Review Carte Blanche - Pondicherry

This is a great little restaurant if you need a break from Idly, thosai and currie. Both my wife and I found the food delicious and creative. The food looked no different from other Indian food but was complex in its taste. The ingredients were organic and clean. Was not expecting this sort of quality. The staff were friendly, especially Stalin. Yes that’s his name! Keen to help out with your queries and always had a recommendation or two. Was so good that we went there for dinner 3 nights in row. Highly recommended, especially Stalin!

The food was well what to say, it was French food!! Cooked really well, served extremely well but tasted like hell, if eaten without the additional sauces. If you eat it the way it is supposed to be, then it's quite good. The place is pricey. Quantity served is quite low but more than enough to fill your hunger, don't go by size. Try to go in the late evening, before that they are a bit ill prepared.

Beautiful colonial setup and great food . The home baked garlic bread stole our hearts. The blueberry mocktail is the best that I have ever had. We had tried the pasta and a vegetable soup as well which were quite good .

Good and tasty French food, you can eat beef and pasta over here. I's not costly : count 700-800 rs if you want somes drinks and desert with your meal. The place is also great.

Love the ambience and the food, ratatouille was the best I had so far, they got some yummy options , the building is 200 years old and was renovated around 18 years ago. They've done an excellent job.

One of the popular French Restaurants in Pondicherry. The food is decent although you may find it a bit bland. The ambiance is the main point of attraction for this restaurant.

The food was awesome. The food is little expensive but worth the money. Great place to try french cuisine.

nice place, nice food.

They custom made chicken fillets for me with a pepper sauce. Was cooked well. Love it

Good but little costly. They will not give any roti or rice kind of thing with their meal.

we ordered a French cuisine Ratatouille and it was tasting bitter

Nice ambience, good food, experience the French at pondicherry

Good and affordable place for dining...

Good food

Lovely Ambiene and Music.

Nice

When we visited here , the staff was rude and disrespectful. They served us cold food , without completing all the components. The food was very average and for some , the meat was dry and over cooked. For a place with a beautiful ambience , the food lacks professionalism , creativity and reflects the amount of effort and care gone into the dish which was minimal. Was really expecting some good French food in puducherry but this place was a huge let down.

The rating is just for the food which was excellent! The service on the other hand was appalling to say the least. We had to wait for over 45 minutes for our food. The waiter took our order and probably forgot we existed because no one even bothered to bring water to our table!<br/>The food, when it did arrive was good but definitely not worth waiting almost an hour for.

I would had loved to eat food a the place but shame it seems to be closed. me and few others asked about the restaurant at the security, they had no clue

Go here just for the heritage building.... Food will disappoint you. Even after average reviews I thought of giving it a try. I ordered indo-french beef curry and after 5 mins of ordering I was told it's not available. Then I moved to grilled chicken which was a mistake too.

We called them and we were told to come over and lunch in. When we reached, we were to asked to leave as they were not serving food for outsiders. Not just was that a huge inconvenience but also the staff was extremely rude. Guys, this might be beautiful place but extremely unprofessional people who have no idea how to treat customers.

Had the hotel breakfast buffet. Not bad at all. Excellent spread of bakery goods, all fresh and delicious. The chocolate roll was a brilliant way to start the day.<br/><br/>They also have eggs, dosa, and bacon made to order. The scrambled eggs were served quickly and efficiently. The bacon, however, was far better than that. It was clearly made fresh and served hot.<br/><br/>Brilliant breakfast, would be back again. For instance, tomorrow, after waking up upstairs.

Probably the best seafood I've had in Pondicherry. Not a huge Seafood fan in general, but the Grilled Kingfish and Grilled Calamari were out of the world. But, don't be fooled by the Zomato price range. It's a lot more expensive, but well worth it.

This place is situated inside a beautifully restored courtyard style french property owned by the Neemrana hotel group. It has tables set out in the courtyard which is beautiful at night with dim lights and candles lit all over the place.. it has an open, breezy feel to it, perfect for a casual candlelight dinner.. <br/>I just tried couple of items only - the vegetable Ratatouille (which came with noodles), creole soup and a banana lassi. <br/>The lassi tasted more like a milkshake but was tasty nevertheless. The Ratatouille was delicious, although the it wasn't as tangy as it should have been. It was more on the cheesier side. The star of the evening was definitely the creole soup. This place serves a fusion of french and tamil food, mostly creole food and i was keen to try atleast one creole dish. The soup was absolutely delicious, a must try! <br/>Overall, a good place to try once, it has good service and ambience.. <br/>

Do try the grilled squid.. its was just so tasty.. the best I would day..<br/>Ambience was prefect, food was perfect.. Totally worth the money.. for a quiet dinner with a sexy food

Didn't know this place is a Neemrana property and it happened to be one. We walked in as we were hunting a nice place to dine in for the evening. Again a very colonial place, it was empty when we walked In and suddenly the places filled up. Food was okay, service guy was very sweet but too dam slow as the main food was getting cold waiting for the accompaniments. Will definitely wants to stay here and see how the rooms are in the future.

The ambience, decor and food. Everything about Carter Blanche is French. The service was great. We ordered a portion of sand lobster, grilled kingfish, pomfret, grilled calamari and Puducherry special curry which is served with rice and chapati. A first try at sea food, must say I loved the kingfish and calamari. The prices are a bit top notch ; cost us a 4.5k.

Great food and ambience 💗 will surely come back the next time I'm in Pondicherry. A nice, comfy, customer friendly place. I absolutely loved it.

Simply I loved that place. It was very romantic. The ambiance was cool. They have both indoor and outdoor sitting arrangement. Situated at the white town area. I loved their beautiful decor, and found a pure french touch. We ordered chicken fillet with garlic, butter and herb sauce. Foods were very tasty. It was a great experience and last but not the least prices were moderate which was good ☺

We wanted to try some French food and found this place on Zomato and went there by the menu put up on Zomato. So much for the excitement, it lasted only 5 mins after entering the place. The entire menu was only 2 sheets of paper and we found out that they are updating their menu and it is still not up on Zomato. And there aren't much choices one can make from the available menu and we ordered what we thought would be best. <br/>To be honest - the food was good and after the initial disappointment we did not except the food to be even at this level. For the limited choices we had, we felt lucky to get a good meal before we ended our Pondicheery tour. <br/><br/>P.S: Their outdoor seating is suggested for dinner.

