Eatouts in Pondicherry

[Please read this post as an addendum to my earlier post: Give Time a Break: Pondicherry. That is a detailed one and more generic account of the trip, with more photographs.]

This is the final post in the series of posts on Pondicherry, and talks about various restaurants and eateries I could visit on the way and in Pondicherry.

Ghar Dhaba is a dhaba sans the rustic ambiance and an ideal place for breakfast. Around 70 kms and one hour out of Bangalore, placed by a BPCL petrol bunk, this is the only place to have proper breakfast while going to Pondicherry. Its speciality is South Indian food the Tamil way, but they have quite a few North Indian dishes too. I went for the mini-breakfast tray which was quite filling. It is a part of the Adyar Anand Bhavan chain, or A2B as popularly known, which has outlets in Chennai, Bangalore, Pondicherry, and Delhi too.

Salt and Pepper was the first restaurant we went in Pondicherry. Suggested by the receptionist at Ginger Hotel and branded as a '24-hour AC Executive restaurant', this was an utter disappointment. The ambiance and service was pretty third class, and the food was inpalatable, despite the fact that we were eating at 4:30 pm, having not eaten anything after the breakfast at 7:30 am, and driven all the way from Bangalore.

Le Café is a nice cafe midway on the Goubert Avenue with a breathtaking view of the expansive Bay of Bengal. You can sit on the ground floor or on the terrace or in the lawn, and hear the waves hitting the rocks and enjoy the cool breeze and hot coffee and snacks. The building the cafe is housed in was the Pondicherry harbor office during the French time. We had coffee in the evening and breakfast the next morning. There were quite a few local French people enjoying a lazy breakfast there with a book in hand.

Aruvi, the bar at the three-star Hotel Mass is just a normal bar that cuts you off from Pondicherry. That is why I am so against people visiting pubs and counting that as the 'liveliness' of a place. If you want to dilate your pupils in the darkness and shut your ears in the loud music of a pub/bar, why do you need to travel; Bangalore already has lot of them. We had anyways gone there because some of the others had wanted to, had some drinks and snacks, and skipped dinner.

Rendezvous Café Restaurant on Rue Suffren was a good-looking rooftop restaurant recommended by many people. However, this place was a disappointment too. First, it was quite expensive, not value for money basically. Two, the service was extremely bad. They were slow like anything. I had to shell out Rs 200 for a plate of boiled spaghetti and a bowl of tomato mushroom sauce, and had to wait for over an hour. I could have cooked better pasta in less than half the time. But yes, heard that seafood is quite good there, and there were quite a many French customers.

Baker Street on Bussy Street was the best part of the trip, after the drive, of course. This place was totally French, from the decor to the cuisines to the people, the furniture, tiles, crockery, everything. Though when we asked for something spicy and veg and were told they did not have anything. We, however, tried almost all pastries and eclairs. Floating island, Mille-feuilles (thousand leaves), fruit and chocolate éclairs were a few among the delicious delicacies we tried. A must visit for all Pondicherry tourists. We reached Bussy Street by chance when we strolled past MG Road in search of some souvenir. We were initially reluctant to enter because of the bad experience at Rendezvous that afternoon, but I am glad I was able to pursuade the others. I can still feel the taste in my mouth as I write this 10 days later. Unfortunately my camera battery had given up and I could not take any pictures of the lovely place. [Photo copyright: Neel]

Risque is one of the restaurants at the five star Hotel Promenade on Goubert Avenue. We tried North Indian cuisine for our last meal, and it was delicious and authentic. The ambiance was great, with a swimming pool by the side and the sea at an audible distance, and good crowd. This place was cheaper and faster and much better than the Rendezvous we had eaten at the same afternoon.

Hotel Auro Usha at Tiruvannamalai was again a chance find. We were considering very local roadside eateries for breakfast on the return journey when we discovered this place unexpectedly in front of some Ashram. Very good continental breakfast is served here, and we could see many foreigners eating out here. We had two dishes each, which was more than filling for the entire drive back to Bangalore.

Had I got some more time, I would have visited more restaurants and tried out some more authentic French cuisine. Maybe the next time when I visit Pondicherry...

Related posts:
         Give Time a Break: Pondicherry
         Bangalore to Pondicherry in an Alto