Review Satsanga - Pondicherry

Food was awesome. All of us loved the chicken pan cake. I liked the steak. Garlic bread was not great. The place is not very clean and neat, they said work is going on. The restaurant was full during the lunch time. Mostly by foreigners, upper middle class and lifestyle lovers..

Quiet place. Great food. Knowledgeable staff. The beef moussaka we had from there was absolutely brilliant. Also try the Ratatouille. Place doesn't have the best ambience, but it makes up for that in taste and value!

Was looking for a calm and relaxed dinner with family in Pondicherry after a tiring day at Auroville. Google suggested Satsanga when I chose French cuisine. Ambiance is nice as you can see. They have both covered and open sitting area. Service is good. Prices are slightly more than affordable but you have to spend that much when you are travelling. We had lovely French food and Indian too. We completely enjoyed the meal. Highly recommended. And yes it's clean and cozy and staff are friendly too.

Great restaurant!!! There is a selection of both western and Indian food. They do serve alcohol and wine. It's definitely a culture location serving stake etc. Sathya the gentlemen who attended us was very polite and helpful. When I couldnt make my mind about delicious sauce he had both made for me. I like the desserts too. Off season I don't think there will be parking issues otherwise you have to worry about that. Note : this is a French restaurant. We were witness to awkwardness as a group of men tried to get them to make particular North dishes which they don't necessarily cater too. If you appreciate our want to try French, Italian cuisine come here.

It's a good place for the french cuisine. I really like the tastes of the food. Beautiful ambience. It's a good place for the family and friends.

Great food, even steaks was brilliant. They could have done much better to make the place much nicer.

Must go place if you are looking for a Sumptuous meal. Menu has a variety of Indian and French dishes. Dinner here if you are near Promenade. Must mention the great service too. Ambience is calm and away from the otherwise noisy Promenade.

This place is mainly famous for beef stake lovers. But its cooked in a bit different style and some people may find it not well cooked and some may like it Great place to have your food and relax within a garden. This place looks good specially at the evening and you can find variety of beef ,chicken and fish items.Also serves Drinks with foods if you are willing to.Can easily have your food and spend some hours with you loved ones.

It was just what I needed to take a break from spicy food. Even though it was just a basic meal, it tasted great!

I have visited Satsanga twice, one in 2012 and then again recently in 2018. It is one of the places that refuses to change...the food is great, service impeccable and the ambience, laid back. A similar place would have "revamped" themselves but Satsanga doesn't need to and probably its best that the place stays as it is.

We met Pierre the owner. Nice guy he really try to keep the quality as high as possible. Will recommend to eat there.

Food was good. Ambience can be better. But strangely waiter was asking for tip while swiping card.

Nice ambiance, courteous staff. Good food.

Nice sit out n good menu. Beef meat quality too good.

Amazing place with good food. Cost as same as all the restaurants near by. Friendly staff. Bar available. Not for dancing people.

Satsanga Restaurant - Hugely popular amongs locals, the food here is inspired by French cuisine but with Indian touch. Try the Ratatouille, Rillettes (a cold appetiser French potted meat), Pate de Poission, grilled fish in various sauces etc. Address: La Bourdonnais Street, Near PWD New HO in #Puducherry. #AdSense #AdSenseGorilla #AdSenseIncome #AdMob #AdSenseEarnings goo.gl/HG4fTG

Best French restaurant in Pondicherry

My understanding is Satsanga used to be good and was one of the few places to serve a more authentic french dishes in White Town which was less Creole than the other places. But the place seems like it has fallen into disarray and needs a severe facelift.<br/><br/>We went on Christmas evening and ordered a few starters from their Christmas special menu. It was around 6pm in the evening and we were only the second table occupied but where informed one of the days special was finished already. I asked for a beer, repeatedly from both the servers there and somehow they both kept on forgetting. The starter we did get actually, tasted okayish. Good but nothing great.<br/><br/>The interiors also need better upkeep. Service needs to become a hell lot better. More attention to basic details required. Otherwise there's no point in visiting when there are plenty good places in and around White Town.

Good French food ... good service ... was sad though because the place is under renovation and the garden is gone temporarily.. please keep the place tidy though, hope it doesn’t lose its quality! Good memories over the years at this restaurant .. always visit when in Pondy...

Actually its 4.5 stars for the food but have given 4 stars only because there is no air conditioned space in the restaurant and as such its a little stuffy

Enjoyed the place with my family. really had a nice experience  at satsanga  food and dishes were delicious. A perfect place to dine with  family and friends. satsanga team took care of us very well...

We had our dinner here one night. We ordered veg fried rice, paneer 65, grilled checken with mashed potatoes, french fries, caramel custard and vodka. Food was cooked well but the taste was not as it was expected. Also I found it to be little bit pricey compared to taste.<br/>One thing good about this restaurant was it's ambiance. The decor and interior was well created with vintage furniture and lights. It is situated on the quiet street thus adding to it's peaceful atmosphere.