Carte blanche , although having a very limited menu has oodles of character.<br/>In the courtyard of a French Indian house.<br/>Great service , lovely cocktails and amazing food.<br/>O personally had the tamarind fish curry with rice and chappati and omg it was expectional.<br/>Everything we ordered of the menu was great.<br/>Don't order the pinacolada, gets too hot before you can finish it ! <br/>Mist visit

Among the quaint lanes of French colony of White Town in Pondicherry, you are hardly ever short of French cafes to dine at. Take my word, however, that this Carte Blanche will take make you come back again and again. <br/><br/>Even though it is hard too spot from outside (quite a tiny signboard by Indian standards), you are quickly transported to a beautiful courtyard cafe from any of the French towns. <br/><br/>Their fresh vegetable soup is easily the best soup I have had in India. As for the Ratatouille, I have to admit I haven't had any before to compare with, but it left a delightful memory in my mouth right from the first bite. I am sure I will be back to Pondicherry soon just to dine at Carte Blanche again.

After reading the rating, we went there specifically sadly to be turned down by the hidden waiter that it was open only to the hotel guests. So I ask Zomato and them, why even list it here.

The rating is just for it's beautiful décor and ambience. <br/>We had the seafood curry and grilled fish with lemon butter sauce. Both the dishes were delicious but on the expensive side. We also had coconut crab cakes which was nice as well. However, I feel the quantity didn't do justice to it's price. Pretty expensive.

We went here for a dinner and the place is jammed with people. It is expensive but not worth at all. Why because the taste is just ordinary infact very ordinary and the presentation is extremely poor. And the wait time is nerve racking. Minium 20 to 25 minutes easily.<br/><br/>For starters we ordered prawn ,squid dish. after close to 25 minutes of wait time we got a dish with not even a single squid and prawns with intestines. Not single one of them were cleaned. When we enquired about it they told its prawns stuffed with herbs. Really ??? We cancelled it then ordered a crab dish and it tasted okay. For main we ordered a chicken dish, the taste was again very average and presentation horrible. I guess a primary student could do a better job. And the greens kept were like some left overs.<br/><br/>I think it's better to stay away from this place as you wouldn't miss anything.

The rating 3.5 is for the food which was actually great in taste. Shark fish curry, sea food curry, grilled fish, roasted chicken in veggies and small potatoes was relishing.<br/><br/>Service is absolutely (zero) 0, the waiter took the order and then after 20 minutes another waiter comes saying the other waiter is new so he couldn't get what you ordered which was very annoying to hear. After that we sat for almost 45 minutes, then the food came. <br/><br/>Ambience is quite good, which gives you a very natural feeling with trees, open air. Except for a few crows hovering over the head where the big tree is.

A great place to go to. Beautiful house and nice garden. Trouble is the food can be brilliant one day and average the day after. But it is really worth a try

Omg.. i was astonished by the ambiance. What should i say more about the food, its only looks awesome but the taste was amazing.. and staff was very courteous... you need leave your indian spice food taste bud outside once you step in to the restaurant.

May not be the best but definitely worth giving a shot.!<br/>Best thing is Ambience..jus loved it..<br/>One of the places in Pondicherry where you can eat peacefully makes best place for romantic dinners.!<br/>Food is very good but it's bit expensive (no complaints).<br/>Staff here are friendly but service is bit slow.!(allows you to have some time for yourself)<br/>Only negative thing I would say about this restaurant is the limited menu.!(visited on Monday)<br/>Finally it may not be a great place but definitely a good one.!<br/>Give it a try guys.!

I went to this restaurant by chance for lunch on Christmas. They have limited menu on a given day. Do enquire about menu and don't get carried away by th exhaustive menu kept at entrance. My disappointment of the menu was more than compensated by the patient and willing service.<br/>Food was exquisite. Both seafood and chicken dishes were awesome. They topped it off with desserts worth a mention. <br/>I will visit again for the famous beef steaks.<br/>Food is reasonably priced and The restaurant has relaxed settings.<br/><br/>Visit this restaurant without any expectations and you will have memorable afternoon.

The staff was extremely efficient and polite.<br/><br/>The sand lobster was grilled to perfection. The potatoes sauteed with garlic and coriander and sauteed vegetables were good. The Tamarind Fish Curry with Steamed Rice was very good. The King fish used in the curry was fresh, soft, and boneless. <br/><br/>I found the framed old maps that were on hung on the walls extremely interesting being a history buff!

I can't rate lower thanks to the ambience.<br/><br/>Service was the slowest possible.Had to call up multiple times to get the waiters attention.<br/>Had the worst food during my trip to Pondicherry.<br/><br/>Ordered a grilled lobster and it was oil fried.Either a dish can be grilled or its pan fried with oil, the menu was misleading.There is no way an amazing lobster can be deprived of its taste.It was extremely hard, oily and inedible.Had to leave it half eaten and wasted 750 bucks.<br/><br/>Would not recommend this restaurant until service quality and taste of servings improve.

Loved the ambience. This place represents the beauty of Pondicherry form the colonial times . The pros about the place is that the food is around 3.5 /5.0 the, Ambience 4.0/5 .<br/>Though there was a delay for the dessert it was worth it. If you would like to experience true French experience at a low cost and have a good evening you must give this place a try .

Food was good but the whne not suitable for drinking andI asked 4 whole wheat pasta and got a white one. Ambiance very good. Toilet could be much better.

