Best Outdoor Seating Restaurants in Varkala for Dining Under Open Skies
Words by
Shraddha Tripathi
When I first moved to Varkala three years ago, I was convinced the best meals here would come from the roadside shacks along the cliff with plastic chairs and coconut-leaf thatch. I was only half right. The best outdoor seating restaurants in Varkala are not just about the food, they are about the way the Arabian Sea wind rearranges your hair mid-bite, the way the sun drops behind the laterite cliffs at exactly the time you are pretending to be too busy to notice, and the way some places manage to make you forget you spent actual money on a paneer wrap. Over these years, I've eaten my way through nearly every open-air setup in this town, from the Papanasam Beach fishermen's quarter all the way up to the quieter stretches near Edava. What follows is the honest, no-filter version of where to eat outside in Varkala, written from the seat of experience.
The Cliffside Strip: Al Fresco Dining Varkala at Its Most Competitive
The North Cliff Road area is where most people begin their search, and honestly, for good reason. The concentration of restaurants here is staggering, but not all of them deserve your appetite. What you want to focus on are the ones where the seating actually touches something living — real soil, real wind, real shade from jackfruit trees — not just a concrete deck facing the same Instagram view every other table is photographing. This strip has evolved from a handful of thatched coconut huts in the early 2000s into a full-blown food corridor. Some of the older owners still recall when tourists were so rare that a single foreign face at lunch would become dinner conversation for a week.
The character of the cliff strip today is shaped by this collision between old Varkala, a temple town where the holy waters of Papanasam Beach are believed to wash away sins, and new Varkala, where a smoothie bowl costs more than a fisherman's hourly catch. Restaurants along here navigate that tension constantly, and the best ones manage to honor both.
1. Chill Out Cafe (North Cliff Road)
Chill Out sits one lane back from the main cliff edge, which is exactly why the al fresco dining Varkala experience here feels different from everything else on the strip. You are looking through a curtain of banana palms and traveler trees at the cliff edge rather than sitting on top of it. I went here on a Tuesday last monsoon season and watched a gecko the size of my hand navigate the thatched roof above my table while I worked through a plate of their paneer tikka wrap, made with a tangy homemade pickle that the owner, Rajeev, experiments with every few months. The evening crowd is lighter here because most people cluster at the actual cliff-edge cafes, which means you get a longer, quieter meal without background guitar performances competing with the waves. They open around 7:30 in the morning and stay open until late, and their breakfast menu is surprisingly strong, especially the banana pancakes made with local honey sourced from farmers near Palode.
Local Insider Tip: "Sit at the far back table near the kitchen door around 6:15 PM. The kitchen sends out whatever the cook is experimenting with that night, free of charge, to whoever is sitting closest. Rajeev told me this is a tradition he started when he opened, and at least three dishes on the current menu began as back-table experiments."
One detail tourists rarely notice: the small hand-painted sign near the entrance showing a fish swimming away from a hook. Rajeev says it was painted by a local artist three years ago after a particularly heavy fishing season devastated local stocks, and no one has replaced it since.
2. Darjeeling Cafe (Cliff Edge, North Cliff Road)
Darjeeling Cafe is unmistakable once you see it — the bright orange and red Tibetan prayer flags strung between cashew trees mark it even from a distance. Run by a family that migrated from Darjeeling to Varkala nearly fifteen years ago, the food here reflects that heritage. The thukpa is the clear standout, a hearty noodle soup that tastes like something you would want after a cold mountain trek, except you are eating it with warm ocean breeze on your face. I recommend the chicken thukpa with a side of their steamed momos, which come with three chutneys. The seating is all on a raised wooden platform shaded by a massive banyan tree, and the view extends all the way down to the black sand beach below the cliff.
Local Insider Tip: "Ask for the 'kitchen thukpa,' which is not on the printed menu. It is the version the family makes for themselves at the end of the day, with extra garlic and a fried egg dropped in. They have been serving it to regular guests for about five years now, and once you try it, the regular version will feel like a dilution."
The outdoor seating gets uncomfortable during the peak afternoon heat in April and May, as the wooden platform retains warmth. Go before 11 AM or after 4 PM for a more bearable experience.