It was our last night in Pondi and very hesitantly went to Satsang for a dinner and it proved to be not so good experience. Keeping a fancy name and lot of french names in the menu does not make a restaurant excellent one. Other than the ambiance nothing was there to boast upon. Not recommended as there are much more better cafes and restaurants around.<br/><br/>Location: It is in the Labourdonnais Street in White Town area of the city and quite close to the beach. Refer google maps for more accurate location.<br/><br/>Parking: There is road side parking available for those coming by their own two or four wheelers.<br/><br/>Ambiance: The restaurant is spread over an open space with garden like decoration. But looked like it is in need of a up gradation as the look appears little bland.<br/><br/>Seating: The seating area is like any other typical Pondi cafe with chairs arranged around a table. There were lot of mosquitoes during the night time which was kind of annoying. <br/><br/>Service: More or less slow, with some of the orders taking a long time to arrive. The waiters looked least interested in serving.<br/><br/>Food: The food was good and bad both. Some of the items were really good and some very average. So there was no consistency. Quality wise could have been a little better.<br/><br/>Price: It is on the higher side considering most of the visitors were foreigners. Cards and cash are accepted as payment.<br/><br/>Overall didn't find the restaurant living up to its expectations. And yes they have the most dirty bathrooms I have seen in whole of Pondicherry. Seriously where the hell is the money going that they are charging. Not recommended at all from my side.

Polite and friendly staff. The servings were generous and the food was flavorsome. The place lived up to its name and it was overall a really great place to eat.

Ended up at this place due to a list of top 10 restaurants in Pondicherry on various blogs.<br/>Unfortunately my opinion goes by the super low rating already on Zomato.<br/>We ordered basic fish and chips... Which was in it's true sense simple, soggy and bland fish pakodas with soggy french fries and some curdled sauce. The second dish was ordered to be spicy red pesto with penne... But it ended up being spaghetti... Edible though.

Satsanga used to be a phenomenal place, barely 2 years ago. However, service has gone down in recent times, or should i say, service has plummetted. The food is still great but the service is not. Today i ordered Soup and i did not get bread sticks or soup sticks with it, as i always get. I was told the breezers were not cold. The place did not have much crowd and it was a rainy day. Im disappointed that a once awesome spot is now losing its charm.

Satsanga is the go-to place for steaks in Pondicherry.<br/><br/>I went and tried the beef steak in pepper and wine sauce. It was the tastiest steak i had tasted in a very loooong time. The quantity is pretty less. But the food is so tasty that it just melts through your mouth.<br/>Great staff and service.<br/>At least give it a one time try for the steaks.<br/>

After watching this restaurant on ndtv good times ‘highway on my plate’ was very excited to visit this place, but it was utterly disappointing this is just an over hyped place. Great ambiance and good for people who booze. But food is horrible, we ordered a spagetti pasta and it tasted very bad and so is the quality and very over priced. Except for the ambiance this resto is not worth the money…

I had gone to this place with great expectations of tasting authentic French food. The place is beautiful and has a rather beautiful decor but the food was very disappointing. I ordered a chicken in mushroom sauce that was served with mashed potato and rice and was just okay. The names of most dishes in the menu are written in French trying to create an impression of them being authentic but on the contrary most of the dishes fall in the category of continental cuisine. The prices were also steep.

Worst food ever!! The experience was horrible. Had been to the place hearing it's known for seafood but the food was terrible. Highly unsatisfied. Since the chef wasn't available, the food was prepared by one of the server. Doesn't even deserve 1 star rating.

Satsanga is an French-Italien-Indian restaurant located in La Bourdonnais Street, one of the most living street of Pondichery.<br/><br/>The place is pretty, the tables are decorated like in a parisian brasserie.<br/>We made a reservation for a group of 40 people.<br/>But Satsanga didn't increase the number of waiters, so the service was really long.<br/>We finally ordered, and after another long time waiting, we finally had our plates.<br/><br/>The food is delicious.<br/>The chicken with cream and mushroom, the beef with echalotes and the beef with wine sauce are all served with delicious french fries.<br/>The Indian dishes are tasty too.<br/>The deserts are tasty : the lemon pie is okay and the chocolate cream is so tasty !<br/><br/>Careful ! Some of the plates in the menu are rarely available.<br/><br/>In conclusion, very good location, nice place, delicious food, but expensive !!

There were ants in the bread given... WTH...and half the menu items were not there. I expected basic cleanliness and the bar was also half empty..

Need a better Chef. Team needs to do food tasting regularly in order to shut the restaurant, you order french food and you get meats drowned in sauces just like indian curries.

Experience was horrible. The food is not edible at all! From starters to entree’s everything is stale. They cover up the dishes with so much sauces in order to hide the state of the food. No presentation at all plus mosquitoes are everywhere. Not worth to pay as such quality of food and service. Plus prices is different from Zomato to actual price on the restaurant.

The ambience is kind of just okay, there's nothing special or pleasing, the food is just average and really overpriced, the service is below average and the staff are least bothered. We ordered a beef steak and the fries with it felt not fresh. Overall experience was bad, the prices differ from the menu shown online.

The best Lemon Pie I've ever had was here. We made it a point yo eat here at least once a day. The food is amazing and the staff is very courteous and sweet. They even gave us good suggestions on what to order! Will totally visit again!

Had my first meal here once I reached Puducherry moreover my first meal was perfect. Food was well prepared and presented. The quantity initially appeared less but it was totally fine and stomach filling🙂🙂

Food is highly overpriced, prices different from the menu given in zomato. Expected authentic French food based on some reviews here, but we got tiny portions of highly Indianiazed versions of those dishes. Not worth at all!

