Dehradun restaurants

costaguana

I'm looking for Dehradun restaurant recommendations. I have my favourite joints in town, but I noticed quite a few new places have popped up in the last six-months or so (especially along Rajpur Road), and I'm wondering if any of them are any good

Cheers.

goyaltanuj

I was on the trip of mussoorie last month..I dont remember the name of the restaurant...but it was on the road side..on the way of mussoorie from deharadun...just after the city ends..its on left side..nice restaurant and food.

Dilliwala

If u list your favourites, that will avoid people naming those places again!

GauhatiBoy

Absolute best rice in the world is from that area, that much I know. Other than that I could probably recommend places I went to 20+ years ago which may not even exist any more.

To me, Dehra Dun is the "Bordeaux" of rice.

Alohaguy

I am indulging in nostalgia but, who knows those places still might exist
Kwality Restaurant was one of the best in 1970s. Had our marriage reception there
There was another one called Jimmy's Kitchen in Ashley Hall which had excellent South India Food. One more was called Napoli.
You could also have the best Gulab Jamuns in Paltan Bazar. Right off the hot syrup...Yum. Some of the Dhabas in Dehradun were also topnotch.
You are right GauhatiBoy, Basmati Rice from Dehradun is the tops
Sorry Costaguana for not answering your question. Just couldn't help writting about Dehradun. Lived there for 9 years.

costaguana

Glad to see this post has generated some more interest. I wasn't so much looking to add to my list of good restaurants, just curious what places seem to be popular.

But my personal fav is still probably Udipi's behind Astley Hall. It's a little classier than other restaurants in its (cheap) price range and the food is excellent.

Cheers.

Dilliwala

alohaguy,

Kwality's is still around. Also the one in Mussoorie. About which it was always said, and maybe GAUBoy can bear me out,
"If u want dysentery, go to Kwality".
Actually this was said about all Kwality restaurants generally.
It ceratinly is no longer the case wtih the Delhi one for over a decade, don't know abuot the DD one. Certainly in Muss u cud get food poisoning 7 years ago. In fact things have looked up for them only since they got the franchise for a pizza co - Domino's!!

Jimmy's Kitchen hasn't been around for a long time. Maybe it got converted to Kumar's Vegetarian which specialised in South Indian too (wasn't great though). It also closed a few years ago. Napoli's doesn't exist, not at Astley Hall anyway.

Costa,
Do u mean Subhash Road? There is now an Udupi on Rajpur Road in front of Astley Hall, near Ellora's Melting Moments (owned by the same store people) and next door to Canara Bank. Very good too. Maybe they moved from Subhash Road but I don't know for sure. The others on Subhash Road are still there including that place which serves not-bad Hyderabadi biryani whose name I forget.
Then the usual culprits - Baristas, etc. Yo China, which going by Delhi experience is ok, not more. Nirula's is good for a quick bite of the usual Nirula's style food, ice-cream, shakes, etc. It tends to be that or Ellora's MM for me.
Come to think of it, I just realised - for the number of times I pass thru DD, I don't eat there very often! So let's have your list then - maybe I'm missing some real treats!!

GauhatiBoy

In Mussoorie in the 70's I didn't hear anything bad about Kwality. I ate there at times and it was great. My favorites in Mussoorie were Mogambo's, the South Indian Restaurant (I think that was its actual name?) and Tavern.

costaguana

Where is Shubash Rd? I must admit I get lost pretty quickly with street names in Dehradun besides Rajpur and Chakrata Rds.

I ate at Udipi's last weekend and it was still in the same place it has been for as long as I can remember - in front of the Hotel Pacific on the backside of Astley Hall (does that still qualify as Rajpur Rd?) I can't remember seeing an Udipi's in front of of Astley Hall. The only restaurant I remember seeing in that block was Kumar's (which also serves decent South Indian but has lacklustre service). Also, it looked like Yo China has been replaced by an Indian fast-food clone serving up dhaba-ish fare.

