cafe des arts

been there twice in row for breakfast and went for croissant both times . once , with mushroom and cheddar and once with bacon and cheddar .. and i could with confidence say , they have one of the best crossiants i have tasted . and i love the ambience and how they remembered and treated me like a regular the second time . makes you forget you are a tourist and i like that . locales do say this is a tourist place, but honestly after that also i still wanted to come again :)

perfect breakfast place in whitetown area, best thing is its open it's door quite early compared to other places around, french cuisine so starting from baguette sandwiches, croques, tartines, eggs, etc etc. take a glass of fresh juice, good options available.

decor is one thinh that's really unique about it, it offers both outdoor n indoor sitting area. books to read, nice wall art for clicks.

basically must visit atleast once.

my visit to white town was captivating.

firstly because of the colorful doors, buildings and also the cafes around the vicinity. on one such encounter, i visited “café des arts”.

location – you can find this place within white town.

ambiance – they have indoor and outdoor seating. indoors, they have a huge rack of books and the seating is really comfortable for all.

food and drinks – we tried various drinks;

1. banana vanilla milkshake – true to its name, this one had both the flavors which never overpowered each other. the texture was thick and the overall outcome was decent. i did expect a bit more from this on the taste front but it was fine.

2. banana mint lassi – yes, they have some amazing combos in lassi. i was surprised too. the banana mint happened to be an amazing choice! taste wise and even the flavor was consistent.

3. banana cinnamon lassi – this one’s a stealer too. we liked the effect that banana can have on either of mint or cinnamon. the flavor is amazing and you surely will want more.

4. pot of black tea – as a tea lover, this one helped me get through the day. enough to fill 4 full cups, this one must definitely be on your list. tea and a cookie are provided.

we then tried few food items;

1. chicken and mayonnaise baguette - a traditional baguette is like a huge sub where the bread is more on the thick and hard side. the filling of chicken and mayonnaise went really well. it is not too sweet but has a decent taste. highly recommended.

2. classic chicken salad – this surely was the surprise of the evening. this salad has mixed veggies along with a generous serving of chicken. i was happy with the outcome. we didn’t need to add any sauce along with this. the salad tasted good.

3. ham and cheese crepe – this one was a french pancake special. this crepe was well made along with a lot of ham and a lot of cheese. it was amazing. there are no words for me to describe how it felt to try a good crepe. highly recommended that you try any crepe. it won’t disappoint you.

4. bacon and cheese croissant – my love for croissant knows no bonds. i have been trying this since childhood when dad used to get it from different bakeries near the airport. now, when i visited this café, i had to try this. it’s amazing. a typical croissant which does its job very well. hence you can blindly go ahead and order any croissant.

overall, café des arts does a good job in introducing the french cuisine to all. the food here is amazing and so is the staff. although the service is a bit on the slower side. any order except tea+coffee would definitely take more than 20-25 minutes at least. but when you’re on a vacation, i don’t think it’s going to be a problem right?

one of the most gorgeous looking café i've ever seen in my life. ofcourse white town is known for its beautiful neighbourhood but i guess beautiful places like these are like cherry on top. starting with the interior to the hospitality and the food they serve, everything is top notch. i would definitely visit this again and would also urge everyone to visit this place when they are in pondy!

this place was rated highly on zomato so my mum and i went to have breakfast here. the place is cool and quirky but the food was so average. we had the ratatouille crepe and cheese and onion omelette. they both looked amazing but tasted so bland. the omelette didn't seem like it had been made fresh to order and was as if it had been reheated. the service was quick and the staff were nice. i would come here again for a tea/coffee but definitely not for the food.

pretty place to hang out and kill time.
staff is decent.
the food experience however was bad. the ice tea was bland and tasteless. sandwich bread was almost as if i was eating leather!
hard and chewy.
one can find a book to read or shop some clothes in their boutique.

