza Food Pavilion | Karimabad, on the road up to Baltit Fort | Chapshuro and other Hunza dishes |
| Café de Hunza | Karimabad, near Baltit Fort | Walnut cake, coffee, breakfast |
| Kha Basi Café | Altit, in the royal garden | Hunza dishes with the fort and valley in view |
| Hunza Serena Hotel | Karimabad | Buffets, a smart dinner, coffee with the peaks |
| Gojal Restaurant, Luxus Hunza | Attabad Lake | A meal beside the water |
| Glacier Breeze | Passu | Apricot cake with the glacier and the Cones |
| Highway eateries | Aliabad | Biryani and karahi, fast and cheap |
Karimabad: local food and cafés
Karimabad has the valley's biggest choice, most of it along the road from Zero Point, where the road up from the highway arrives, to Baltit Fort. You can walk between everything, which is half the pleasure of eating here.
Hunza Food Pavilion
A small restaurant on the road up to Baltit Fort, near the polo ground, run by Lal Shehzadi, a local woman, and the team she has built around her. The menu is Hunza food cooked to order from local ingredients: chapshuro and whatever other local dishes are being made that day, with Burushaski spoken in the kitchen. It is simple and inexpensive. If you eat one proper Hunza meal in Karimabad, make it here.
Café de Hunza
A long-running Karimabad café on the road near Baltit Fort. It is best known for Hunza walnut cake, and it takes coffee seriously, with real espresso. Breakfasts and pancakes make it a good first stop of the day, and there are books and maps to leaf through. It also sells local jams, apricot oil and tumuro, a Hunza herbal tea, all of which travel home better than cake.
The rest of the bazaar road
Between Zero Point and the fort you will find rooftop cafés with Rakaposhi in view, pizza and burger places, Chinese restaurants, and small dining rooms serving karahi, daal and rice. Names come and go, so choose on the day. A few rules help:
- Look for a view and a busy terrace. Both usually mean fresh food.
- Order Hunza dishes where they are a speciality, not as an afterthought on a long Pakistani menu.
- Ask the price first at small places without a printed menu.
Altit: the Kha Basi Café
The Kha Basi Café sits in the royal garden below Altit Fort, about 3 km along the hillside from Karimabad. It is run as part of the Serena Altit Fort Residence by a women-led team, and it serves Hunza dishes alongside Pakistani, Chinese and Continental food, from 7 am to 11 pm. Sitting under apricot trees with the fort above you and the Nagar valley across the river is reason enough to come.
It is also the obvious lunch after the fort tour, and quieter than the Karimabad bazaar. Our Altit Fort guide covers the fort, the garden and the walk through the old village.
Restaurants with a view
Some of Hunza's best tables are in its hotels. If you are not staying, call ahead to check they are taking outside guests, especially at weekends in season.
- Hunza Serena Hotel, Karimabad. Four places to eat and drink: the all-day Maraka restaurant, which serves Pakistani, Balti and Continental food with breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets; the Rakaposhi Café for coffee with a view; Chataq, serving traditional food in the open air; and the Karighar lobby lounge for tea. It is the most polished dining in the valley, and priced accordingly. Book a table in the evening.
- Luxus Hunza, Attabad Lake. The Gojal Restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating over the lake and serves Hunza, Pakistani, Continental and Chinese food, with live stations for pizza, karahi, yak and barbecue. It is 30 to 40 minutes from Karimabad, so pair it with a day at the lake.
- Pearl-Continental Attabad Lake. The newest hotel on the lake has a restaurant looking over the water. It opened in 2026, so read recent reviews.
- Duikar. The hotels beside the Eagle's Nest viewpoint serve tea and meals, and a cup of tea at sunset or sunrise over the whole valley is hard to beat. The road up is steep and narrow.
- Glacier Breeze, Passu. A terrace above the highway with the Passu glacier and the Cones in view, famous for its apricot cake. It is a long way from Karimabad for a meal, but an essential stop on the way to Khunjerab; our guide to things to do in Passu has more.
Budget eats in Aliabad
Aliabad, the market town on the highway below Karimabad, is where the valley does its shopping. The food along the highway is plain and quick: biryani, karahi, daal and naan, with tea at every stop, in places that cater to locals and drivers rather than tourists.
It suits a group of friends or students on a budget, or a lunch stop on the way to Nagar or Gilgit. It is also where the banks and ATMs are, so it makes sense to combine lunch with a cash withdrawal. Our guide to Aliabad covers the town and whether to stay there.
In Gojal, north of Attabad Lake, there is far less choice. In Gulmit, Passu and Sost, most visitors eat at their hotel or guesthouse, and it is worth asking what time the kitchen closes when you check in.
What to order
If you are going to try one Hunza dish, make it chapshuro, eaten hot. Then look for mamtu, steamed meat dumplings; apricot soup or chamus, a drink of dried apricots; and, if you can order a day ahead, diram phitti, sprouted-wheat bread with apricot oil. Our guide to Hunza traditional food explains each dish and what goes into it.
For everyone else at the table, karahi, daal, rice and naan are on almost every menu, and so are fresh apricot and cherry juice in season.
Practical tips for eating out in Hunza
- Eat early. Karimabad is not a late town. Outside the big hotels, many kitchens slow down by mid-evening.
- Carry cash. Small cafés and restaurants mostly work in cash; bigger hotels are the exception.
- Expect mild food. Ask for green chilli or chutney if you want heat.
- In winter, fewer places open. Many cafés in Gojal and some in Karimabad close for the cold months, while hotels in Karimabad and Aliabad stay open.
- Mind nut allergies. Apricot kernels, their oil and walnuts turn up in cakes, breads and local dishes.
Which suits you?
Families do best with the hotel restaurants and the bigger places on the bazaar road, where there is space and a familiar menu, plus one Hunza dish for the table. Couples should keep one evening for the Kha Basi Café or a hotel dinner with a view. Friends and students can eat well and cheaply by mixing Aliabad lunches with cake at Café de Hunza.
Don't come expecting fine dining. The pleasure of eating in Hunza is a plate of chapshuro on a terrace with Rakaposhi in the evening light, not the service. For the valley's other sights, walks and stays, see our Gilgit and Hunza page.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I eat in Karimabad?
Hunza Food Pavilion for Hunza dishes, Café de Hunza for walnut cake and coffee, and the cafés along the road to Baltit Fort for everything else. The Kha Basi Café at Altit is a short drive away.
Which café in Hunza has the best view?
The Kha Basi Café in Altit's royal garden, the Rakaposhi Café at the Hunza Serena, and the hotels at Duikar beside the Eagle's Nest viewpoint all look over the valley. In Passu, Glacier Breeze faces the glacier and the Passu Cones.
Where can I try traditional Hunza food?
The Hunza Food Pavilion in Karimabad and the Kha Basi Café in Altit both cook Hunza dishes. Family-run guesthouses will often make diram phitti or apricot soup if you ask a day ahead.
Where can I eat cheaply in Hunza?
Along the Karakoram Highway in Aliabad, where plain biryani and karahi places cater to locals and drivers rather than tourists.
Are restaurants in Hunza open in winter?
Hotels in Karimabad and Aliabad stay open and keep cooking, but many cafés close for the cold months, especially in Gojal. Call ahead before driving somewhere for a meal.