Horrible food .....ordered beef steak and got 4 small pieces of dried up hard meat...was the worst thing I ever had...and the best part : got food poisoning the next day...thanks for ruining steak for me!!

Awesome place to have lunch. The French cuisine offered is top-notch!! Loved the juicy pork dish, chicken pasta and the sear fish fry with mashed potatoes for the main course. French fries and garlic bread were perfect starters, all this with chilled beer (note, they don't have pints) made for a perfect lunch. Very highly recommended.

This place is very expensive...the food is not worthy of the price..we ordered beef steak..it tasted somewhat ok..bt it's not worthy of the price..the quantity is very less..there are only 4 small pieces if steak in each plate...the sauce was the only good thing in the plate...the ambience is not good... Don't trust the rate in the menu card given in zomato...they have increased the rate so much...There are other places in pondi where you get much better steak..

Amazing experience. This place was recommended by our surfing instructor, a local Tamil guy, and so glad we came! Ask for the crêpes with prawns and mushrooms (off the menu item) and if Didier is around, ask him to tell you the story of how he got to pondicherry. 5/5!

Racist basterds !!<br/>This place is a absolute racist place !! <br/>I have been visiting this place every time I visit Pondy !! <br/>Today the minute I entered the Restaurent one white guy(may be who is working there after running out of cash after reaching Pondy ) came up saying there is no alcohol....I said I don’t care he said the prices have gone up ... I gave him a piece of my mind ... and made him understand I can buy all the hippies out there in the restro a free meal !! Then he comes up saying they have got unexpected rush and he can’t serve the food anytime soon !! <br/><br/>Racist place ... avoid it ! Go to promonade for some good food !!

Probably the worst in Puducherry. Food was soggy, chicken was not fresh at all. Got a hair in the fish dish that I ordered, so had to return. Service was also quite bad. Spoilt the good mood of vacation. One should never come here just by looking at the ambience.

I had a pot of organic tea and a plate of rare beef steak. I really wanted to have beef steak on my stay at pondi which i had a bad experience at de bussy. Satsanga is situated near the beach and the restaurant is kind of a sit out eat. Its a very relaxing and good place to hangout as well. The beef steak which i asked for rare with french fries (you can opt either for rice or some other with the steak) was just what i wanted. Good texture from the inside as well as outside. It is filling enough and taste good. It is a little expensive which both the items cost me around 800 rs but good for the price you pay. Had an amazing time there I recommend you all to visit they serve beer and others too.

The ambience is nice. The fish curry and rice were great. The basil fish and fish and chips were fresh but soggy and bland. The place is overpriced given that the food was not at all special. <br/><br/>They are understaffed. It takes really long for the food to come.

Nice ambience with very poor service. Only one service person for 10+ table<br/>Below average food, not recommendable. <br/>Very disappointed, thanks.

Horrible service and servers are racists and downright rude! Never go to this place! One of the servers gave us a seat and the other rudely moved us away for no valid reason... with an almost empty restaurant, we realised they juat didnt want to serve us!

If you want to have an authentic French cuisine in a «chaleureuse» ambiance, then Satsanga is THE PLACE to visit in Pondicherry.<br/>The service is good and the owner of the restaurant personally visits every table to greet the customers and to ask them about their experience.

Satsanga is one of such places transformed from a French Villa to a restaurant, most of these found in White Town. The restaurant looks beautiful at night with the minimal lights, candles, grungy interiors and comfortable seating.<br/><br/>The menu mostly consists of French and European Cuisine, we tried their Ratatouille and Moussaka, and both were delicious. It comes with a side of either Rice, Stir-fry or french fries. The portion size of each dish is for one person. The restaurant also has an excellent collection of Wine and Liquor.<br/><br/>If in Pondicherry this is a must visit a place.

With it’s wonderful location and a great ambiance, Satsanga made me fall under impression of having a lavish dinner with some good memories. However, it didn’t took much time to notice its fault, A poor service. Even poor service would be an understatement this place. Well let me draw some points below, <br/>1. Waiters doesn’t respond to take order. <br/>2. Finally after placing your order and waited for 30-40mins you notice your next table received their order even you came early and order some simple menu <br/>3. Most importantly they have only 3 waiters who are confused themselves which side to cover <br/>4. Well finally u receive your order and had your dinner after waiting for almost an hour. And now you asked for check out to complete the payment - well here is the twist, nobody bothers to get you the bill at least <br/>5. Almost 15mins later when asked a waiter to get the bill his immature and unprofessional behaviour made my day off. All of sudden I felt he is doing some kind of charity by giving food to us free of cost. <br/>6. After 15-20mins being impatient I walked into their office room and asked the bill also stated how unprofessional behaviour can a person show to a visitor. However it was more like a blank response from their end. <br/>7. We didn’t realise we need to wait for bill payment than the waiting time they took to deliver the food. <br/><br/>However after all these hard and cruel experience we came out with complete dissatisfaction because of its price doesn’t match with the QUANTITY OF FOOD they provide. <br/><br/>Suggestion for new comers: if you have plenty of time, you are intelligent enough to utilise that time to somewhere else more productively, IF SATSANGA doesn’t IMPROVE their SERVICE!! A bitter experience!!<br/>

we entered this place for lunch, and there was no one inside. i think people can easily steal something even from the bar and can come back! well someone from the kitchen saw us and told its closed! we were coming out, a big family entered the place, and at moment someone called us back in as they were open again! the ambiance was okay, don't know exactly how to describe i didn't liked it much, we ordered for carbonara and  chicken steak as per their recommendations. And both were equally yum and tasty! they had their herbal water as well! well i could definitely visit back sometym later. had the authentic French food here!