I would highly recommend this place for a romantic or a group dinner while you are in Pondicherry. It was a lovely ambience when I came here for dinner with my wife - an open courtyard (they have outdoor and indoor ac seating as well) with live singing with music mostly hindi nos new and old as well as a few English ones in between like Metallica "Nothing Else Matters". In fact they were very open and inviting for guests there for dinner to come and sing a song of their choice if they so wish. I can sing but coz of a cold avoided it but a fellow Bengali guest sang a lovely old hindi no really well. Now talking about the food and service, both were just excellent. Everything here from fish to vegetarian food is well made and appetizing.

A beautiful and a really pretty place to enjoy a lavish meal. An old mansion converted to a hotel in a classy and a tasteful way! Lovely decor and ambience.<br/>Good and well trained service staff.<br/>Located very close to the promenade. Hence the perfect location to stay in if you are here for a short while.<br/>Very well made cocktails. Great food. The Non veg dishes were better than the veg ones. <br/>Would definitely go back for more :)<br/>

Lets start with the good things first.. The food we had was nice, we ordered a cold papaya and cucumber soup, grilled calamari, roti, some variety of fried fish and seafood curry. The seafood curry was really good, the calamari and the fish was good and the soup gave us a refreshing taste. Now the bad stuff., very poor service from dirty tables to slow staff you name it they have it. Can u believe tat our cold soup hit the table some 20 mins after we placed our order, it really pisses you off when the other customers who stay in the hotel get their main courses before us. We had to wait for everything... if not for decent food it would've a disasterous experience

A rating of 4 on 5? Why, did this place get to rate themselves? Fancy French names to fool the French as well as the poor Indian taste seekers. Sad food sad service. Ruined the evening for us. The tamarind fish curry was a disaster. Had to change my drink twice. Had to wait for a fork for 20 minutes. And end of the day food that makes you cry. My prawn dish was accompanied with Ratatouille or so they claim. Are you kidding me? See that photo for yourself.

We had our last meal of our Pondicherry trip and it was totally worth it. Perfect ambience and such amazing French food. You generally do not have a lot of places offering good veg dishes but this places was phenomenal. Do order assiette jardin de L'Orient if looking for veg. Also the chicken fillet is another amazing dish too. The music adds to the mood in the most suitable way ever.

Lazy unresponsive ungrateful staff. Cold tasteless food, drinks warm and no apologies for cancelling a reserved table. A restaurant best avoided since Pondicherry has so many other warm beautiful places full of warm staff and delicious food. The restaurant manager Shankar was absolutely unapologetic when we told him about all of this. Best avoided!

Beer not chilled, food is a little above avg. you get better seafood in Pondicherry, have some better restaurants,explore those...............................

Very poor service. Warm beer, dirty table, unresponsive staff.... You can do much much better with your choice of restaurants in this side of town. <br/>Salad Nicoise was mostly boiled potatoes, and they forgot the order more than once...

One of the best...or "THE BEST" thing happend to us in pondy was lunch in this hotel.<br/>Ambience- the best a place can afford be it tables,dinnerware,maps on the walls,the covered piano...everything made myself assuring me i ll visit this place again..<br/>Food-first we ordered fresh veg soup,mushroom creepe,mutton curry with rice, fish fillet and after tasting these -ended up ordering these again and some more beef and pastas ... <br/>Desert -except the platter , pineapple and fruit salad v had everything👍🏼👍🏼<br/>Friends-cant find another word to call those guys working there . Excellent service .<br/>Be it explaining the food .. how it is prepared .. serving ..way ahead of other restaurants in pondy... <br/>Visiting again soon..

Brilliant combination of great food and absolutely impressive ambience. Reminds of a Mediterranean villa. I ordered the Grilled Fish of the Day, infused with lemon sauce (can't remember the original name in French - apologies for the same) and personally felt is extremely delicious, combined with French Fries. Also worth trying is Chicken with Cashew nut cream curry (tastes a bit sweet though). Overall, a great experience.

All people in and nearby White Town, should visit this awesome place primarily for 3 things - Ambience, Ambience and only Ambience.<br/>Located just about 150 metres from Rock Beach, it is an open air bar cum restaurant with a French classy vintage getup. The doors, windows, chairs, choice of colours on each and everything adds upto the ambience. Though there's an Ac room dining hall also, but the open air place is much more pleasant. Add to that, smoking is allowed in that area.<br/>They have a fantastic liquor collection. Few are in display. Apart from that, the hospitality from staff was quite good. Beer rates were quite okay. I absolutely loved this place and if I come back to White Town ever, it would be the topmost go-to places with my friends to hangout over beer n smoke.<br/><br/>So, definitely a 4 point rating for this parallel world charm it carries with itself, iff not more.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. And that is what our group of friends wanted to do on a recent trip to Pondicherry. We wanted to actually sample the essence of this quaint French colony. While the prime reason of most gangs of bachelors headed to Pondy (being a Union territory, alcohol in Pondicherry isn't taxed as much and hence very affordable) is to get mindlessly sloshed in a hotel room or bar, this time we were eager to try some of the local cuisine.

This is a fine dine place nestled in the ground floor of the Hotel De L'Orient. It's a Neemrana property and has a class of its own. The décor reminds of the past colonial era and the lighting, furniture and setting makes for a perfect dining experience. One has a choice of outdoor seating or to be seated in the AC Dining Hall (with limited capacity though). We chose the later, though had to endure about 20min of waiting time for the same. The cuisine is primarily French and it scores high both on taste and presentation. They also have a very good alcohol collection. Only reason to not rate this place higher is the service time - we had to wait for about 35-40 minutes for our order to arrive. To sum it up, this place offers good food, great ambience and a bill that won't really burn a hole in your pocket (somehow they have a VAT+Taxes at only 6%). I am sure coming back the next time I am in Pondicherry.

Carte blanche takes you back in time!..The world charm will amaze you.We visited for a late lunch, and had ordered minimally.Four pieces were served for the grilled fish,out of which one was not properly cooked.Else, the grilled fish,the cold herbs sauce and even the jeera rice which came as accompaniment tasted good.Creme brulee was amazing!!.The service was slow and staff didnt seem to be very keen in being amicable.Overall it was definitely a good experience!