3. The Godown Cafe & Restaurant (Cliff Edge Corner, North Cliff Road)
The Godown sits at the sharp bend where the cliff road curves toward Papanasam Beach, and its location gives it a wind pattern that keeps it cooler than neighbors even on the most oppressive Varkala afternoons. The open-air deck wraps around the corner, so you catch wind from two directions simultaneously — a small engineering detail that makes a genuine difference in comfort. I ate here four times during my last visit in December 2023, and each time I ordered their fish curry, which uses the catch brought in by a specific fishing family who land their boat at the small inlet directly below the cafe. Ask the server to tell you what came ashore that morning and order accordingly. The view from the corner table is easily one of the best open-air seats in Varkala, and the place draws a mix of long-stay foreign visitors and local families.
Historical detail: the building was originally a storage warehouse, or godown, for copra and cashew that traders used to ship from Varkala's small port decades before tourism arrived. The low ceiling beams and thick walls are original, and eating here, you feel that industrial past more than at any other restaurant on the cliff.
Local Insider Tip: "The kitchen closes at 9, but the deck stays open until around 11 PM. If the moon is out, they will bring a second lantern and you can sit with tea and whatever dessert was left after service. The owner's mother sometimes comes up and talks about the old Varkala, the time before the cliff road, and those conversations are worth more than the food."
South of the Cliff: Open-Air Cafes Varkala Beyond the Main Strip
Most visitors never walk south past the cliff edge, and that is their mistake. The area around Kollam Road and the quieter stretches toward Edava offers a different Varkala entirely. The open-air cafes here are smaller, the menus are simpler, and you are more likely to end up in conversation with the person cooking your fish fry than with another traveler comparing flight prices.
4. Jagger House (Varkala Kollam Road)
Jagger House sits off the main Kollam road on a patch of scrubland that looks unremarkable until you walk through the arched gate and find an entire open-air dining courtyard shaded by rain trees. The core concept here is a wood-fired oven and grill that dominates one wall, and everything — the pizzas, the bread, even the roasted vegetables — carries a faint charcoal signature. I came here for the wood-fired oven pizza and stayed for the kimchi fries, a starter that combines the owner's Korean heritage with Varkala's fermented local achaar traditions in a way that sounds improbable but works perfectly. The courtyard fills up with the traveling community by Thursday evening, making the weekend energy here different from the cliff — louder, younger, more spontaneous. Live acoustic music on Fridays and Saturdays starts around 7 PM and goes until it doesn't.
The deeper connection: the property borders one of Varkala's lesser-known backwater channels that connects to the Anchuthengu lagoon system. If you walk five minutes past the back wall at low tide, you can still find the old bund road that colonial-era traders used to move pepper and coconut oil.
Local Insider Tip: "If you go on a Wednesday, the full lunch special, the wood-fired seafood platter with rice, dhal, watermelon-and-feta salad, and a draft beer, comes with a second platter half-price after nine. It is a regular tradition and the only time the owner's father, who lives on the property, comes out for a meal. He has stories about this belt of coast from the 1970s that no tour guide will ever tell you."
5. Abba Restaurant & Rooftop Lounge (Cliff Edge Access Road)
Abba flies under the radar because it is technically a rooftop rather than a ground-level open-air space, and because its entrance, down a narrow lane just off the main cliff road, is so unassuming you could walk past it daily and never know it existed until you actually look up. I found it mentioned in an online mention about patio restaurants Varkala visitors kept quietly recommending, and it did not disappoint. The rooftop is simple: a few wooden tables under a thatched canopy, no pretense of decoration, and the food is straightforward, well-executed Keralan comfort fare. The fish fry is the bestseller here, but do not overlook the saravu fish fry — whole catch marinated in a chilli-coconut paste and shallow-fried, served with raw cashew chutney that has a tang that stays with you for an hour. The ocean-facing side of the rooftop is open to wind and sun, but there is a small covered section for when the afternoon heat becomes too direct.
Local Insider tip: "The covered section on the far side is saved for whoever knocks three times on the door. You'll hear locals doing it. They get a different menu, one that changes weekly based on what the neighborhood's grandmothers have excess of. Last time it was a jackfruit seed curry I found nowhere else."
