Want to try some of the best Peshawar food in Pakistan?
Peshawar food is legendary and a trip to the famed Nisar Charsi Tikka restaurant will be one of the best food experiences you will ever have.
Along with that Peshawar is an interesting historic city to take a tour around.
Peshawar Food
The Nisar Charsi Tikka is located in Namak Mandi Market in the old town (the most vibrant area of the city in my opinion) and is the ultimate meat experience!
The first thing you do there is to choose your meat and you order by the kilogram.
Then choose what meal you want, the famed lamb chops slow barbecued over coals with only salt as flavouring is some of the best lamb I’ve ever tried.
One of the fun things at the restaurant is that you can join in helping cook the food for a bit if you want.
The menu is very limited to just these few items but trust me you won’t need anything but them!
Meat cutter.
The meat is top quality.
I will always trust a chubby cook!
Lamb chops
The first must try dish is the lamb chops and was my favourite thing to eat there.
Not only is the meat perfect but it’s minimally spiced with just the right amount of salt and then slow cooked over hot coals for almost an hour.
Trying out cooking the lamb chops.
The lamb chops are served!
All I can say is that these lamb chops in Peshawar are the best ever.
Dumba Karahi
The Dumba Karahi is the next speciality of the restaurant.
It’s the same mutton slow cooked in its own fat with minimal spice again along with tomatoes.
The expert cooks.
Trying my hand at cooking the Dumba Karahi myself!
Sidra (my wife) has a go at cooking the Dumba Karahi.
The finished Dumba Karahi.
Delicious.
They also have a dish called chicken sajji but we were so full from the mutton dishes we had no space in our stomachs to try it.
However chicken is common everywhere whereas this mutton meat and preparation is unique and the main reason to eat there.
Chicken sajji.
Nisar Charsi Tikka
It’s not just the food that makes Nisar Charsi Tikka great, the overall ambience is unbeatable.
Seriously in over 20 years of travel to over 90 countries my time at this restaurant is one of the best.
And btw the ‘charsi’ part of the name refers to someone smoking, and lets just say that hashish is a nice compliment to awesome food and a fun vibe…
The owner of Nisar Charsi Tikka with the white hat on next to me.
Peshawar food rules!
A video of us visiting Nisar Charsi Tikka:
Storytellers Street – Qissa Khawani
While you’re in Peshawar check out the Qissa Khawani market street (in the past known as the ‘street of storytellers’) where you can find lots of dry fruits and some good sweet treats.
You won’t find the vibe of times gone past with travellers telling tales over a drink in the bazaar but it’s still worth a visit.
Tasting kulfi falude which is basically ice cream noodles. Sweet and tasty!
The hospitality from the local Pashtun people to foreigners is legendary and I had trouble paying for things as they gave a gift of 1 kilo of walnuts.
Sidra shopping for dry fruits.
Dates street vendor.
Also in the same area is the Mohabbat Khan Mosque.
This mosque in Peshawar was built in 1630 and is beautiful to look at the minarets and is peaceful inside if you want to escape the streets for a while.Mohabbat Khan Mosque.
One the other popular things to do in Peshawar is to visit the Peshawar Fort but unfortunately foreigners are not allowed to enter so I have no photos from there.
Peshawar
So if that doesn’t give a good excuse to go to Peshawar then I don’t know what will!
Find places to stay in Peshawar here.
If you will be in Islamabad (a good chance if you’re in the north of Pakistan) then these are some of the best things to do in Islamabad I recommend after spending 2 weeks in the city.
If you’re interested in this part of the world then take a look at my post about hiking the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan.
Also doing a road trip on the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan.
I recommend using SafetyWing Travel Insurance for your trip, just in case, it’s best to be prepared.
One more fun post to look at is how to travel with a cat, as we travelled around a lot of northern Pakistan with our cat!
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