After viewing all the zomato reviews, we decided to drop by this restaurant. When you walk in, the ambience takes you back into history. The food was good and tasty. A special highlight to the fried crumb fish from the kid's menu. It was soft and succulent.

Sitting here, you absolutely feel like you've travelled back in time. True to its name, the walls are lined with maps of pre-independent India. The food is flawless, and they serve the best creme brulee I ever had! Service is rather slow, but the food is well-worth the wait. I visited the place on a hot, sunny day and preferred the indoor seating, but the outdoor  seating would seem very enticing on a nice evening.<br/>Lovely ambience and delectable food, what more could one wish for!

Yummmy. The beef kebabs and steak were outstanding. Drinks were also yummy. Every single of our desserts was polished off! Very nice and cheerful staff! Good job

We visited Carte Blanche yesterday for a nice evening. The place wasn't very crowded, so it was nice. The ambience is good, the courtyard is very calm and a nice place to sit. <br/>The food was okay - <br/>Starter: crepes filled with mushrooms - delicious!, 5/5<br/>Main: fish of the day with potatoes - the fish was a bit over cooked 3/5, prawns in sauce - prawns were also a bit over cooked 3/5<br/>The service was a bit slow, since there were only two (maybe three, I am not very sure) servers for the whole restaurant. <br/>Overall we were a bit disappointed, as it was featured in Lonely planet, so we expected more.

The epitome of poor customer service! So disappointed with this one. No one attended to us for a good 15-20 minutes. We finally did manage to get a place to sit. Didn't get the menu for another 15. Walked out absolutely frustrated! <br/>If you're here for the service, definitely not the place for you. Can't comment on the food.

The interior decor is nice..provides a heritage villa feel and the French cuisine names in menu card adds to the flavour. However , the presentation of the dish ordered was nothing great and the taste was average. <br/>Though the restaurant can be ideal for spending some good time with your friends or travel partners over a drink or two. <br/>Service is prompt and the menu is pretty comprehensive. <br/>

Had chicken fillet with pesto and lemon sauce. Awesome! Chicken was so tender! Had 2 sides.. ratatouille and Baby potatoes sauted in garlic and coriander. Both were good. Actually one side is free with main course but the waiter gave us both free!!! Was gud enuf to share with 2 people. Reasonably priced. Great service.. They served with smile! We ate with happiness!

Our last meal at Pondicherry was at Carte Blanche, a restaurant unit of Neemrana Hotels , another heritage hotel. Once again, as we sat down for lunch, we felt like we had time traveled to a place somewhere along the French coastline as we sat under a dense green cover and enjoyed a meal of seafood curry and rice, ratatouille and some beers in the courtyard. It broke our hearts to leave this gorgeous place, and we miss it till date. If we get a chance to go back for only one meal to Pondicherry, this is where it’s going to be.

Carte blanched is a very beautiful French style resturant.<br/>Ambience: Quite and peaceful best experience if sat in a open lawn<br/>Service :It's service is very good.<br/>Drinks:It has a good collection of booze.<br/>Must try: Pesto Pasta<br/>

Old charm and tasty food make Carte Blanche a worth while stop while in Pondicherry. The service needs a major overhaul. It is slow and spotty.the menu though limited had some interesting choices and the prices are reasonable.<br/>They had a lot of food listed on the menu but not available on the day we were there and that was pretty disappointing. Limited seating is another con.<br/><br/>House garlic bread 👍👍👍👍<br/>Crepe with mushrooms 👍👍👍<br/>Paneer pakoda 👍👍👍<br/>Chicken filet 👍👍👍<br/> ratatouille with cottage cheese 👍👍👍👍👍<br/>Homemade icecream - honey and nuts👍👍<br/>Fresh lime soda 👍👍👍<br/>

Trying out new cuisines is always an excitement but also carries its own risk along-with. However, it turned out to be a pleasing experience for my taste buds. . A delightful treat of french food. . <br/><br/>Food Variety : A selected range of dish varieties with well organised accompaniments. Every dish had its own reason to be on the menu card. <br/>Adding to the taste of the food was the beauty of presentation. Every dish a carried a smile on its face inviting you to grab it and grab it more. <br/><br/>Staff & Ambiance : An educated personnel i must say when it came to suggesting us the dishes. Not every tourist place restaurant does this.. A perfect suggestion from the manager as if it came right from the chef's kitchen. Loved the ambiance of the open courtyard. . However there is an option of A/C dining as well. <br/><br/>Thank you for the delight :)

Amazing experience. Sat in the courtyard which transports one to another era. Exceptionally good service and very generous portions. Expensive hotel but dont miss out on the food which is quite reasonable. One must visit the hotel. Finding it was tough even on google maps but was worth it!

Went there for Dinner awesome French gourmet food all tried their specialty lobster which was fantastic and had lentil soup with grilled calamari salad.ended the meal with creme brulee which was perfect

very nice place to see and for eat. <br/>French old decoration, very quiet. <br/>Beef and pasta were very good, good service. <br/>Price is good too.

Went here for lunch on 24/06/2016 with my family food was okay the starters arrived on time had grilled squid and seafood and was good but then after that all went the wrong took ages for the main course to come and we had completely lost interest in savoring the food instead just wanted to just finish it and get out of the place.

Found this place while taking a walk through White Town. The place is very green and beautiful, reflective of the French influence in Puducherry. The ambience, mirroring the set-up of the restaurant was clam and peaceful which was very pleasing after a long walk under the sun. Walking into the restaurant, the staff were very warm and welcoming. Coming to the food, we kept it simple and ordered a Gazpacho for appetizer and Ratatouille au Cottage Cheese (with Garlic bread) for the main course. Gazpacho was very refreshing and kept me wanting for more. The Ratatouille was also very well cooked but the Gazpacho was definitely the highlight. Would love to go back to this place if I ever visit Pondicherry again.<br/> <br/>Location: 4/5<br/>Efficiency: 5/5<br/>Flavor: 5/5<br/>Ambience : 4.5/5<br/> <br/>Value for money: 5/5

Farce in the name of French. Disappointed. <br/><br/>............................................................................... <br/><br/>Thank you!!!.