Must visit restaurant in puducherry for all the food lovers, specially for those who love french and Italian cuisine A big thank you to Mr stalin, who was at our service the whole time and he even suggested some of the dishes. We had bisque de crevettes, veloute de champignons, Masala prawns, baked vegetables moussaka , filet beuree maitre d'hotel, mashed potato and legumes. The ambience is beautiful. Outdoor seating with beautiful colourful lamps.

Absolutely fabulous! We went there with no expectations, and were mind blown. They have a fig homemade ice cream, which we’ve had on two occasions. Their beef moussaka with garniture was the first time I’ve ever witnessed an eggplant being paired with beef. It is delicious. I’d come back to Pondicherry just for that.

As a part of our trip to Pondy, we visited this place. This place is nestled in an old French House. The entrance is something I fell in love with- A glass bridge on a Tiny stream. There was only one group of customers here. The place reminds me of Goa so much- serene. I ordered a Chicken Steak with Mushroom cooked in Red Wine. It is served with mashed potatoes and boiled veggies. It tasted average. The quantity is good for the price and the service was good. My friends ordered Fried Tandoor Prawns, Green Pepper Steak, Veg Creamy Pasta and Blue cheese Steak. All of us were satisfied.

This place is worse than any restaurant you can imagine. It's infested with mosquitoes and reptiles. The food was bland and the dessert was a pithy. Spare yourself the trouble and give Satsangi a break!

Awesome food. I had chicken steak with garlic and basil sauce with mashed potatoes and rice. This place has amazing ambience and the service is pretty good too. It serves mostly French and some Italian cuisines.

A good and well off place to have a dine in !!!<br/><br/>A good outdoor ambience place to a meal with good scenary !!!. It has a mix cuisine of Indian ,french and continental...<br/><br/>I had ordered a fish steak with parsley sauce which was tasty .... prawns with garlic n butter were good ..<br/>Mash potato was prepared well and tasted great.<br/>Beef steak was a good highlight with pepper sauce .<br/><br/>Ratings:-<br/>Ambience:-4.5/5<br/>Taste:-4/5<br/>Service:-4/5<br/>Pricing:-3/5<br/><br/>Recommendation:-<br/>Fish steak in parsley sauce<br/>Beef steak in pepper sauce<br/>Garlic and butter prawns

Been there during weekends with few friends.. and boy its just amazing.. the ambience and the service was very good.. we ordered two pastas one with pesto sauce and another chicken with white sauce and both were good... I found pesto sauce pasta was much better in taste.. worth the penny.. loved the fact how they interact with their customer and understand their needs.. will definitely visit again once i go back to pondicherry...

Great place for a good lunch especially the local cuisine. Very roomy and airy ambience with a imperial touch. Take you back in time. Great place for some good afternoon chat along with some great food.

Overhyped and overpriced place. Their food wasn't bad but it didn't match up to zomato's ratings and the expectations we had with it due to the ratings.<br/>My friend tried a fish steak and I had a chicken one, we have had better steaks so these didn't overly surprise us.<br/>Their service was slow as well. Most of the times we were neglected.

The service is terrible at this place. If a bad service can ruin your mood, my advice is do not go here. The waiter walks away when you are still talking to him, he doesn't acknowledge if he has heard you also or not. Isn't courteous when talking to customers either. Food is good but not exceptional.

The place is very sloppy looking and cluttered. Very badly kept. Went there a day prior to Valentine's day at around 7pm. The entry itself was so untidy that din't feel like going inside, but since we had heard so much about it, we thought we must give it a try.  Took our time to select the table because most of the chairs had torn and dirty covers and even the table covers had food spilled on them and dried. Sat and waited for 10 minutes, nobody came to us, given that there was no rush, just 2-3 tables occupied. Finally we had to leave without ordering anything. A very bad experience.

Lovely place. Ambience was good. Food was so yummy. Service was too good. Specially Stalin . He served us with the best choice of food for our taste. <br/>Overall, it's a must visit if you're lookin for some French and Italian with some premium beers to add n activate your taste buds :) <br/>If u land here , pls ask for Stalin who serves u the best choice. <br/>

Here's the thing. I went to this place more on gut instinct than on existing reviews. And I was blown away. Our steak was perfectly done, the mashed potatoes went heavenly with it. Moussaka was great. And caramel custard was damn perfect.  Wait staff were not only courteous, but their suggestions on our order were spot on. It deserves a much much higher rating than it currently has.

A hyped over priced place. Nothing very delicious actually. Good for people to go boozing. Ordered a spagetti pasta in tomato sauce. It was nowhere near even the word 'okay', even the chicken steak in pepper sauce was not that good. I now doubt about the other stuff on their menu.

The ambience gives you a feel of the French connection. The place is very non nonchalant in its decor. The menu is elaborate. We tried chicken steak and fish fillet in orange sauce, both being good. The prices are reasonable and is a one time try for tourists.

This place is utterly disappointing and is being poorly managed. I couldn't find any staff as soon as I entered this place. Eventually after waiting for few minutes, I located one who asked me to look out for a table which is empty and sit there. Coming to the food, it took long to be served and by the time it did, it was almost cold. No value for money. The only thing I liked about this place is its Ambiance.

