Best Places to Eat & Drink in Landour (Mussoorie)

I lived in Landour for 2 months and spent every day up until Lockdown eating out to bring you this Landour food review. I’ll tell you all the best restaurants to eat and drink in this beautiful Indian hill station.

Landour, and Uttarakhand in general, excel at their cafe culture. The coffee is locally roasted at Landour Coffee, cafes bake their own European bread and cakes, and Prakash makes his own Peanut Butter. Landour is that kind of a place.

This European influence comes from the time of the British when they populated this part of Uttarakhand.

Lotte’s Homebaked Goods

Lotte’s is run by friendly Rohan. He’s an Angelo-Indian who specialises in baking European (specifically Dutch) cakes, slices, cupcakes, poffertjes, and coffee.

Their Chocolate Raspberry Tart is a must-try. It’s rare to find such high-quality European chocolate being used in cakes. India is a price-sensitive market, and that’s resulted in what I call “Indian Cakes” – overly sweet sponge cakes with fake cream, terrible quality chocolate, and sugar syrup type fruit toppings. My wife loves them, I hate them.

One thing you’ll see on the menu that I guarantee you won’t find anywhere else in India is poffertjes. Poffertjes are bite-sized Dutch pancakes covered in icing sugar and melted butter. They melt in your mouth. Try them.

Their coffee is special too because right next-door is the local coffee roaster! You don’t get fresher or tastier coffee anywhere else in Landour.

Mudcup Cafe

What I love about Mudcup, besides the location and cute colonial-style premise, is that when I walk in I always see their freshly baked bread in the kitchen. So, unsurprisingly, I always go for one of their toasted sandwiches.

Their very thick and expensive ₹180 Peanut Butter shake is also a winner in my book. I rate their Masala Chai too – it’s creamy with just right strength and less sugar.

They’re also known for their pizza. Which unfortunately I don’t rate because it seems like the base isn’t home-baked – I could be wrong. However, it’s not bad and it’s the best you can do for pizza in the area.

Doma’s Inn

This is a special place for me because I lived there. I’m not biased, because I’m a foodie and if the food sucks I’ll say it. But this is my favourite place to eat in Landour.

They specialise in Tibetan food as you can see from the beautiful exterior and interior. Tibetan food can’t be beaten in cold winter! Their soups and Thukpas warm you from within.

For breakfast, they serve large and less-oily aloo and pyaz Parathas. For ₹60 it’s a full breakfast. Add a Chai for the complete North Indian breakfast. This is actually what I ate every day.

For lunch and dinner, go Tibetan. Their Thukpa is a noodle soup with chicken and vegetables and its perfect in winter.

Their Phallay is quite special. I’ve never seen it anywhere else in India, and I’ve travelled to every state and UT. It’s a Tibetan pita bread stuffed with spicy chicken, vegetables, cream cheese and topped with tomatoes, coriander, and a light yoghurt mayo sauce. It’s as rich and amazing as it sounds.

Basically, order anything and life is good. It’s all cooked fresh and their chef is a real talent in town!

Landour Bakehouse

The picturesque Landour Bakehouse is highly rated but slightly overrated in my opinion. It’s probably because I’ve been spoilt by bakehouses in New Zealand and Europe.

There’s nothing wrong with it, it just doesn’t live up to the hype. If you don’t know any better, then you’ll love this place anyway!

I love their peanut butter and chocolate crepe. Their mix of the two ingredients is perfect and for ₹120 it’s a real steal!

The peanut butter they use comes from Prakash’s general store which is right next door. He makes his own Peanut Butter and dried fruits which I live on. Hint: It’s surprisingly simple to make peanut butter yourself at home, look it up.

Besides that, the rest of the baked pastries, muffins, and cupcakes are fine too. No complaints really. The wooden interiors are very homely and comfortable too.

Manisha’s Homecooked Indian Food

Manisha’s is a little different. You can’t go without booking. She’s a housewife who opens her small kitchen cum living room every day for the local Landour Language School students like me. I eat there for lunch.

For ₹150 she serves you all-you-can-eat fresh home-cooked Indian food. You’ll get 2 veg curries, rice, roti and salad. You can’t beat it. She uses less oil and makes me feel like my mum is cooking for me. She’s special.

She’s not really open to the public. But if you’re staying there for a while head to Char Dukan and ask the first store owner where Manisha’s house is.

Cafe Ivy

Cafe Ivy is hands down the best Cafe in town. It has a great location at Char Dukan and a good selfie veranda.

When it comes to food it’s not the cheapest but the variety and quality is what you pay for.

I always take the chicken and bacon club sandwich. It’s too much for one person, but it reminds me of home.

No photos available because Corona happened.

The Rest?

Unfortunately, Corona hit while I was still busy eating my way through various menus! Then after 6 weeks locked in my hotel, I had to get the hell out of there and go home to Delhi where I had more freedom. But luckily I’ve covered the best in this article!

If you’re interested in Landour hotels and accommodation, I’ve covered that too.

Tell me in the comment where is your favourite place to eat in Landour and what do you order?