Dine with a French touch! At the heart of the french colony you can relax at La Carte Blanche. This is a unit of Neemrana (Non-hotel) Hotels. Some good quality wine is available here. Unfortunately we went on a hot day for late lunch, so we couldn't appreciate the garden seating. Well the AC indoors was decorated good. A limited menu with quality food. Sea food bisque the best bisque. They have a unique house of sauces, which is a beautiful with the suited meat. Food is nearly Perfect. Nothing to complain much except for their limited Menu. <br/>Food: 4.5/5<br/>Ambience : 4/5<br/>Service: 4/5 Anitha Muthusami

A beautiful, calm and serene place which will give you a pleasant experience of silence, food, friends and ambience. We were 4 of us and ordered mocktails, prawns and fish starter, potato starter, veg pasta, rice and fish curry and rice and chicken curry. The ambience stole our hearts and it was quite a refreshing experience to dine there. The service was welcoming and pleasing. A cool and bright day spent at Carte Blanche with mouth watering dishes was totally a memorable experience.<br/><br/>Variety of food items : 5/5 (Immense variety)<br/>Quality : 4/5 (Prawns and chicken were tasty. Veg items weren't as good, so was the fish. )<br/>Ambience : 5/5 (Quite cozy, clean, and welcoming seating. The walls and the ceiling are also interestingly decorated. There is ample space in the entrance with beautiful outdoor seating and decorations.)<br/>Service : 5/5 (Welcomed with smiles and they politely put up with our flickering orders. Cutting 0.5 marks because the service was a little slow.) <br/>Location : 5/5 (A very prime location in Pondicherry that the White Town is and the restaurant is easily spottable.)<br/>Value for money : 4.5/5 (We paid around 700-800 per head which was slightly expensive for the items and the taste. Nevertheless, the refreshing ambience made up for it.)

There is something about this place that has made me say "wow" everytime I think or talk about this restaurant.. it gives you a French colony feeling and it's such a peaceful place.. I am not a great fan of pasta usually.. but I just made my mind to have one, and I m glad I did. So with help of the attendant I decided to order "Poulet a la crème et au Citron Confit", it's a chicken and cream with lemon pasta. I must say, it was yummy and I just have realized I should have more pastas now.. they had also served bread with chutney which was a complimentary.. the chutney tasted so nice that I started ordering more n more of it. I love "carte blanche" thank you for serving delicious food..

Carte Blanche is a beautiful restaurant with a typical French touch!! Currently the weather is too hot.. So we wanted to sit indoors, but as they said AC was not working.. Being a fine dining place.. This was not really welcoming.. So we settled outdoors.. We ordered a grilled chicken with pepper sauce, a tamarind fish curry with rice and a creme brulee.. Grilled chicken was perfect, right amount of salt and flavors, served with baby potatoes sautéed with ginger and coriander.. the sauce was also great in flavor as well as consistency.. The fish was good.. But it didn't have any taste of tamarind.. Creme brulee was again one of the good once you will get in the town!! The place is also a bit expensive compared to other restaurants around.. Paying this much and eating outdoors in hot weather.. Not so good!!

One lazy Saturday in a quest for the best sea-food in the sleepy town of Puducherry found us outside Hotel De L'Orient!<br/>Carte Blanche apparently means map-making or something along those lines, so the restaurant had different kinds of cartography hung on their walls, giving it an old French colony feel!<br/>The Maître d' promised us the best prawns in the town and Boy! was he right? We were promptly seated at our tables and our orders taken. Crowd around the restaurant was sparse, owing to a hot Saturday noon.<br/>We ordered tiger prawns and fish fry(not so good  in naming the river catches!) for the boys and some veg pasta for me!<br/>Judging by the way the guys devoured those two dishes I can say the prawns were a clear winner! The pasta for me did the trick! I had asked for spaghetti with pesto-basil sauce. The sauce was right amount creamy and the pasta was served with a generous amount of Parmesan- transporting me back to those days in Italy of tummy-loads of wine & pasta!<br/>We had the creme brulee and some custard for dessert. We were too full of main course to properly focus on the otherwise mediocre desserts! <br/>Carte Blanche was one restaurant which made me wish I could just pack it in my bags and bring it home! <br/>The old-town-charm that it's ambiance had, the finger-licking food that they serve makes this a must-visit place for every outsider when dropping in to Pondy!

I absolutely loved Carte Blanche. The ambience fabulous and the food great. It is located in the courtyard of a hotel and has outdoor as well as AC seating. We preferred to sit out in the open. We reached at 9:15 and they take their last orders by 9:30 so we had to order in one go. The server was helpful with his suggestions on the food and portions. The grilled kingfish with lemon mustard sauce was very well made. It was served with some grilled vegetables. The fish and sauce flavours merged beautifully. Next was the penne pasta, light, flavourful, good portion size. Husband and friend order a Creole mutton curry with rice. I didn't eat it so will purely go by their verdict. The curry in coconut base was great but they found the mutton pieces a bit chewy.<br/>We had a good time with some lovely food. I'd definitely recommend this place.

The food is a great plus however Service was on a bit slower side which I felt was a problem with Puducherry restaurants in General. Went there for dinner and ordered Tiger prawns, fish curry and another non veg main. Everything was well prepared.

The only thing good about this place was the mint coconut chutney! The food was a disaster. They boast about their French experience but the steak was dry, the breads were stale and hard, the mousse was hard and dense! Their service is equally bad. On top of this they added extra items to our bill!

Had a very bad experience. The staffs are useless, it took 45 mins for them to take the first order and took one hour to bring the food. They didn't have half of the things in the menu when ordered. The food tastes okay. Overall for the amount of money you pay it is not worth it !!!

Must visit in pondicherry. Courteous staff, great ambience which gives a good feel of the french colony<br/>Delicious food - chefs special brocolli soup is to die for. Other than that we had the saffron rice and chicken fillet - both recommended<br/>For dessert we had the chocolate trology with indian coffee - great finish to an amazing meal. Best way to end the trip<br/>

Food is good. But the service is pathetic. Just 1 person attending to 7-8 tables. Got the wrong drinks served. Ordered a pesto veg pasta and got one with seafood. Took ages for everything to be served .

