4.9 stars · around 132 Google reviews · about ₹200–400 for two · opens around 10 am, closed roughly 3.30–6.30 pm · opposite Heena Café, just below Zostel, Upper Dharamkot. Ratings checked August 2026.
This is one of the smallest places on the Dharamkot café map and one of the most consistently loved. A rating of 4.9 across 132 reviews is a hard number to manufacture — there is no volume to hide a bad day behind.
It is run by a couple from Bangalore, Killi and Anu, and the reviews keep circling back to exactly that. Guests describe friendly owners and a homely feel far more often than they describe any individual dish. In a village where most kitchens are staffed by seasonal workers who rotate out every winter, having the owner cook your food and then come over to ask how it was makes an obvious difference to how the place feels.
The menu
Short and regional, which is the correct instinct. The ghee podi thatte idli is the signature and the thing to order if you are only ordering one thing — soft plate idli, ghee, and a generous dusting of podi. Uttapam and lemon rice are the other regulars.
Beyond that there is Bangalore-style masala dosa with proper chutneys, rasam rice, tamarind rice, and a chilli paneer that exists chiefly for the person who came along with someone who wanted South Indian food and did not.
Drink the filter coffee. If it is a hot afternoon, drink the kokum soda instead — tart, cold, faintly savoury, and far better at resetting a mid-afternoon slump than another cup of chai.
Nothing on the menu is complicated and that is the point. This is the food the owners eat, cooked the way it is cooked at home in Bangalore, which is why it tastes markedly different from the South Indian food served as a menu obligation elsewhere in the valley.
The setting
You are in Upper Dharamkot, opposite Heena Café and just below Zostel, so you are already above most of the village and the noise that comes with it. There are mountain views if you get the right seat.
Seating is limited and partly roadside, which is also the main complaint people have — the tables closest to the road edge collect dust when vehicles pass. Sit inside or at the back if you have the choice.
The timing trap
Mysore Café opens around 10 am and then shuts from roughly 3.30 to 6.30 pm. This is standard practice across Upper Dharamkot and visitors forget it constantly. Breakfast here means late breakfast. If you turn up at 4 pm hoping for a dosa, you are out of luck and there is a steep walk back down to think about it. Aim for 10.30 am or 7 pm.
Getting there
The walk up from Lower Dharamkot takes about 15 minutes and it is steep the whole way. Landmark on Zostel — the café sits just below it, directly opposite Heena Café. If you are staying in Upper Dharamkot or at Zostel, this is your neighbourhood breakfast place and you will end up eating here more than you planned.
Honest drawbacks
The roadside dust is the recurring gripe and it is a fair one on a busy day. Seating is genuinely limited, so a group of five will struggle at peak breakfast. And the three-hour afternoon closure is non-negotiable — this is not a café you can drift into at any hour.
Know before you go
- Cash-friendly and cheap — you can eat properly for under ₹200 a head.
- Closed roughly 3.30–6.30 pm. Aim for 10.30 am or 7 pm.
- Portions are generous. Two people ordering three dishes is usually one dish too many.
- Sit inside or at the back to stay clear of road dust.
If it's closed, or full
The 3.30–6.30 pm closure is the usual problem. The Birdhouse Cakery is open through the afternoon until around 8 pm, and Da'Wiara does not close at all between 8 am and 10 pm — useful to know when you have walked up and found the shutters down.
If you want the same food in a slightly larger room, 3 Trees is the other Karnataka kitchen up here and leans towards dosas where Mysore Café leans towards idli. For an early start, note that Mysore Café does not open until around 10 am, so an 8 am breakfast means walking down to Da'Wiara instead.
Read the full roundup: the best cafés in Dharamkot. Thinking of basing yourself here for a month? See the Dharamkot workation guide for stays, wifi and what a month actually costs.
← All blog postsQuestions, answered
What is Mysore Café in Dharamkot best known for?+
Ghee podi thatte idli is the signature dish — soft plate idli with ghee and podi. Uttapam, lemon rice, Bangalore-style masala dosa and rasam rice round out a deliberately short South Indian menu. It is run by a Bangalore couple, Killi and Anu, and holds 4.9 stars across roughly 132 Google reviews as of August 2026.
What are Mysore Café's opening hours?+
It opens around 10 am and closes for the afternoon from roughly 3.30 to 6.30 pm before reopening for dinner. That afternoon gap is standard for Upper Dharamkot but catches visitors out constantly — aim for 10.30 am or 7 pm rather than mid-afternoon.
Is Mysore Café Dharamkot expensive?+
No — it is one of the cheapest good meals in the village. Two people can eat properly for around ₹200–400 in total, and portions are generous enough that two people ordering three dishes usually over-order. It is cash-friendly, so carry some.