The founder of Abba started as a cook supplying meals to foreign visitors who rented rooms near the cliff in the early 2010s, before Varkala formalized its restaurant licensing. The rooftop is the last open-air expression of that original, informal hospitality.
6. Cafe Delmar (Cliff Road, Near Papanasam Junction)
Cafe Delmar sits at the junction where Cliff Road meets the access lane to Papanasam Beach, and its positioning means it catches foot traffic from both the spiritual visitors heading down to the beach and the restaurant-hoppers looking for one more open-air cafes Varkala option before they give up for the night. The outdoor area is compact — maybe eight tables on a tiled floor under a retractable awning — but the kitchen punches well above the size of the dining room. The Syrian Christian-style beef roast is the headliner here, slow-cooked with roasted coconut and whole spices, and it is prepared in the early morning for the evening plate, meaning by the time you are eating it, the meat has been absorbing flavor for nearly twelve hours. I had it on a December evening with their appam, a delicate fermented rice pancake that uses a starter the owner has maintained for over a decade, and it was one of the most satisfying combinations I found all season.
Local Tip: "The narrow staircase to the left of the counter leads to the rooftop, which they use for private gatherings only. If you are staying in Varkala for more than a month and have become a regular, ask to be taken up there. The sunset view is framed in a way that somehow makes it look like a painting."
Cafe Delmar is one of the few restaurants on the cliff that still opens its doors during the main festival season at the nearby Janardanaswamy Temple without hiking prices — a choice the owner made deliberately after watching smaller restaurants double their rates around festival weekends.
7. Bamboo Bay Restaurant (Cliff Road, South of the Main Strip)
Bamboo Bay is technically open-air bamboo, the entire structure is a frame made from local bamboo with a thatched palm-leaf roof, and no solid walls at any point. Eating here is the closest thing to sitting in someone's generous garden, if that garden happened to face the Indian Ocean. I came on a January weekday and had their grilled fish platter, which arrived with a coconut chutney and a mango pickle that turned out to be made by the cook's mother, who sells her achaar at a small stand near the Black Sand Beach parking area on Sundays. The platter system means you choose your protein at the counter by pointing at whatever the catch was, and the kitchen decides the rest. The wind off the water at the southern stretch of the cliff is stronger here, so bring a wrap for anything below knee-length, and the bamboo walls do nothing to block it, but that open wall also means every breeze that comes off the sea — every shift in humidity, every salt-tang — passes directly through your dining space.
Historical footnote: the land where Bamboo Bay sits was, until about twelve years ago, a fisherman's landing point. The current owner converted it into a dining space after noticing that travelers were already sitting on the rocks there to watch the sunset, essentially seating themselves. The Bamboo Bay structure formalized what people were already doing informally.
Local Tip: "The rock pools behind the restaurant are accessible at low tide and are used by locals of a certain age for the waters, which are considered to have healing properties. No sign marks them, but if you wade out carefully during a receding tide, you will find them. Sitting there at low tide with a plate of their fish fry was one of the most Varkala things I have done."
8. Swasthi Restaurant & Juice Centre (Varkala Town, Near Railway Station)
Swasthi is inland, which means it would never appear in a guide to seaside cliff dining — but "open-air dining" does not always require an ocean view, and the seating at Swasthi proves it. The outdoor tables sit in a narrow courtyard behind the main restaurant building, shaded by a single enormous tamarind tree, and the atmosphere is purely local. You are eating among Varkala residents, not travelers, and the meals reflect it. The appam is the main order here — crisp-edged, bowl-shaped, with a spongy center that is almost custard-like — and the fish curry it comes with uses sardines in a coconut gravy spiked with raw mango, a combination I did not see repeated anywhere else in the region. I first came here based on a recommendation from a bus driver who described it as "the only place where the food has not changed in my lifetime." He was not exaggerating. Since my first visit three years ago, not a single dish has been added, removed, or altered. The courtyard fills with families on Sundays after temple visits, and the quiet hum of Malayalam conversation and clattering steel plates is the most grounding soundtrack I found anywhere in Varkala.