I had heard a lot about this place and wanted to try out. <br/>The menu had some interesting pondicherian curry options.<br/>I had the vegetarian curry with mushroom and was very good. The spices used were tasting very well with steamed rice. <br/>The place is very well done up and Is a must go place for some good food and time.<br/>It is decently priced .<br/>The service was something that was the only not so good part of the whole experience.<br/>A Must go!

An amazing location and a good Hospitality restaurant. They serve good French food and drinks. One can visit to just get the feel of the French colonial style hotel.

We hit this place on a Sunday evening after researching a lot over zomato. It's got a great ambience. Of course pondy it is and this place had a french touch from food to ambience. It's an open roof and u can just gaze at the sky while you are sipping your drink :) we ordered fried vegetables with mint chutney which is a must try! Lip smacking and the chutney was was blended. <br/>Ambience 5/5<br/>Service 4/5<br/>Taste 4/5<br/>

The ambience is absolutely mindblowing. Its situated in the inner courtyard of a French style palatial house, in the garden and lit up. One can imagine how beautiful that can get. The service, however, was lackadaisical and hence disappointing. We were seated for more than fifteen minutes before the menu was even handed to us. Another fifteen minutes to take the order, and a good thirty minute before the food arrived. And all this even though the place wasn't brimming with guests. I'm inclined to say that there was some preferential treatment. A great put off. Limited menu, i ordered Dodare Fish with Lemon Mustard sauce, loved the sauce and liked the fish. Baked Cheese Ratatouille, not a great fan. One must-do during a Pondi visit is fine-dining in a Continental Restaurant. While the ambience here is enticing, wouldn't prefer to visit them again.

This fantastic French restaurant is the perfect place for an evening meal in Pondicherry.<br/><br/>Pros:<br/>- Great ambiance which epitomises the French heritage of Pondicherry.<br/>-  The starter of squid was fresh and well prepared with garlic and herbs. Not at all chewy.<br/>- The main course of steak was cooked perfectly and the cut of meat was of good quality.<br/>- As with many French restaurants in Pondicherry, a good selection of wines was available to accompany the meal.<br/>- Very professional service from the waiting staff.<br/>- Menu prices are very cheap for the quality of the food.<br/><br/>Cons:<br/>- Wine menu is quite expensive.

The french really know how to enjoy their food. This restaurant is true to that concept..at first we just wanted to check this place from our "to visit" list. However the best experience for such a place would be when you leave aside a good 2 hours. Only then will you be able to appreciate it fully. We went during lunch time, the standard Indian lunch time and had a cocktail and some snacks. The food and drinks options are limited, which is a bummer cause you would want to have more options to chose from in such a place. But the ambience rates 10/10 if you want to feel French for some time. Waiting time is long..but then again..who is in a hurry..meanwhile you could take a tour of the place which has old style rooms with high ceilings and open bathrooms. Go for the entire lunch/dinner experience here and not just to fill your stomach.

This is a Neemrana boutique property in the heart of old town. Couldn't try the food though the plates on the neighbouring tables looked pretty good. Its a lovely heritage building done up tastefully while fully retaining the old school charm. Wrought iron furniture, plenty of greenery, a courteous staff adds to the experience. Enjoyed a couple of drinks in the serenity and intend to try some food there for sure. Would definitely recommend for one visit at least during your stay at pondicherry.

I wish I could give them zero, Long wait times just to take the order then even longer to get food, care less staff, they won't even look at you, the food is just mediocre at best for the money they are charging.

Horrible service and no respect for the customer. The wait for the food is so long ( over 1 hour ) that one can lose his entire appetite. If you are visiting Pondicherry, this is one restaurant you can definitely avoid. Ordered the tenderlion steak, chicken steak, chicken pasta and mushroom curry. The pasta is bland and the steak is undercooked.

Nice good however limited option due to renovation, great ambience,<br/><br/>We had pasta and prawns curry rice, it was awesome, staff was very nice, they helped me with local tourist spots, however food maybe lil overpriced!

French Architecture at its best. Love the ambience of this place. Decor is mix and match of vintage and contemporary.Food is yummy and value for you money.Service is really slow which needs to be taken care of.<br/>Dying to go here again!!! I personally would recommend tiger prawns and jeera rice.Well cooked,right spices and succulent

I would start my Puducherry trip experience with Carte Blanche for very obvious reason, cuz it was my favourite! We decided to take one semi-lit road in White Town and explore the places without being navigated by our respective phones! We found Hotel De L'orient there and walked in. We were told in the entrance only that they are serving limited menu food. For us the less the better. The lesser time to create a fuss over what to eat and lesser means that the concentration will be only on few dishes (this ensures awesome results in my theory).<br/><br/>That evening's starter menu was *Creole coconut prawn soup, *Warm salad of herbed apple & bacon, *Crispy fried vegetables.<br/>In mains they had *Creole Pondicherry Assad Curry in Choice of Chicken/Beef/Mixed vegetables which was served with rice, *Pasta with different types of sauce choices and *Pan Grilled Chicken Fillet with Wine Mushroom Sauce served with potato wedges.<br/><br/>We ordered *Creole coconut prawn soup, *Creole Pondicherry Assad Curry in mixed vegetables, *Pan Grilled Chicken Fillet with Wine Mushroom Sauce served with french fries instead of potato wedge. They had a dessert menu too, but we totally skipped it as we hogged onto the starters and mains.<br/><br/>My instinct with Creole coconut prawn soup just turned out to be the way I expected the soup to be. The mix of coconut and prawn just cannot go wrong. And this soup was simply delicious and has set a benchmark for the others to come!<br/>*Creole Pondicherry Assad Curry in mixed vegetables is the first of its kind for me in the assad curry segment which happens to be a Pondicherry speciality. And it totally lived upto the expectation and hype.<br/>*Pan Grilled Chicken Fillet with Wine Mushroom Sauce turned out to be the platinum chicken of this trip I must conclude (that means more reviews coming :P ). I fussed over the tenderness of the chicken a wee bit too much that my friends were astonished to see my happiness me doing that. It is indeed a thing to fuss over when the chicken is just perfectly cooke, tender and juicy!<br/>That was my food story! The hotel is a old & cozy french house (ofcourse) and the restaurant is on the ground floor. There was not much people and it was kind of sad to see people going away seeing the fixed menu! I guess people need to understand the importance of having a curated menu, it ensures that you get a good food experience. The ambiance was nice and breezy and extremely calm! That is what we needed after almost 6 hours of journey in the morning!

