Restaurants in Himachal Pradesh
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McLlo Restaurant
Crowded nightly and justifiably popular, this big place above the noisy bus stand area serves a mind-boggling menu of Indian, Chinese and international fare, including pizzas and pasta. It’s also one of the best places to enjoy an icy cold beer (Rs100), and it has cider and wines.
reviewed
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Pizza Olive
The aromas wafting from the pizza oven give this place an authentic Italian feel and the pizzas and pasta dishes don’t disappoint. You can eat indoors or out in the garden.
reviewed
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Oogo’s Cafe Italiano
This cute hole-in-the-wall place serves up mainly Italian fare, but with a few surprises – waffles, baked potatoes, intriguing pasta dishes like ‘chicken vodka’ and even grilled lamb chops. The atmosphere is warm and busy and there are tempting desserts, as well as a bookshelf full of reading material.
reviewed
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Dylan’s Toasted & Roasted
Manali’s mellowest hang-out, this hole-in-the-wall cabin-style coffeeshop in Old Manali serves the best espresso coffee in town, cinnamon tea, hearty breakfasts, garlic cheese toast and wicked desserts like chocolate-chip cookies and ‘Hello to the Queen’. DVD movies are shown in an adjoining room.
reviewed
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Cecil Restaurant
For a formal night out, look no further than the colonial elegance of the Cecil Restaurant. An à la carte menu is available but there are sumptuous buffets for breakfast and dinner. Book ahead. There’s also a casual garden restaurant, or you can opt for a drink in the atrium lobby bar.
reviewed
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Chopsticks
The most popular traveller choice along the Mall in Manali town, this intimate Tibetan-Chinese-Japanese place is always busy. Naturally there are Indian dishes here, too, along with local trout. Cold beers and fruit wines are also served. Arrive early to secure a table in the evening.
reviewed
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Lung Ta
The set menu changes daily at this popular, nonprofit, vegetarian Japanese restaurant. Food and ambience are authentic and many Japanese travellers come here for a taste of home.
reviewed
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Moonpeak Espresso
A little bit of Seattle, transported to India. Come for excellent coffee, cakes, imaginative sandwiches and dishes like poached chicken with mango, lime and coriander sauce.
reviewed
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Namgyal Cafe
Located at Namgyal Gompa (part of the Tsuglagkhang Complex), and this cafe serves cakes and vegetarian food. It also provides vocational training for refugees.
reviewed
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Hotel Dupchen
A popular local restaurant, serving Indian and Tibetan staples (Rs20 to Rs80), with a few spick-and-span rooms upstairs.
reviewed
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Chocolate Log
One of McLeod’s original cake shops and still setting a high standard for sweets, coffee and freshly baked cakes.
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Kora Community Cafe
Kora Community Cafe, near Hotel Lotus Lake, is good for coffee, Tibetan snacks and a veg thali.
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Tibet Kitchen
On the road to the Club House, this is a decent Tibetan and Chinese place with the feel of a real restaurant.
reviewed
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Little Italy
Pizzas and pasta dishes are better than average at this 1st-floor restaurant, and you can get a cold beer.
reviewed
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Taste of India
This tiny place has just five tables and is often full with diners savouring North Indian veg and nonveg curries and tandoori chicken.
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Khyber
Upstairs by the main junction, this darkened bar and restaurant is central Manali’s best place for a cold beer or bottle of fruit wine or cider. The food is also good – the speciality is meat-heavy Punjabi and Afghani cuisine but there’s also Chinese, continental, and tandoori trout. Drinks are reasonably priced, and the booths are a good place to huddle.
reviewed
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Il Forno
Perched on a hillside near Hadimba Temple, Il Forno is a genuine Italian restaurant in a superb Himachal stone and timber building. The wood-fired pizzas, calzone, lasagne and pasta dishes are prepared by a Veronese chef and you can enjoy an espresso or beer with wonderful valley views from the garden terrace.
reviewed
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Cafe Ravi View
In a circular hut overlooking the Ravi River, this Himachal Pradesh Tourist Development Corporation-run snack house is worth a visit as much for the icy-cold beers and outdoor terrace as for the food. Still, it serves a good range of Indian and Chinese veg food – including dosas and bargain veg thalis (Rs40).
reviewed
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Jagan Restaurant
It’s nothing flash but Jagan offers the tasty Chamba speciality chamba madhra (kidney beans with curd and ghee) for Rs65, plus a good selection of veg curries and chicken dishes. The top-floor Madhusala Bar is a no-frills place to have a beer and gaze over the town through glassless windows.
reviewed
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Andey’s Midtown Restaurant
Dharamsala’s best restaurant is a busy family place serving a big range of Indian, Chinese and continental veg and nonveg fare. Come for kebabs, rich curries, burgers and a fine veg or nonveg thali. The bar at the back has horse saddles for seats, so you know they take their drinking seriously.
reviewed
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Park View Restaurant
With its low ceiling and rickety furniture, tiny 1st-floor Park View is like eating in someone’s attic. The veg and nonveg food is highly rated – order some jheera (cumin) rice and curd and a copper pail of dhal on the side, or chicken cooked seven ways (including lemon chicken).
reviewed
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Cafe Boom Boom
Although a bit of a hike below McLeod, this remarkable cafe is well worth a visit. Beautifully designed, it boasts a mosaic tile floor, elaborate carved furniture, huge balcony with views and a mellow, slightly eccentric atmosphere. Gourmet pizza, focaccia and delicious cakes and coffee.
reviewed
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Rainbow Cafe
Most people end up at this rooftop Vashisht institution at the end of an evening. Come here for decent traveller fare – breakfast, Tibetan momos, yak cheese pasta, pizzas and thalis, as well as cold beers and an endless reggae soundtrack. There’s an internet cafe downstairs.
reviewed
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Chaurasi Hotel & Restaurant
The derelict-looking timber-and-brick place teetering on the temple road is actually a good-value hotel with generous-sized rooms offering soaring views over the valley, especially from the top-floor room with balcony. The multicuisine restaurant here is Bharmour’s best.
reviewed
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Johnson’s Cafe
The restaurant at Johnson Hotel is one of the best in town for European food, with dishes like lamb and mint gravy, smoked chicken, and fig and apple crumble. The restaurant-bar is cosy, but on warm evenings or sunny afternoons, the garden terrace is the place to be.
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