pondicherry is widely known for its french architecture so it shouldn't come as a surprise if one of the most famous eateries from the town instrinsically hosts that same french tinge both in sight as well as taste. located right closeby to the promenade, cafe des arts is the personification of the french era in form of a colonial manor from over 200 years ago which has been renovated and converted into a beatiful cafe. on the menu are some classic french dishes such as crepes and tartines along with a variety of hot and cold beverages.

for an early morning breakfast, my order included croque monsieur, bacon and ricotta crepe, bacon and egg baguette sandwich and a provencale tartine. starting out with the the classic croque monsieur which was basically a ham and cheese sandwich grilled perfectly and broiled with a generous helping of cheese on top, the morning hunger pangs were well satiated. next in line was the bacon and ricotta crepe which came with a side serving of lettuce salad with dressing. the crepe had a very thick and chewy exterior which was something new for me though the filling had good quality ricotta cheese paired with smoky grilled bacon bits. all in all, the dish wasn't bad but wasn't that great either.

being a fan of fresh crusty baguettes, i went in for their bacon and egg sandwich having a full crusty baguette split apart and filled with loads of scrambled eggs and bacon strips which i personally enjoyed a lot for the crisp texture of the bread complementing the soft gooey eggs on the inside. last was the tartine which is an open sandwich in french cuisine, the provencale variant of the house topped the baguette with some flavourful ratatouille and cheese. the dish was something that i had never personally tried before and was a great experience.

the staff and the service here at cafe des arts was pretty good as well. the servers made sure all our needs were catered to as quickly as possible and also helped us well in choosing what to have and what not to. overall, the place does deserve a visit if you are in town for its impeccable architectural beauty as well as the flavours of france.

i’m giving one star. only for the looks of it and the diet coke which i ordered (which was the only thing edible)
the waiters are just horrible. we had ordered croques and we waited an hour just to get a tasteless sandwich with old bread, we had ordered for potato salad and instead, we got roughly chopped cabbages with a disgusting dressing and let me not get started with the washroom. it’s smelly and the taps don’t work. the cashier threw attitude as well. the ketchup was runny and almost stinking. please taste the food before serving to anyone and see if you would pay ₹1000 for the same. time and money was wasted. we never want to come here again

went here after a strong recommendation from a friend. the "must visit cafe in pondicherry" is bland. the decor is good, great for insta worthy pictures but food is pathetic. everything we ordered from banana and cocoa milkshake to hot chocolate to vanilla latte was so bad. there's no other way to say this. the sandwiches were equally disappointing. click pictures and go somewhere else. not worth it.

very nice ambience and great for clicking pictures. however, food was neither good nor a value for the money spent. we ordered iced tea and tuna baguette sandwich. the bread was so hard and the tuna so cold and bland, that we couldn't eat it. but the place was brimming with people even though the service was so underwhelming, probably because they are not equipped to handle the numbers.

i planned to be here for my breakfast after reading all those good reviews. the place is nicely painted inside out. lot of space to sit. i went inside and found it to be packed. there was nobody to see if someone was trying to find a table. at last when i found one, then i kept waiting for someone to get me a menu. people here are hardly bothered if you want something. i could see people getting up from their table to find a steward to get them the stuff. after a long i ordered what i came for, banana and nutella crepe and fresh watermelon juice. the dish came in a while. nothing poor about the crepe but i have definitely eaten better crepes than what i had here. i will give service a zero here and food is nothing worth what you pay for.
try some other place, this can be easily given a miss!

prefect place for brunch!

artistic walls, french interior, quality food, perfect service, helpful staff.

must visit place in the list if you visit pondicherry.

great decor and beautiful place. the food is decent. the service was really slow. but, a good place to visit if you are looking to sit and have a good place to eat at.

cafe has nice interiors, graffiti and relaxing place to sit. food was okay not as better as other cafes in pondicherry. though the quantity is sufficient but service is little slow. go there to relax and to have nice pictures. 😇

not authentic french at all. ordered croques for which they served a grilled sandwich with lettuce salad with a bland dressing. it's a highly overrated and overpriced restaurant. vanilla latte was also just plain milk and coffee without any taste.