I loved the food and ambience of this place! Set in the French colony of Pondicherry, this is a restaurant called La Carte Blanche with beautiful decor surrounded with greenery and the quaint and elegant interiors inside the hotel, L'Hotel De L'Orient. ordered a Ratatouille which was one of the best ratatouilles I've eaten in Chennai and Pondy combined. It has lots of sauce was tangy and the baked vegetables were perfect. My friends ordered some King Prawns which tasted really good too. We had some Lemon and mustard sausages and cold starters, chicken salad as well. The desserts were delicious and my friends ordered some tropical drinks that they said tasted great too. The place is a bit expensive but it's worth every bit!

Was staying at De l'orient for my first time visit to Pondi. Apart from the fact that its a fantabulous hotel, it has a brilliant french restaurant. I was sick the first day I arrived so didnt have the energy to go exploring and chose to dine in the hotel. The lime and pesto seafood soup is divine and builds the appetite for the french cuisine you wish to experience in Pondi. Must visit. Extremely friendly and attentive staff. Bit on the expensive side coz of the authenticity of the cuisine.

Carte Blanche is perfect for people seeking Continental good. Situated in a villa style and surrounded by greenery, this place is perfect for catch ups and casual dates.<br/><br/>Ambience: Good. Since it was hit we sat inside. Few tables but gives a very homely feeling.<br/><br/>Food: We ordered Chicken 65, Fish with potatoes and Steak with veggies. The food is good though they do go creamy with sauces. The only was the food was bit cold till it reached the table. The Crème Brulée was smooth and creamy.<br/><br/>Price: well just cause it serves French and Italian, can be little pricey

So ya i was at pondy and i was looking for places to have dinner, as usual i zomatoed it and found carte Blanche. <br/>So here goes my review im gonna assess the place on few criteria, they would be <br/><br/>Service-3.5<br/>Service was great, the staff were polite and happy to serve us.<br/><br/>Ambience - 2.5(Dinner) <br/>The ambience was perfect (can call it romantic but it was a blind date, i mean literally blind 😳) the place was under illuminated even for a romantic dinner. ya apart from that it was all fine.<br/><br/>Menu- 2.5<br/> ( very poor menu composition, you have hardly few items on the menu and the combinations are pathetic) <br/><br/>Price- 2.5<br/>pricing hits hard for the quality of food served, which means i would grab food from another other place for lesser price, most importantly, better food <br/><br/>Food- 3.5<br/>Now with so many negatives i at least wanted the food to be good. And it was good. Not great but good. (Keeping in mind the wrong combinations, like giving me a dry chicken fry and accompanying it with naan 👀). I cannot forget to mention the so called bread and butter they served us for free of cost. Warning don't touch it, ya i mean it 😏<br/><br/>Opinion<br/>I believe on a perfect day you would want a great dinner, provided the fact that you pay so much. But this not the place which would do justice to you <br/><br/>Carte Blanche very blank 👎<br/> <br/>

A figurative war was to ensue when we ordered just one crème brulé from Carte Blanch! The creamy, and perfectly balanced flavors of this delectable treat will have your taste buds salivating even days after you have tasted it. I had the beef tenderloin with a mushroom sauce and garlic potatoes and it was just wow! The menu is differently set per day but who cares when everything is that delicious! It is definitely one of the places I will return to on my next visit.<br/>Carte Blanch is the dine in part of Hotel De L'Orient, the ambience is like <br/>an old bungalow and you really feel like you are in a French Château! The food defines what Pondicherry is all about- France in South India.<br/>All though this place is heavy on the pockets, it is worth every penny you spend!Neha Periyan Christina Martin

Had dinner at this place during my recent visit to Pondicherry . Situated in the Center of French quarter - it is a nice restaurant - serving French good. Being a vegetarian - we found enough menu items for us - which was a surprise . Ambience was just perfect and service was ok ... Pricing we very competitive . The cold soup we had was really good .

As soon as the trip to Pondicherry was finalized, I started checking out new places to try out. After a whole lot of googling, I zeroed in on Carte Blanche, the dining space of Hotel De-L’Orient. I was intrigued seeing pictures of old world maps and the Creole cuisine, a blend of South Indian and French cuisines.   After finishing up all the shopping scheduled at Mission Street and the Paper Factory, we headed over to this place by around 2.00pm on Saturday. And the place had a deserted look. The staff were surprised to see us and they mentioned they don’t get many visitors during off season time! By this time, hubby was doubtful whether the food would be good. But the décor was too charming to miss. So we stayed put and went by the staff’s selection of grilled squid with garlic and herbs for starters and portions of beef and chicken creole curry. Both the curries were accompanied with rice and one could opt for regular rice or jeera rice. The Creole chicken curry had a creamy cashewnut sauce and was an excellent choice for the children due to its subtle spice level. It almost reminded me of the chicken stew we make back home. The Creole beef curry with tomatoes in it was a different story altogether. This dish was definitely the star of the show and vanished within no time. I have no clue how to describe this curry since this is my first having a Creole curry! All I can say is, we ended up ordering one more portion of rice to do justice to this dish. Same goes for the Calamar grille, a subtle play of garlic and herbs, and voila, you get a dish that sends you to heaven!   A special mention to the awesome service and the price point. The meal was priced around 1200 only. The framed maps on the walls gives the place an old world charm. I ended up looking up most of them and it was interesting to check out the Kingdom of Travancore and Laccadives was clearly mentioned as under the rule of Arackal Bheevi.

