LEH - In Ladakh, do as most tourists do. Skip the momos and gorge on Israeli and Italian food. A first time traveller to this Ladakh capital may be surprised that many restaurants don’t even have momos in the menu, as their owners concentrate on foreign tourists who skip local food for Israeli and Italian deliccies.

“Majority of the tourists who come here are foreigners, and they like food which is not deep fried, less spicy. Hence the choice comes down to Italian food that comprises mainly pastas and pizzas. You can hardly go wrong with them,” Lakshman Thaman, head cook of Cafe World Peace, told IANS.

“If you observe, mostly French people come here and they don’t experiment that much. They also try Indian food, but you can’t call it proper Indian food because it is made with less ‘masala’ (spices) to suit their taste buds,” he added.

Most restaurants offer wide choices for breakfast — American, German, Italian, Israeli and even Indian. You can also opt for pancakes, muesli or porridge.

What goes by the name of Israeli food here is the pan-Mediterranean Falafel - deep fried chickpea balls, Hummus - a mashed chickpea spread, Pita bread and Shnitzel, chicken cutlets breaded and fried. The cuisine is popular among Indian visitors as well.

“Indian tourism has increased over the years and they too experiment and are trying different cuisines. But after a few tries, most of them give up and come back to Indian cuisine,” said Raju Shrestha, manager of Penguin restaurant.

There is quite a variety of fresh smoothies, lemon mint juice, shakes, lassi or green teas to quench your thirst too.

Gordon May, a tourist from Britain, loves authentic Indian food but at the same time he doesn’t mind trying Israeli food as well.

“You just can’t miss out on Indian food. It’s spicy and tasty. I love Indian food. But when you are in Leh, you must try different cuisines and that is what I am doing. No harm in doing that,” May said.

One can also binge on authentic Kashmiri cuisine. This is one of the few places in India where you will get lamb kababs and rista (meat balls) on the roadside, paying Rs.15 for a skewer of lamb kebabs and Rs.30 for a rista.

“This food is not meant for everyone. Tourists and foreigners mostly avoid eating here thinking it is unhygienic. There are very few people who come and taste our food,” says Arif Khan, who sells seekh kebabs.

“We serve the poor and hence we are thronged mostly by labourers and taxi drivers,” he added.

But Mriganka Sarkar, a tourist enjoying rista, said: “If you want to enjoy any place and its food, go to these roadside food joints. They will serve you the real thing cheap.”

Also, when in Leh, make sure you taste authentic yak cheese. You might not like its taste in the beginning, but it will surely grow on you.

(Shilpa Raina can be contacted at shilpa.r@ians.in)