Basmati Dhaba at Badhal, on the way to Spiti Valley & Kinnaur from Shimla

Looking at the popularity of our blog-posts on Spiti and the kind of questions come to us, we thought of sharing about this awesome place to have a meal when you are entering into Kinnaur region if you plan to take the route via Shimla & Kinnaur. We got best road-side food at this place during our week long journey to Spiti Valley.     Supposedly a gentleman started a small setup to serve food to folks traveling to Kinnaur & Spiti, when there were not a lot of options to take a break and have lunch. It was primarily for lunch. Roadways buses and a handful cars/bikes used to stop here for food. He always used pretty good quality of rice in comparison to rice served in other dhabas on this whole stretch and people started calling it Basmati Dhaba. Just to clarify, Basmati is considered as high quality rice although the rice which is served in this dhaba is not technical basmati but still the quality if pretty good.

Looking at the popularity of our blog-posts on Spiti and the kind of questions come to us, we thought of sharing about this awesome place to have a meal when you are entering into Kinnaur region if you plan to take the route via Shimla & Kinnaur. We got best road-side food at this place during our week long journey to Spiti Valley


Supposedly a gentleman started a small setup to serve food to folks traveling to Kinnaur & Spiti, when there were not a lot of options to take a break and have lunch. It was primarily for lunch. Roadways buses and a handful cars/bikes used to stop here for food. He always used pretty good quality of rice in comparison to rice served in other dhabas on this whole stretch and people started calling it Basmati Dhaba. Just to clarify, Basmati is considered as high quality rice although the rice which is served in this dhaba is not technical basmati but still the quality if pretty good. 

From beginning, this guy maintained quality of the food. He serves unlimited food for 50 rs and you get Rice,roti (bread), Rajmah/chole, Kadhi, salad, pickel etc. And you can get as many serves as you need. There is no A-la-Carte option.

From beginning, this guy maintained quality of the food. He serves unlimited food for 50 rs and you get Rice,roti (bread), Rajmah/chole, Kadhi, salad, pickel etc. And you can get as many serves as you need. There is no A-la-Carte option. 

Why am I only talking about quality of rice and what all is served? I don't know, but the food tastes just awesome, especially for north Indian visitors. It's a little spicy, so you may not be able to appreciate it if you are looking for minimal spices in the food.     I highly recommend this place by looking at the food options available on this route, price, cleanness and the service.

Why am I only talking about quality of rice and what all is served? I don't know, but the food tastes just awesome, especially for north Indian visitors. It's a little spicy, so you may not be able to appreciate it if you are looking for minimal spices in the food. 

I highly recommend this place by looking at the food options available on this route, price, cleanness and the service. 

Now that you have known about the place and probably a little interested in trying the place, let me share where this place is. It's not any market and not around any important/known milestone. In fact, this place doesn't even do any branding activities for them. So it's little tricky to locate it.

Now that you have known about the place and probably a little interested in trying the place, let me share where this place is. It's not any market and not around any important/known milestone. In fact, this place doesn't even do any branding activities for them. So it's little tricky to locate it.
As you are moving towards Shimla-Kinnaur border and have crossed Jyori, keep an eye on left side of the road. There are 2/3 houses and 2 shops at road level. One of these is this place. If you are crossing the place during lunch time, the best way to recognize the place is by looking at lot of parked vehicles at an unusual place. If you are crossing the place in odd timings, you may still expect few vehicles parked around the mina road. While keeping an eye on this place, if you cross the border of Shimla district, probably you have missed the place. And if you desperately want to have a meal here, you may want to take a U-turn, take help from people on road-side and enjoy your meal.     If you have visited Basmati Dhaba in Badhal village near Jeori, please do share your experience through comments section below.     If you have missed our ongoing series on Spiti Trip, do check out -      How to reach Spiti Valley from Delhi and things to do around Kinnaur/Spiti in Himachal Pradesh  Road-Trip from Shimla to Nako through Kinnaur : Spiti Diaries (1)  Morning walk around Nako Lake and the village in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh  Road-trip from Nako to Kaza via Gue Monastery, Himachal Pradesh  500 years old Mummy of Sangha Tenzin with teeth & hair at Gue Monastery   Road Journey through Kaza, Key Monastery, Kibber, Langza, Koumik & Dhankhar in Spiti Valley   Dhankar to Kalpa - Back journey from Spiti to Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh  Kalpa to Shimla - Last leg of our road trip to Spiti & KInnaur in Himachal Pradesh  If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -   1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.  2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.   3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.   4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.   5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite

As you are moving towards Shimla-Kinnaur border and have crossed Jyori, keep an eye on left side of the road. There are 2/3 houses and 2 shops at road level. One of these is this place. If you are crossing the place during lunch time, the best way to recognize the place is by looking at lot of parked vehicles at an unusual place. If you are crossing the place in odd timings, you may still expect few vehicles parked around the mina road. While keeping an eye on this place, if you cross the border of Shimla district, probably you have missed the place. And if you desperately want to have a meal here, you may want to take a U-turn, take help from people on road-side and enjoy your meal. 

If you have visited Basmati Dhaba in Badhal village near Jeori, please do share your experience through comments section below. 

If you have missed our ongoing series on Spiti Trip, do check out -


How to reach Spiti Valley from Delhi and things to do around Kinnaur/Spiti in Himachal Pradesh





If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling - 

1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.

2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin. 

3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem. 

4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits. 

5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite

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Langza is one of the remotest villages of India in the state of Himachal Pradesh and specifically in the popular Spiti Valley. Close to headquarters of Spiti Valley - Kaza, Langza is a high-altitude village is known for ancient marine fossils, spotting endangered animals and for its grand Buddha statue overlooking the Spiti Valley. Are you wondering why did I add about endangered Animals? May be some time soon I will more on this topic that why this part of Spiti valley is popular amongst wildlife enthusiasts and there are few more special places in Spiti Valley where chances are more to spot snow leopards, Himalayan ibex etc.  Langza Village - Popular place in Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh known for huge Buddha Statue at an altitude of 14,500 feet and spotting wild animals like Snow Leopards & Himalayan Ibex










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