If you are in Pondicherry, you must visit this restaurant!  Of course you may miss the board for Carte Blanche , but I'm positive you will not miss Hotel de le Orient. Walk in.<br/><br/>Quite expectedly, the creole served here definitely leaves it's mark in terms of the rich history the cuisine holds. Architecture is definitely something which will not disappoint, do make time to ponder over the umpteen pictures and original postcards displayed on glass foldable windows. Also the old maps of India, you will suddenly love history. The writings on the maps, the very feeling that these are real artifacts will intrigue you. <br/><br/>I'm also given to understand that the recipes here were passed on to the Chef by old Pondicherrian families and feature a mix of sea food, meats, vegetables and rice, all prepared with the right spices and touches.<br/><br/>We called for some Grilled chicken with fried potato cubes and salad. Also to savour some creole - chicken in cashewnut curry along with some steamed rice, which we were told was the perfect combination.<br/><br/>Things didn't work so the creole, the chicken pieces were a little slippery making it feel uncooked. However, the grilled chicken was deceptive in how it looked and how it tasted! Nothing but sheer surprise.<br/><br/>Creme Brulee had to be eaten, you are in pondicherry! However, the caramelised top also had that almost perfect clink with the spoon. And the 'custard' was beautiful, not too sweet and definitely melty.<br/><br/>In all, I think you should visit this place even though the menu may appear limited. The service was non interfering and sufficient. However, maybe a tad bit pricey.<br/><br/>

Been to this place during my last visit to Pondicherry. An old house with French architecture has been converted into this restaurant, which also houses a posh guest house. Entering through the huge door, you will land in an old style courtyard that is nicely decorated with potted plants. You can either choose for outdoor seating or they will accomodate you inside a room. There would not be any more than half a dozen tables in there - another testament to that this is in fact a repurposed house.<br/><br/>Coming to the food, we were terribly disappointed that they menu displayed here was not on offer. Instead, they offered us a very limited selection, that contained a couple of (salted) veg crépes, a couple of non-veg steaks and a couple of items from Indian selected. We ordered a veg crépe - which was really awesome - and a chicken steak and butter paneer. The steak and paneer were just about average - not but but nothing to write home about either.

We reached this place at 9 30 for dinner and we were told that they take the last order at 9 30 and the restaurant closes at 10. But the staff agreed to take our order. The menu provided to us had very few items compared to the menu posted on Zomato. Again, we were told that we can not order any starters as it was late. That left us with very limited choice. As we were 3, we ordered 2 continental and one Indian preparation. All 3 were nice especially sear fish with mushroom sauce. They definitely deserve 4 for the quality of food. But quantity, price and limited choice made me to reduce the rating by .5.

What a wonderful place! Beautifully designed lovely little place in the heart of the city. We had the chicken in white sauce with rice and baked vegetables as mains. Mushroom sauteed in garlic and olive oil as an appetizer with a fresh lime soda. It was just perfect!!! Would totally recommend this place!

Our second night’s dinner at Pondicherry took us for a ride. Literally!! We had short-listed a few places of which Satsanga had been covered. Now, dinner at Rendevous. We decided to walk to it….bad idea…since it was quite a bit of a long walk to the area, only to find that the restaurant had shut shop some months back. Quickly revisited our list, and zeroed in on Le Club. This time, we showed better judgement of distance and hailed down a auto which took us to Le Club in 5 minutes. Only to be told that they don’t allow kids (we had our six and a half year old with us)!!! Wow!! What an evening!!! Now where?<br/><br/>Another look at the list, we crossed Rendevous and Le Club and zeroed in on Carte Blanche, the Neemrana property. Upon reaching there, the first thing we asked the staff at the reservations was that if they allowed kids. He nodded. But asked us if we had prior reservation. Alarmed, we said ‘No’. Don’t know if our evening’s running around showed on our face, but he went inside looking for a table for 3 and came back soon after declaring that we could dine at Carte Blance. We thanked the Gods above!!! And him, of course!<br/><br/>Ambience at Carte Blanche in Pondicherry: And we entered this lovely courtyard where music flowed from the violin being played in one corner. We could see other diners, quietly enjoying their meals and listening to the music. We looked around, Carte Blanche had a pretty large dining area – the open courtyard filled with house plants and palms, the little adjacent verandah that had some beautiful vintage pieces of furniture, and the main dining room inside. Thankfully, the manager showed us to a table that was in the verandah. And with that, we were sure of a dinner in style, perhaps to compensate for the mini adventure we had earlier on. <br/><br/>Food at Carte Blanche in Pondicherry: Our love for sea-food is big, and when we are in coastal cities, it knows no bounds. So we settled for a Seafood Salad that came dressed with herbs. The Bong couple, along with their youngest member, devoured it like there was no tomorrow!<br/><br/>Main course was – Ragout de Mutton (that’s Mutton Stew) for me, which they planned to serve with rice. I requested for breads instead, and they happily obliged me. The stew was very well made, with a lot of mutton that I had difficulty finishing, even when my daughter shared from me. Jayanta asked the manage for dish that Carte Blanche was famous for, and the manager happily jotted down Creole Beef Coconut Curry in a bed of rice. Needless to say, Jayanta loved it.<br/><br/>Desserts was rich Chocolate Mousse. Fittingly!!<br/><br/>Final Word about Carte Blanche in Pondicherry: One debacle dinner upon reaching Pondicherry (at Madame Shanthe’s), one basic breakfast the next morning (at the Sea-Side Guest House), one average lunch (at Restaurant Satsanga) – summed up our first three meal-experience in Pondicherry. Another bad/average meal, and we would have cried bitterly. God averted that. And got us to Carte Blanche. Lovely ambience. Yummy food. Happy family!!!<br/><br/>(Note: That evening, when I sat down to transfer photos from my camera to my laptop, catastrophe struck!!! I ended up deleting photos taken at Auroville and thereafter! So have no photos to show for much of Auroville, all of Satsanga and Carte Blanche)