Must-see restaurants in Puducherry (Pondicherry)

  • Café des Arts

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    This bohemian cafe would look perfectly at home in Europe, but this is Pondy, so there's a cycle rickshaw in the garden. Perfectly prepared dishes range…

  • Villa Shanti

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Smart candlelit tables in a palm-dotted, pillared courtyard attached to a colourful cocktail bar create a casually fancy vibe at this packed-out hotel…

  • Villa Helena

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    One of Pondy's favourite culinary teams heads up this fashionable continental-Indian eatery, launched in 2016 in a dreamy, lantern-lit patio engulfed by…

  • Le Club

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    The steaks (with sauces like blue cheese or Béarnaise), pizzas, pastas and crêpes are all top-class at this romantically lit garden restaurant. Tempting…

  • Surguru Spot

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Fill up on crispy dosa and vada, pillowy idli and spicy lunchtime thalis in a smarter-than-average AC dining hall with yellow-washed pillars, just a…

  • Surguru

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Simple South Indian in a plain, modern setting. Surguru is the fix for thali (lunchtime only) and dosa addicts who like their veg with good strong AC. The…

  • Palais de Mahé

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    On a magical roof terrace just back from Pondy's seafront promenade, the Palais de Mahé's superb restaurant specialises in ambitious, beautifully…

  • Maison Perumal

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    In a romantic teak-columned courtyard, Maison Perumal's Tamil/French restaurant turns out brilliant, daily changing market-fresh dinners full of local…

  • Chez Francis

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Fabulous French and creole cooking – such as the fantastic prawn curry – is the order of the day at this atmospheric courtyard restaurant at the heart of…

  • Domus

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    A health-focused, all-veg hideaway cafe in the hushed back garden of a zany design shop. With a limited menu, the main draws are the creative salad …

  • Le Café

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Pondy's only seafront cafe is good for croissants, cakes, salads, baguettes, breakfasts and organic South Indian coffee (hot or iced), plus welcome fresh…

  • Gelateria Montecatini Terme

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Join the seafront crowds for creamy, authentic Italian gelato in tropical-tastic flavours like mango, watermelon and guava – or try something more exotic,…

  • Indian Coffee House

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Snack to your heart's content on cheap, South Indian favourites – dosas, vadas, uttapams and ₹20 filter coffee – at this Pondy institution. It's also,…

  • Artika Café Gallery

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Hot-pink-and-turquoise tables, lively wall murals and a white-pillared colonnade adorn this easy-going courtyard cafe serving hearty healthy breakfasts,…

  • Baker Street

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    A popular upmarket French-style bakery that does impressively delectable cakes, sandwiches, croissants and biscuits. The baguettes, brownies and quiches…

  • Nilgiri's

    Puducherry (Pondicherry)

    Well-stocked, central air-con shop for groceries and toiletries.