Coffee
South Indian filter through a steel dabara, espresso from the machine by the window, and a cold brew that sits in the fridge overnight for the days the sun gets through.
Last light on the ridge
The stop on the way up the hill
Altitude 2,005 m
Dehradun switches on below you at about seven. Best table is the one by the window. Musafir Cafe has kept a window on Landour Road since 2016 — filter coffee poured between two tumblers, bun maska, a bakery counter that is emptied by evening, and the deodars falling away below the glass. Musafir means traveller. Mussoorie is a town people pass through; this is the table they stop at.
Three counters, one room
Coffee at the front, the kitchen behind it, and the bakery by the door so you smell it before you sit down.
All-day kitchen
Maggi at any hour, momos steamed to order, omelettes on toast for people who came up on the six o'clock bus and have not eaten since Dehradun. Nothing here stops at three in the afternoon.
Bakery
Baked in the morning, on the counter by eight, and whatever is left at nine in the evening comes off the board. Apple crumble is worth asking about on a cold afternoon.
Today's board
Six things off the chalkboard by the till. The whole list — coffee, chai, all-day plates and the bakery — is on the menu.
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South Indian filter
Poured between two steel tumblers until it has a head on it.
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Bun maska
A split bun, cold butter, eaten over a saucer of filter coffee.
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Maggi with vegetables
The hill-station standard. Carrot, beans, a lot of pepper, served in the pan.
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Pancake stack
For the ones who came up on the early bus and skipped breakfast in Dehradun.
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Veg momos
Steamed to order, with a red chutney that is hotter than it looks.
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Banana bread
Baked here in the morning. When the tray is gone it is gone.
Out of the door
Three of these you can do on foot with a coffee inside you. The fourth is a drive, and we have said so.
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Camel's Back Road
A near-level stretch of old bridle path. The Himalaya are on your right whenever the cloud lifts.
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Gun Hill
The second-highest point in Mussoorie. Walk up through the deodars, or take the ropeway from the Mall if the knees object.
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Char Dukan, Landour
Four shops at the top of the hill, exactly as the name says. Go early, walk back down for lunch.
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Kempty Falls
Down the Yamuna Bridge road and busy by eleven. Leave with the flask filled and go before the buses do.
The room
Eleven tables, a tin roof that is loud in July, and one wall that is almost entirely window. Take the corner if it is free.
Inside
Wood, a wood stove that earns its place from November, and the long bench under the window where nobody minds if you stay two hours over one filter coffee. Plug points at four of the tables.
Outside
A teal door of the sort every old Mussoorie cottage has, three tables on the terrace, and the pines starting where the railing stops. Dogs are welcome on the terrace side.
Come up
Closed now
Thirty-five kilometres up from Dehradun, on the Landour side of the Mall. The road narrows after Kulri; keep going until the pines close over it. Full directions, parking and the best hours to arrive are on the visit page.