If you, like us, can’t afford a night’s stay at Dune de L’Orient, a classic colonial-era hotel with rooms (think antique writing desks and four-poster beds) named after French trading posts in India (there’s a suite named Chandannagore, a town about an hour from Kolkata!), come for a beer here. The courtyard with its trees and sweet-smelling flowers, the corridors bathed in a soft orange glow, and quiet music all add to the mood. On the walls are old maps and photographs of Pondicherry; the ambience, redolent of nostalgia, is reminiscent of Pune’s Irani Cafes.

Chez Francis, the restaurant of Dune de L’Orient hotel, is known for its commitment to using fresh, organic ingredients. The menu features the Meen Puyabaise, a tamarind-turmeric-infused variation of the traditional French bouillabaisse. This seafood-rich stew, featuring crabs, mussels, and shrimp, showcases Puducherry’s culinary fusion, where French techniques meet Tamil flavours, cooked in ghee for a distinctly local touch.

Housed in a building dating back to the 1760s, Chez Francis is the courtyard restaurant of the Dune de L’Orient, a boutique hotel that was the brainchild of Francis Wacziarg. Carefully restored by historian Aman Nath, the building, and by extension the restaurant, retains much of its 18th century atmosphere. The authentic Chettinad plaster was preserved, and the red oxide flooring repaired.

Restaurant Chez Francis | # Among the best restaurants in Pondicherry. Housed in an old French colonial-style building dating back to the 1760s, Restaurant Chez Francis is considered one of the best restaurants in Pondicherry. Among the most exotic places you’ll encounter in Pondicherry, the restaurant serves some excellent Creole prawn curry.

As Pondicherry was a French colony in previous years, French cuisine has had a profound impact on their dishes. Chez Francis features French and Indian fusion food. Indian tour company and media outlet Tusk Travel says that Chez Francis is a restaurant in Pondicherry “not to be missed”, noting the “romantic and peaceful ambience”.

**A part of Hotel De L’Orient, Chez Francis is one of the most exotic restaurants in town. They specialise in Creole food, which is a mix of European flavours with fresh local ingredients. Their Creole Prawn Curry is to die for and this restaurant knows how to please its diners not just with their food but also with the ambience.

Housed in an old French colonial-style building dating back to the 1760s, Restaurant Chez France is considered one of the best restaurants in Puducherry. This is one of the most ambient and exotic places you come across in Pondicherry. This restaurant serves the most delicious creole prawn curry.

This is the most preferred restaurant among all exotic places in Pondicherry. This restaurant serves you incredible Creole prawn curry. You will find dinner served in a candle-lit hall in a romantic, and peaceful ambience.