Although it's not a very high-end place in its appearance, you should definitely give it a try if you are in search of authentic French cuisine. They have very seleted menu but worth remembering. For service, I would specially mention about Mr. Sathyanandan, the gem of a person, who takes care of guests like his own family-members. More than the food, I was really overwhelmed by his wonderful service and friendly behaviour of the person which we hardly find nowadays. A big thumbs up for Mr. Sathya and Satsanga.

This should be one of the best French Cuisine I have ever tasted in India. we ordered Calamaris Fritters, Crepe Aux Champignon, Blanc De Poulet and Poisson Sauce Capers. First the Calamari was cooked to perfection it was not rubbery or chewy. The Crepe was creamy with prawn and mushroom, it was yum. My Wife had Blanc De Poulet which was best chicken as it was juicy and not over cooked. I had the Fish which was as fresh as the sea and quite flaky. I had the best lunch over here and would definitely visit again whenever I visit Pondi

By far the worst meal ever. Prison would serve better food. The starters cane much after the main course. The pasta was dry. The mashed potatoes was lumpy. The service was suicidal. Don't ever go there.

Ordered chicken steak with mushroom sauce and Beef steak with pepper sauce :) it was worth a try for its exclusive Italian taste but not too appealing for south Indian palletes. It might seem a bit plain actually. Even the pepper one. It is advisable to order French fries as a side instead of mashed potatoes. Their French fries are tender and juicy while mashed potatoes would make you feel bored with the food. For trying "French food" this place is worth a visit though the costs are a bit on the higher side

A recommendation from a well-travelled friend, Satsanga came as a surprise. With pleasing decors and a very cordial service, this place is a must visit for steak lovers. Me and my friends dined before leaving Pondicherry and we surely do not regret going. The service was quick and the steak was cooked properly too. We ordered one chicken steak with mushroom and wine sauce, one chicken steak with mushroom and cream sauce, and one beef steak with mushroom sauce and each one of us we extremely happy with their portions. The owner is a very friendly French person who comes and interacts with his guests and makes sure everything is just right.<br/>An extremely warm and delightful experience.

The food was very good, especially the sand lobster. Minced beef was great. The ambience was quite good..a good place to be at after spending the entire day on the beach..the pasta wasn't too great but rest of the things made up for it.

Pathetic food. We ordered for lime soda n it was served in parts separate soda separate salt n separate lime.. Food had no salt. Vegetables were mushy. Overall very bad experience. Please Dont waste money.

Sometimes I feel why we listen to certain people's recommendation in pond everyone says this is the place for food. I don't understand why neither it gives any authentic French food or something. It just gives pasta and pizzas. Ambience is okay

Had an okay dinner here - started with the tomato soup and had a mushroom dish with garlic and parsley for main entree. Nothing spectacular.

Tried the restaurant after being suggested by our hotel owner. Ambience is not that great. Food is quite decent. Since I don't eat pork or beef I had fewer options to choose from. Chicken with mushroom sauce was nice. We were unable to eat the Salad with tuna fish (were told that Indians in general don't like it :D ). Pasta with red sauce was below average. Overall a good place to try out French food but, there are better options around to try out.

Nice place but Don't go there if you are hungry...<br/>Very low quantity of food for beef and pasta meal. <br/>I took pasta and looks like they gave me 60 or 70 gr. <br/>Quality was good.<br/>Too expensive for the quantity..

This place is listed as a must visit on online guides to Puducherry. I do nit understand what the hype is about. I agree that this french person owned resturant is beautifully landscaped and it gives a classic vitage building with open garden feel. Their service was very poor, granted that we were late for lunch, but stilk they took about 40 min to serve our food. The hype probably increased my expectation but the food tasted just decent.<br/>The food wasnt too expensive though.

It doesn’t have the best ambience or even the best reviews,,,, but Satsanga is a must-stop for most Puducherry regulars.... Their steaks are quite popular.... Try their Ratatouille too,,, it’s pretty decent.... From the cold appetiser section the Rillettes,,, which is French potted meat is one option... Apart from that you could try Pate de Poission... From the grilled fish, or the fish in capers nd prawn sauce, or the fish in orange nd lemon sauce – the dishes are heavily inspired by French food,,,, but it has a little bit of that quintessential touch of India.....

I found this place accidentally, when you enter the decor looks good, after few steps it's just ok. It's owned by a French person, he was kind and sweet. The food was good ordered pasta.

This place is again an old Pondy cottage turned into a restaurant. Mostly frequented by foreigners. Surprisingly, we could easily get a table for dinner on a weekend & that too without reservation. After occupying the table we had to request the waiter to do something about the mosquitoes, so he came & put a coil below the table. This is a very nice place for animal lovers as the restaurant has a pet dog & a cat who keep moving around. Also, I feel the place really needs some maintenance work to be done in terms of the decor, the interior & the overall upkeep.<br/><br/>All said & done, this is the go-to place if you wanna try Medium Rare Steak coz it’s not very easily available everywhere. Beautifully cooked, nice rose-pink in the middle & juicy. I’d tried the Steak with parsley garlic butter. The waiter proactively served some mushroom pepper sauce as an accompaniment which was really nice...<br/><br/>Other than the steak, I don’t see any other reason to visit this place.