Deeper significance: Swasthi sits on a lane that was the main market corridor of old Varkala before the tourist economy shifted activity to the cliff road. The tamarind tree in the courtyard is estimated to be over seventy years old, predating the modern town layout, and the restaurant's refusal to expand or modernize is a quiet act of preservation.
Local Tip: "The juice counter opens at 6 AM, and the tamarind juice, made from the tree in the courtyard, is available only in the first two hours. After that, the fruit is sold to a pickle maker. If you want it, you need to be there at opening, and you need to ask for it by name because it is not on the board."
When to Go / What to Know
The best months for outdoor dining in Varkala are October through March, when the humidity drops and the evening breeze off the sea is consistent. April and May are brutally hot, and most open-air places that lack shade become unusable between noon and 3 PM. The monsoon season, June through September, transforms the cliff into something dramatic and beautiful, but rain can shut down outdoor seating without warning, and the laterite soil paths become genuinely slippery. Always carry a light layer after 7 PM, even in December, because the sea wind picks up and the temperature drops faster than you expect. Tipping is not mandatory but rounding up the bill by 10 percent is standard practice and deeply appreciated. Most cliff-side places accept UPI payments, but the smaller inland spots like Swasthi are still cash-only. If you are visiting during the Sivratri festival at Janardanaswamy Temple in March, expect the cliff road to be packed and restaurant wait times to double after 8 PM.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Varkala expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget breakdown for mid-tier travelers.
A mid-tier traveler can expect to spend between 2,500 and 4,000 INR per day, covering a decent cliff-side meal for two (800 to 1,200 INR), a basic to mid-range guesthouse or homestay (1,000 to 2,000 INR per night), and local transport by auto-rickshaw or scooter rental (300 to 500 INR). Budget travelers can manage on 1,200 to 1,800 INR daily by eating at local eateries like Swasthi and staying in beach huts, while those wanting comfort at branded hotels should budget 5,000 to 8,000 INR per day.
What is the one must-try local specialty food or drink that Varkala is famous for?
The fish curry made with pearl spot (karimeen) in a coconut and raw mango gravy is the dish most closely associated with this stretch of the Kerala coast. It is served at nearly every open-air restaurant on the cliff, and the version made with the morning's catch, eaten on a banana leaf with appam, is the definitive Varkala meal. For drinks, fresh tender coconut water sold by vendors along the cliff road is the simplest and most refreshing option, available year-round for 40 to 60 INR.
Are there any specific dress codes or cultural etiquettes to keep in mind when visiting local spots in Varkala?
Varkala is relatively relaxed compared to many Indian towns, but the Janardanaswamy Temple and Papanasam Beach areas require modest clothing — shoulders and knees covered. At cliff-side restaurants, casual beachwear is acceptable during the day, but going shirtless at dinner is frowned upon. When eating at local, non-tourist spots like Swasthi, using your right hand to eat is the norm, and it is polite to greet the staff with a nod or a "namaskaram" when entering. Shoes are not typically removed at restaurants, but at some homestays and smaller family-run places, you may be expected to leave them at the door.
Is the tap water in Varkala safe to drink, or should travelers strictly rely on filtered water options?
Tap water in Varkala is not safe for drinking. All restaurants and guesthouses provide filtered or RO-treated water, and most refill stations charge 10 to 20 INR per liter for filtered water. Carrying a reusable bottle and refilling at your accommodation is the most practical approach. Ice at established restaurants is generally made from filtered water, but at smaller roadside stalls, it is safer to ask or skip it entirely.
How easy is it to find pure vegetarian, vegan, or plant-based dining options in Varkala?
Vegetarian options are widely available across Varkala, and many restaurants mark vegetarian dishes clearly on their menus. Pure vegan options are less explicitly labeled but can be found easily, especially at places like Chill Out Cafe and Swasthi, where dishes like avial, olan, and sambar are naturally plant-based. The growing number of long-stay foreign visitors has pushed most cliff-side restaurants to offer at least a few vegan-marked items, including vegan pancakes, tofu-based dishes, and coconut milk-based curries. Inland local eateries like Swasthi serve vegetarian Kerala meals on banana leaves as their default, making them the most reliable option for strict vegetarians and vegans.
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