[theexperthand]

I have never been to Pondicherry and is planning my first visit - sorted out the stay with the help of our travelogues and TripAdvisor and the route thanks to our excellent route thread. This leaves the next most important stuff - where to eat out in Pondicherry.

I did the usual google trawling and got a ton of recommendations - but I am not sure how much I can trust those. I could see that we have a lot of information scattered over travelogues and a few other threads, but if we can collate the recommendations in a single thread, it will be easy for people like me.

I am looking for some authentic French Cusine (Beef Bourguignon tops the wish list) and seafood places to eat out.

Let me start with few places I am planning to visit:

Cafe Xtasi - this is one place which is present in almost all top 10 must-visit places, so I am thinking to give it a try.

Gelateria Montecatini Terme: For gelattos.

Baker Street: For some quick bites.

But I am not able to zero in on a couple of places I should visit to have some authentic french nonvegetarian food or for some yummy seafood, and I thought of tapping into our collective knowledge.

Please recommend me some must-try eateries in Pondicherry (and let me know if I should avoid any of the aforementioned choices )

--Anoop

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Shifting Gears. Thanks for sharing!

[jailbird_fynix]

Cafe Xtasi, GMT & Baker street are must try places for every foodie. Here are some other places I'd recommend -

- Les Saveurs (french/seafood dishes)
- Coromandel Cafe/Cafe des Arts (breakfast combos)
- Tantos or Taka's for pizza (also Italian cuisine)

[DaiusPitar]

1. Le Dupleix on Rue De La Caserne for Creole, French and Indian food. The food has never failed to satisfy. Love the setting as much as the food. Its a historical house thats converted to a hotel+restaurant.

2. "Bread & Chocolate" by Auroville way! Must Do

3. Gelato Factory 100 mtrs or so on the left before Bread & Chocolate when you are driving up towards Auroville from ECR. Run by an Italian couple who got agitated by what passes for Gelatos in India that they returned to Italy to formally learn the art and set this up. Would not recommend their outlet on Mission Street.
Try the Pistachio, Straciatella, Amaretto, Zabaione

The list can go on, several boutique do's in Pondy.

[GrandTourer]

You can also try Buddha by the Bay. It's a bit overpriced, but I liked the food there

[k88k]

-IMHO Baker Street is overrated. Try the Auroville Bakery instead. It is divided in two sections. 1st one is the bakery itself and behind the bakery within the same campus is the sandwich / pasta shop (This one accepts only cash. Strange.).

Bakery Items are reasonably priced, the place is calm and sandwiches are really good.

-Surguru Restaurant: Never dissapoints. Try Podi Dosa here

-There is this place along the Promenade Beach Walk, which sells hot sweet 'n' spicy corn. A nice accompaniment while you sit and enjoy the view.

OT: There is a book store on the right, on the way to Surguru Restaurant after you take the left from bussy street. The collection fairly good at dirt cheap pricecs. Ended up buying half a dozen books including "I know you got soul" by Jeremy Clarkson. Fun read.

[sud]

- Zuka (Choco-la) @ mission street for some awesome chocolates and pastries.
- Tantos near Auroville for some awesome pizzas
- Bakers Street for some crossiants, sandwiches and rolls
- Surguru for some great south indian food.

P.S. I forgot the name of the restaurant for some awesome sea food. Will add it if I remember it.

[theexperthand]

Thank you, guys! Please keep the recommendations coming.

Originally Posted by k88k

OT: There is a book store on the right, on the way to Surguru Restaurant after you take the left from bussy street. The collection fairly good at dirt cheap pricecs. Ended up buying half a dozen books including "I know you got soul" by Jeremy Clarkson. Fun read.

Awesome - will check this out.

--Anoop

[hserus]

Rolex on Anna Salai - there won't be any parking so take an auto. Boti, thala curry (brain / bheja curry) and other meat dishes with coin parotta and kal dosai. And biryani. This is a small streetside joint with a couple of cheap plastic tables but the food is legendary. And dirt cheap.

[NPV]

Anoop, I thought I'd make a fool of myself if I mentioned a pure vegetarian restaurant Surguru in Pondicherry since your opening post query was for authentic non veg French food

Now I see 2 recommendations for Surguru already by @k88k and @sud, so I rest my case

Some of the eateries around Auroville are good too, but are mostly veg, do try them. We tried an authentic chaat place that was awesome somewhere around the streets near the Promenade, don't remember the name or exact location though.

*Also, other than travelogues, you can also look up the Bangalore-Pondicherry route thread since I remember there were a few recommendations for places to eat.

[hserus]

There's Satsanga, which for such a religious sounding name, has some of the best steak in town. Worth a try.

And Cafe Terra for crepes, sandwiches and such.

[Geo_Ipe]

For authentic South Indian non veg food - Hotel Kamatchi on 100 feet road!

[swiftnfurious]

Cafe Xtasi has already been mentioned, we loved the fire wood Pizza there.

If you visit Auroville, try the ice creams and juices there - pretty good and we repeated. Cost IIRC, is a little high, but worth.

[m8002?]

Personally, I feel Cafe Xtasi is over-rated. Tanto is much better for pizzas and some Italian fare.
For south indian veg - Surguru and non-veg - Kamatchi.
Zuka for chocolates.

[Doc_nikhil]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

I have never been to Pondicherry and is planning my first visit - sorted out the stay with the help of our travelogues and TripAdvisor and the route thanks to our excellent route thread. This leaves the next most important stuff - where to eat out in Pondicherry.

Hi Anoop, so when are you planning to visit pondi? Do check out the weather forecast as a rainy pondi isn’t so great as you won’t be able to check out most places owing to the fact that parking place is difficult within white town, where most of the eateries are there, and you might have to park in a safe place and walk a bit, which is actually the best way to check out white town. There are quite a few places you can check out. May I know how many days are you planning your trip to be?

Cheers,
Nikhil.