Completely lost its charm... Service is dead slow, food is not good .. And upkeep Of the place is very sad too. <br/>Used to be a popular hangout - completely avoidable Now

The only reason I tried this restaurant is because once it was listed in Lonely Planet as top picks.. They don't have taste, service is bad and so is quality.. We ordered prawns that were cold from fridge and fries that were loose and salad that again had no freshness...

Good food! Average ambience! But definitely not worth for the money...

Average food, place is not well maintained and service is not so good. You will find street dogs and there are lot of mosquitoes as well. Go there only if you want to stay away from crowd. Even on a weekend, this place was not so crowded.

Once featured in Highway on my plates the place is not maintaining its worth over time.<br/><br/>The entrance has an old worn out board of Satsang that leads one into a court yard garden with a beautiful eating arena. <br/><br/>Cane chairs and table add extra beauty to the ambience with colourful hanging lanterns. Beautiful photographs of Jaipur and big trees standing besides eating place is a charm.<br/><br/>This was our first eatery at pondy which serves majority of continental food. Crowd was a mixture of French and Indians .<br/><br/>We went for pot coffee and mushroom omelette with french fries. The food was yummy although we find mixed reviews.<br/><br/>The place had a pleasing fragrance due to Malige flowers put on each table by the waiters. Service was decent. Maintenance is lacking here.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>

Amazing real French food. Fantastic, orgasmic, please keep it up. If you are a real foodie, this is a must. <br/><br/>Just renovate the washroom please!

AMAZING FRENCH FOOD! I had seen bad reviews on zomato, absolutely undeserved. The food was exquisite, especially the beef filet, pâté de foie and ginger prawns. We had dinner on the upstairs terrace, which was lovely and the staff was very nice. I will come back!

Not as bad as the reviews make it out to be. Amazing ambience. Had spaghetti, Beef Green Pepper fillet, chicken steak and a mushroom delicacy with 2 beers. Bill came around 2k. For the calm ambience and good food they serve, I can't be complaining. :)

Reached pondi on a sunny afternoon and decided to go here now the cafe looked beautiful the outside seating area had a zen like feel to it.. We were famished so obviously anything absolutely anything! Cooked simple but perfectly would have been fine we ordered each a main of fish and beef and pasta.. Where to begin! Firstly the service was just dragging.. Beef i dont think they quite understood when they themselves said that it is best served medium rare cause my jaw got some serious cardio action eating that steak! Fish though cooked fine was just bland and no comments about the pasta.. We then ordered the chocolate mousse and i could swear to god! That was either bournvita or milo.. It wasnt thick and gueyi like a mousse it was rather granulated <br/>We paid like 4k for 4 dishes which none of us finished it was bad! 2 sweet dish and a side<br/>Not very appetising

Good Continental food, try the Chicken & prawn dishes, service and ambiance is very good, must visit place for food when you are in Pondicherry

Visited this place after hearing a lot of praises from the local people. First impressions: It's not well maintained. We had to "find" a clean table. The waiters took their own time to come give us the menu and bring some water. FYI, it was sweltering hot that day. Menu was in the form of gravy-stained dirty unlaminated sheets of paper.<br/><br/>Ordered items from the Specials for the day. Beef Burgundy wasn't that good. The vegetables had gone all soggy and the sauce in which beef was prepared tasted weird, kinda sour. The only Ok part was the mashed potatoes. There wasn't anything worth mentioning about the Prawns also. If this is how "authentic" food tastes like (which they proudly claim to serve), I'm not sure if I like it.<br/><br/>Bottomline: The price and the taste of the food do not equate. I'm not sure if you should go try it.

If you want authentic French food then this is the place for you!! The ambiance and the serenity of the place will attract you... Taste their starters... Its to die for!

Another mansion in white town converted to a restaurant....but unlike the others....it not well kept....chairs and cushions appear dusty....pet dog and cats roam about the area.....but still they do have a good crowd....<br/>The surprise pancake was indeed a good surprise...well made and worth a try here...mushroom pepper fry was pretty ok....<br/>Main course we ordered fish in caper and prawn sauce, green pepper fillet and a veg palao.....nothing great in the taste.....it was a pretty ok dinner..<br/>Food however is pretty much expensive here...bill for all this came to 2000 with vat and service tax..<br/><br/>Overall ambiance not that great-considering they hav a lovely courtyard they need to improvise and keep things clean.....ok for a group to while away time in a quiet place.....but expensive...

absolutely a mismatch in white town compared to the other restaurants what we have as other option...the place is not maintained properly, even dirty, service is bad...food is even worst...this is suppose to me one of the oldest place and with the time it lost all it's charms...avoid...my wife was almost like, "can't believe this is remanded to tourist !!!:-( "