GB, in Mussoorie the Tavern is still going strong. I think Mogambo's has seen better days, as I have only eaten there once and wasn't terribly impressed. They have seating for about 7, an uninspiring menu (better Tibetan elsewhere in Mussoorie), and it's just plain dark inside!

GauhatiBoy

Dark inside, maybe like a high class European restaurant lol jk

Tavern was where we used to go to brag about. But it was also great food and great tunes. We put in requests for what music to play. Back then it was a lot of Paul McCartney and Abba and disco crap.

Dilliwala

Hi guys, just got back from HP.

By your description of Udupi's, it's probably on Subhash Road which, when going south, runs along the boundary of Parade Ground. The other one on Rajpur Road is about 4 years old. Oh well, this can't be the only town in India where there are 2 Udupis so near each other!

Tavern in Mussoorie definitely picked themselves up since 2002 when the owner's son took it over. I remember it being pretty run down in the early 90's. If you are the singing and/or guitar-playing type, u can have your own impromptu gig at the mike!
Four Seasons across the road from Tavern is also good.
Mogambo is hardly ever open anyway. The best Tibetan food (and great Chinese too) is now def at Kalsang's, next door to the GPO and Tel. Exchange. Even better than the canteen at THF in Happy Valley, which is still decent for a cheap meal.

costaguana

I love the food at Kalsangs, but the cleanliness of their kitchen is bit suspect (especially during the warmer months). I know numerous people (including myself) who have gotten sick there on multiple occasions. I believe they renovated the back recently, which probably has improved the situation, but on the whole I think Rice Bowl is a substantially cleaner (Tibetan) restaurant. Too bad though, as their noodles aren't half as good (as Kalsangs).

Back to Dehradun, another decent restaurant we tried recently was Black Pepper. It could be argued that it isn't terribly good value and the prominently placed plasma TV sort of ruins the mood, but otherwise the interior is attractive, the food very good, and the location (Astley Hall) hard to beat!

Dilliwala

Really? Never had a problem with Kalsang's, and I've only ever eaten Tibetan there. Greatly enjoy their shaptak, both pork and chicken (better than at Happy Valley which is not bad), but the phingsha, thenthuk and tingmos are very good as well.
Yes, Rice Bowl used to be the hang-out of choice, espesh for the local students, but the one time I've eaten there (Chinese) I didn't find it great. Nothing wrong, just that I cudn't see what all the raves were about.

Black Pepper at Astley Hall? Wonder why I haven't seen it. Is it in Astley Hall itself, or the nearby area which generically gets called AH too? What's the cuisine? Chinese - by the sounds of it?

costaguana

All the people I know who have gotten sick at Kalsangs are expats, and that probably has something to do with it. Also I have never had any problems with their veg fare, so it also probably has something to do with their meat, and the way it is stored during the warmer months.

Black Pepper is above McDonalds at Astley Hall and to get to it you have to climb up a rather grungy flight of stairs. It's not terribly well marked at ground level. It serves the standard Indian/Mughlai/Chinese assortment, although they have tried to emphasize black pepper (surprise, surprise) in certain dishes on their menu. It won't be winning distinction in any guidebooks any time soon, but it got pretty busy when we were there, so it is obviously building a reputation with the locals.

The price range is competetive for mid-range restaurants (150ish for a chicken dish and two-thirds that for veg) and we paid 500 (almost to the rupee) for dinner for two of us. My only concern is that I don't think it will be able to maintain its decor over time, and the table settings were a little tacky (considering the much nicer interior). Give it a couple years and it will probably slide into a predictable groove (over-priced, poorly maintained mid-range) but its still relatively new and somewhat hot, and I think worth checking out for a change.

Cheers.

Dilliwala

Apologies, I shud have said "Tirupati".


Absolutely right, went past it a few weeks ago and Udipi is still there in front of the Pacific, on Subhash Road.