The Ideal Shillong Café Trail

“One cannot think well, love well, and sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
Shillong, the Scotland of the East and also the Rock Capital of India has its streets lined with cafes, ensuring that one has a true culinary experience while enjoying the serene beauty of Shillong. Check out some of my recommendations for the Shillong Café Trail:
Café Shillong
Located in Laitumkrah, this homely café serves some delicious food ranging from Chinese, Continental, and Indian and of course to the local food. We happened to go there right on our first day in Shillong, which marked a great start to our Shillong Café Trail.
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We tried out Smoked Pork Noodles, some Chicken Noodles and the Chicken Lasagna. The food was remarkably awesome and the noodles were served wrapped up in banana leaf. Full marks for presentation and full marks for the scrumptious taste!
The live music made the dining experience a memorable one.
Dylan’s Café
Set in a quiet neighbourhood right next to St Edmund’s school, Dylan’s Cafe, is aiming to reinvigorate Dylan’s memory among local enthusiasts.
Dylan’s Cafe serves brunch, lunch, dinner along with coffee, snacks and an array of desserts. The menu is a good intermixture of hearty American comfort food along with some local favourites.
Dylan’s Cafe regularly hosts live music gigs to support independent talent and also hosts literary events like book launches, book and poetry readings and interactive sessions with artists.
Dylan’s Cafe also has a balcony with a lovely outdoor view of the rustic life of the locals– where one can even bring work – for that added inspiration.
Munchies
Located just a few metres away from Cafe Shillong is Munchies. Not the typical cafe with a classy decor, Munchies is al-fresco all the way. Started by Anand Lobo, a mechanical engineer, along with his wife Tania Marak in the year 2011, Munchies offers Lebanese, Russian, Italian and Mexican food. The food is budget friendly and being located in the hub of all educational institutions, the place sees a lot of student population, this, qualifying to be a must try place during the Shillong Café Trail.
Phunga
Happened to visit this on our last day in Shillong, primarily to have the taste of some authentic Manipur food.
Phunga means ‘fireplace’ in the kitchen area for cooking, as well as a gathering place for family to talk and pass time leisurely. And they have ensured that the place is welcoming and homely with a fireplace, albeit without the fire. From seating arrangements, décor and food plating, it all exudes a sense of a home with a tad bit of over-doing the bamboo and woodwork all around. Seating arrangements are spread out across three rooms and a balcony seating at the entrance of the restaurant. One can choose to sit on a high table dining area or low where one can sit with legs folded in yoga form and enjoy their meals in an authentic way or even choose to sit on Khasi murrahs (stool) on a low table.
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With spacious, well done up interiors, the décor stole my heart away. Though they had some noodles and stuff too, but we opted for traditional dishes like Chicken cooked in bamboo shoot and it was delectable and at the same time different too, from the traditional chicken curries that we have in north India. The Menu consist of a variety of dishes – Chinese, Khasi and dominantly Manipuri. We recommend the Manipuri veg or non-veg Thalis (Fish/ Chicken /Duck). Manipuri indigenous mushroom items, Singju (Salad snack) and the Manipuri smoked fish are other standalone dishes worth trying.
Dejavu
Dejavu serves Chinese cuisine and also has a separate lounge area where one can wine and dine. Located in Laitumkrah, the restaurant is easy to find as it right next to the taxi stand.
It has made a name for itself since its establishment and has been known to serve the best Chinese food in town. The ambience is relaxing and the decor is absolutely stunning with attention to detail.
Dejavu is like a Mainland China for Shillong, and is a must visit during the Shillong Café Trail to satisfy the Chinese food craving.
Already been to Shillong? Do share your experiences in comments, and feel free to add on to the recommendations.

is it something similar to thukpa? i’ve heard in shillong people consume it pupularly?
WOW! I have never been to Shillong but this post makes me want to get there now! What amazing flavors and colors, love it! Thank you for sharing!
I have never tasted Manipuri food and would really love to have it. And between the trail there are so many cafes which is very nice. PHUNGA cafe really looks unique.
I am obsessed with food so I’d absolutely take notes from this if I happened to visit Shillong and needed some awesome cafe/restaurant recommendations. The noodles served in the banana leaf looks delicious!! Yup. I totally wanna feed my soul and belly 😀
The noodles served in banana leaf were actually a treat for both the eyes and the belly.
This food looks amazing. I don’t know why but I love getting food wrapped in banana leaves. It’s like unwrapping a gift and I swear things taste better.
True that
These are wonderful recommendations. I would like to visit them all. I am particularly interested in eating the noodles wrapped in leaves. I have eaten steamed rice wrapped in banana leaves so I am sure that this dish tastes good too.
It was literally a treat for the eyes and the belly both.
I absolutely love cafes and trying new food, so this post is perfect for me! I had no idea this area was called the Scotland of the east. And I live in Scotland now! It sounds like I need to take a trip…. Plus that quote is perfect!
Yeah you definitely need to take a trip to the North East India
There are some cool claims of Shillong, to being the Scotland of the East and also the Rock Capital of India. Your Shillong Café Trail looks wonderful for foodies! I would definitely visit Munchies restaurant, I like the cuisine from the countries they have, I’d be interested to try Mexican in India.
You definitely should.However, I would recommend you to try out more of the local cuisines rather than the Mexican.
You’d have to go there hungry! All those places sound amazing. It’s great that there’s such a variety of different cuisines but I think I’d be after traditional Indian food!
The best thing is that one can easily get the traditional Indian food in all these places.
Love the quote! It is true that feeding the soul AND the belly makes life sweeter. 🙂 We travel with the kids and food is always something we like to explore…it gives you another side of the destination.
True that. I sometimes plan my travels around food.
This looks like a great trail. The picture of food on the top looks so yummy. I cannot wait to come to try it
You should definitely try it out for yourself.
hey, thanks I’m little foodie and this made me think to plan a visit to these amazing cafe..
Arey wah !! Food food food ..and that’s life .. we eat to live and we live to eat!!
Keep eating !