A friend and I just had lunch at Satsanga and it would have been a massive disappointment even if it wasn't listed as one of the 'top picks' for restaurants in Pondicherry by Lonely Planet. The fact that even Zomato has some great reviews is hard to believe. <br/>I had to explain to the waiter that I wanted a fresh lime water sweet and I was still served a very salty drink after about 10 minutes. The beverage I asked for came about 20 minutes after the original order. <br/>We placed the order for all the food at 1:35 and got the starter - A chicken and mushroom crepe at 2:15. It tasted decent until we were shocked to find bones in the crepe. Not a single, tiny bone. About 5 significantly large bones. In a crepe. After we complained to the waiter, he showed no concern whatsoever and mumbled about telling the chef before walking away. <br/>We got the chicken steak at 2:30 and the prawns in creole sauce at 2:40. The steak was bland and tough even though it was a chicken steak and an extremely blunt knife was given with it. The waiter insisted it was a steak knife even though it was essentially a butter knife. The prawns in creole sauce were shrimps in watered down tomato paste and chopped onions. This was after double checking that they were in fact prawns before placing the order. I left the nearly inedible shrimps and my main course was reduced to the mashed potatoes which came with them. Credit to Satsanga, they did not find a way to ruin mashed potatoes as well. We would have ordered desserts but we'd already made dinner reservations elsewhere. <br/>Looking around told us that we definitely weren't the only ones having such an experience. Top Pick on Lonely Planet though. All in all, one experience at Satsanga is enough to realise that it's a place where the wrong things come to those who are foolish enough to wait. And wait. And wait.

Puducherry was an office outing so lot o things to do in small amount of time. But as usual for me food was priority :) I along with my two other colleagues started roaming the streets of Puducherry, with half a day left in hand to explore the city we decided to start with MG Road. The Gandhi statue was a land mark. But I was more interested in the food culture. <br/><br/>So after roaming the streets and talking to couple of locals (wanted to go the old fashion route of asking people), they suggested that if we want to have something authentic we need to have in Satsanga. How much we were informed the chef is French and cooks some really good food.  <br/><br/>The place is all green and calm. I think these two words define this place the best. All three of us dint want to have anything heavy. So we stuck to only two mains. One being Fish in capers and prawn sauce. I couldn’t identify the fish but hands down for the freshness of the fish. It was yum and not overbearingly creamy but just melted away in the mouth. The next dish was the spaghetti carbonara with bacon. Ooo this was nice with right amount of cheese sauce in it and the pasta cooked to perfection. Neither was it too mushily cooked nor was it too al dente. <br/><br/>Reviewing the restaurant with just too main would not have given me the entire picture. But then they did serve it best so I would say satisfied.<br/><br/>Thanking the woman who directed us to this restaurant.

Was surprised by the amount of cheese in the 'surprise crepe', although the price did justify the amount of cheese. Wow. The pineapple lassi was bitter and the prawns were fresh but not that great either. Garlic bread didn't have anything to do with Garlic. Not worth it. Would recommend 'Qualite' the place I had dinner last night.

If you enjoy having cats around you while you done, then you wouldn't complain. There were cats all around and my mother being allergic to them, couldn't enjoy the meal, and not that there was much to enjoy. We ordered the fried Calamari which was decent. But the steak in wine was so disgusting it made me puke. The place was infested with mosquitoes. <br/>All in all a very bad experience and the food is too expensive. <br/>

If it wasn't for the sides the steak was good. If it wasn't for the mosquitos, it was a really nice place but I m starting to feel that you have to deal with mosquitoes in pondicherry or auroville if you want an outdoor seating.

Wow! I got to know about this restaurant by HOMP on NDTV good times. It was very satisfying and the ambience, just loved it. <br/>Speaking of the food, it was tasty and delicious. I liked the Ratatouille the most. I would love to visit the restaurant again if I ever go to pondicherry.

What?!?!?! Why?!?!?!? Why does this place have such terrible rating??? Oh my gawd! I had an awesome time with the food and the place as a whole!<br/><br/>The best steak ever made just how I like it (medium rare) was this place in Pondicherry! <br/><br/>The ambience was good, laid back and amazing pictures on the walls. I had great company, none the less the service was not extraordinary but minimalistic which was fine. I was not looking for five star service or someone hovering around my table non stop. They were running a full night when we dines. At least the courtyard bit was filled up. There are a lot of mosquitoes but the server promptly placed two coils on either sides of our table as an effort to curb them. The atmosphere is beautiful and ANYWHERE we would have mosquitoes with so many plants. So no complaints on that one.<br/><br/>We ordered main course directly. And this is where I made my decision. When the beef steak I ordered came just the way I prefer it to be. I was very skeptical when I placed the order and the way the waiter even repeated it was worth a worry. But when I cut it, it was puuurrrrfect! I have been wanting to go back just for the steak. Since I am on a low carb and protein diet, I am going easy on going back to this one.<br/><br/>I really hope the management picks up the slips. I had been there 5 months ago and hoping it hasnt changed much until I go again.

White Town is perhaps the most common place where all these Indo-French restaurant are located.<br/>Satsanga is one of them.<br/>Starters include the typical range of garlic bread(which is better than the ones where you get at the corporate franchises) and a few of the "exotic" ones, such as the Prawns in Ginger Honey Sauce(amazing thick sauce which starts out sweet with the ginger kicking in towards the end).<br/>The crepes are wonderful as well. One of the few places that actually serves you a proper crepe when you order one. The filling in the one we ordered was a mushroom and cream filling which was quite enjoyable.<br/><br/>Entrée - Beef Steaks were phenomenal and the Beef Steak in wine was literally drowning in red wine. Another one to check would be the steak marinated in this pepper sauce. Each steak was thick and juicy and cooked well(maybe because we ordered the steak to be well done).<br/>Prawns Spaghetti in white sauce was actually something unexpected, the sauce wasn't abundant in quantity but it certainly did make up for the lack of quantity with quality. There was a LOT of cheese and cream. Only drawback was that the prawns weren't fresh.<br/>The sides that dishes come with are either Mashed Potato(and it actually was Mashed potatoes not just a couple of boiled potatoes) and Fries(which were definitely NOT from the frozen food section).<br/>You'll end up dishing out anywhere between 500 & 700 per individual. <br/>Overall a decent place for a quiet meal and the ambience mimics most of the other garden restaurants in Pondicherry, so bringing a date here wouldn't really be a bad idea and it is also a good place to hang out with your friends after a long day.

