Dehradun's café culture has changed more in the last five years than in the previous fifty. What was once a city of South Indian filter coffee and one or two old-school cafés on Rajpur Road has become a genuine destination for design-led, food-forward dining. The hills came down. The aesthetics went up. Below is our team's honest, regularly-updated ranking of the cafés we actually go back to.
And before we get to the list — a quick disclaimer. Yes, we run a café. Yes, we're including ourselves at number one. But we're also including the places we send our friends to on our days off. That's the bar.
1. Farzi Café Dehradun — Rajpur Road
The rooftop on top of 222, Dhakpatti, Rajpur Road isn't just a café — it's a small theatre of food, drinks and skyline. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls open onto an unobstructed view of the Mussoorie hills. Brass-canopied tables, curtained cabanas, an onyx-lit bar that glows at sunset. The food is modern Indian — galouti on slate, dal-chawal arancini, mishti doi tres leches — plated to make Instagram weep.
What to order: the Galouti on a Stone, the Dal Chawal Arancini, and any cocktail with saffron in it. What to time: sunset, between 6 PM and 7 PM, when the cabanas light up and the hills go pink. Reservations on +91 76177 71124 or WhatsApp — weekends fill by Thursday.
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Why Farzi tops this list
- The view. No other café in Dehradun has this rooftop and these hills together.
- The kitchen. Modern Indian done with technique, not gimmicks. Twelve years of Farzi's brand reputation behind every plate.
- The bar. India's most awarded cocktail bar concept, now in the foothills. Try the Mussoorie Hill Highball.
- The service. Trained on the same Massive Restaurants standards as Farzi Mumbai, Dubai and London.
2. Café De Mountain — Sahastradhara Road
Another genuine outdoor café experience, this one closer to the Sahastradhara end of the city. Wood-panelled interiors, a small open garden, and a coffee programme that takes single-origin seriously. The menu leans European — pastas, paninis, Belgian waffles — with a few good Indian additions like the keema kulcha and the masala omelette. Best for: weekend brunch, a long coffee with friends, or a quiet work afternoon. Not great for: groups over six, or anyone hoping for cocktails — they don't have a liquor licence.
3. Town Table — Astley Hall
Tucked into the busy Astley Hall stretch, Town Table is the kind of café you don't notice until you're sitting inside it. Bright, plant-filled, full of LBSNAA trainees and Doon School parents. The avocado-tartine breakfast plate is excellent. The cold brews are properly made. The wifi is fast. It's the most reliable "let's just go somewhere normal" café in the city. Cash and card accepted. Closes at 10 PM.
4. Brewer's Café — EC Road
Indie third-wave coffee, run by a couple who roast their own beans. If you take your espresso seriously, this is where you go in Dehradun. The food is limited — a few sandwiches, banana bread, a fantastic orange-polenta cake — but you don't come to Brewer's for the food. You come for the V60 and the playlist. Cash only. Closes between lunch and tea on weekdays — call before you go.
5. Hideout Café — Rajpur Road
A relative newcomer, but already a local favourite for its mountain-shack aesthetic and surprisingly good wood-fired pizzas. The seating is on multiple terraces stacked up the hillside — every table feels like a private nook. Service can be slow on weekends but the food is worth the wait. The Thai basil chicken pizza is genuinely good. Closes at 11 PM.
6. Kalsang Friends Corner — Rajpur Road
Not strictly a café, but the most reliable casual Tibetan-Chinese kitchen in Dehradun and a place every Doon local has eaten at least 50 times. The thukpa is excellent. The momos are honest. The vibe is canteen, not curated. Walk-in only. Cash preferred. Best for late lunches and quick dinners between 7 and 9 PM.
7. Char Dukan — Landour
OK, this is technically Mussoorie, not Dehradun. But it's a 45-minute drive up Rajpur Road and the four cafés at Char Dukan (Anil's, Tip Top, Devdars, Ivy) are an essential part of the Doon café circuit. Cheese-momos, wood-fired sandwiches, ginger-lemon-honey by the litre. Best on a clear winter afternoon when the views go on forever.
What makes a "best café" in Dehradun?
We get this question all the time. Here's our honest list of criteria, in order of importance:
- The room. Dehradun is a city of hills, gardens and old colonial bones. The best cafés use those bones — they don't fight them with bright lights and laminate.
- The kitchen. If you've got coffee, fine. But the cafés that survive in Dehradun are the ones with a real kitchen — not microwaves and croissants in a freezer.
- The bar. The post-COVID Dehradun guest expects cocktails done well. Cafés that take their drinks list as seriously as their coffee programme will out-survive those that don't.
- The team. Service in Dehradun has historically been informal, often slow. The cafés that train their teams properly stand out.
- The view, if you can get one. You can't manufacture Mussoorie hills. If the café has them, that's a real edge.
"We picked Rajpur Road for Farzi because Dehradun deserved a café that took itself as seriously as the city does." — From our About page.
How to plan your café day in Dehradun
If you've got one day in Dehradun and you want to do the café circuit properly, here's our suggested itinerary:
- 10 AM — Coffee & banana bread at Brewer's Café on EC Road.
- 12 PM — Brunch at Town Table or Café De Mountain.
- 4 PM — Tea and Belgian waffle at Hideout.
- 6:30 PM — Sundowner cocktails on the Farzi Café rooftop. Reserve before you arrive.
- 9 PM — Late dinner at Farzi — the kitchen serves till 11:30 PM, kebabs till 11:30.
Frequently asked questions
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Plan your visit to Farzi Café Dehradun
If you've read this far and you want to book the city's #1 café experience, here's everything you need:
- Address: 222, Dhakpatti, Rajpur Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
- Phone: +91 76177 71124
- WhatsApp: +91 76177 71124
- Hours: 1:30 PM – 11:55 PM daily
- Instagram: @farzicafedehradun
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