I wonder why the otherwise kind lady at the B&B recommended this place. I now think I could have gone to poudou poudou and had a better meal. <br/><br/>The service was so laid back and non attentive and you begin to dread about the food. Not much can be said about the food, nothing you will miss or not get in any other nearby. <br/><br/>Not much of a view either, unless you are fond of cats. There is a one for company and to keep you entertained while the food reaches your table. You won't miss anything much not being here.

so bad had food poisoning after having prawn. and after two day my friend to suffred the same problem. dont knoe the reason but they need to adress this soon else its going to be a big issue.

We visited this place because of its history . The sitting and the ambience were not bad as we entered we got a seat immediately and there were quite a number of tourists around and we got our menus however we waited nearly 20 mins for a waiter to come and take our orders and only, after we sent someone twice to call a waiter... The menu was not that bad not too many choice but enough to not confuse our mind.. We placed our orders and waited for about 15 mins for our entire meal. We ordered for a pasta bolognese and fish fillet and starter a salad , garlic bread and ginger honey prawn .I must warn you the only dish I enjoyed the most was the garlic bread which was served with the French baguette. With the starter the garlic honey prawn looked like the chef cooked it with the least interest and it was just thrown on the plate with no to 0 effort in any kind of presentation!! Prawns were more like tiny shrimps with overwhelming taste of honey . I guess they had a lot of honey to spare .The pasta was such a disappointment and I had to leave more that half the plate of spaghetti behind and the fish filet was even bigger disappointment !! What they served was a tiny little portion of the filet like two tiny piece which could be swallowed in 3 bites served along with French fries which was overflowing with oil!!! And also the wine was simply over priced !!!! <br/>I wouldn't go there again !!

Disappointment right from the moment you step in. Couldn't wait to get out of this place. <br/>Sad staff and average food. Don't waste your time here.

We were suggested this place by a friend so we decided to give it a try on our first night at Pondicherry. The food is very average & not upto the mark. The restaurant is highly overpriced. Our meal for 4 came upto a good 2400. We had ordered a cream chicken soup which was okay (it had too much of pepper), then we ordered for chicken steak which was prepared in white sauce and served with some rice. For main course we wanted to try thier seafood but unfortunately thier seafood was over, so we decided to opt for chilly chicken & fried rice (thier chilly chicken comes with a portion of garlic rice) instead. The garlice rice was nice, it smelt and tasted like garlic melt over rice. Quite Yummy. But overall if I had 2 days to stay in Pondi, I wouldn't waste time dining at Satsanga.

The atmosphere is the greatest selling point here. You enter a gate into a courtyard garden which is flanked on one side by a long and wide verandah with a sloping roof. This space encourages you to linger and be restful. Seating is relaxed cane furniture. However the selling point here Is not the food. I would say the restaurant serves a very club version of continental food. The kind you will find in many elite british era clubs in India. To me with all the exposure that we all have this may not really come out as special or unique.<br/><br/>The service is sketchy and you will find yourself asking for the whereabouts of your food continuously. <br/><br/>With all of the above I would still visit satsanga purely for the spaciousness and the peace and quiet that it offers.

We came in for late lunch to see what all the hype was with this famous French restaurant, related to Rendezvous, and recommended by many autorickshaw drivers. We were disappointed. The food was not up to scratch. After making us wait for what seemed like ages, they serve us nothing like French food. Granted that I am veg, my 2 companions ordered steak and chicken, and those too were unsatisfactory. Maybe we expected too much since we couldn't find this place the first time around a few nights before, even after walking some dark streets at night. Also, the AC dining area was swarming with mosquitoes, so we just left right after our meal since no one seemed to care.

little overhyped I'd say. but nonetheless, not bad and great ambience. I ordered a pate which was really good, a shrimp soup which again was good and cheese garlic bread which too was good. But our main courses, a fish and a steak, were equally bad and i did not finish the dish at all. service is a little slow. one of my friends ordered a lemon chicken, which i would say, saved my stomach and would give a 4/5. french fries served with the main course were not crisp and cold. overall just an ok experience, but would still recommend for the pate.

I was a regular to this place for the last 8 years. I never used to miss a meal here when I used to visit Pondi. I had visited Satsanga for dinner on 25th Jan 2015. I was in for a huge surprise. The service was pathetic- You can get served fast at this place only if you are a Firang or a Goon. Quantity of food was bad and quality was nothing spectacular. Waiting time for a steak was more than an hour. Not value for money, Satsanga sadly today is overrated. <br/><br/>I think the management has changed, this place used to be allot better before!! HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!!

Okayish. Good staff friendly owners decent ambience. Visited there for dinner on busy long weekend and they took 20 minutes and several reminders to get our beer. Food took easily 50 minutes and it was nice but not great. Crepes were good, fish in Orange sauce has small bones and prawns were too small for a coastal location to enjoy its ginger honey sauce.