Jaisalmer Restaurants

Jaisalmer Restaurants

We ate at quite a few small eateries and restaurants that dot Jaisalmer’s market and fort streets but only one truly won our hearts: Jaisal Italy! The rest were good but not spectacular.
So here’s a brief review on our favorite Jaisalmer food-spot:

Jaisal’s Italy

This fabulous little joint has the best location ever! It is built atop one of the fort’s outer boundary walls and affords its visitors the most spectacular view of Jaisalmer Fort! However entry to the restaurant is not very prominently marked so we never really noticed it until a young lad, employed by them and standing near the outer wall’s entrance, beckoned us to give it a try. Thank God for him!

Jaisal Italy has three seating areas: one outside on the terrace and two inside. The terrace seating is on cushions around low, square, wooden tables. We had our first meal here one late evening and were mesmerized by the cozy setting and the gorgeous, brightly-lit fort looming above. Inside, the two seating areas have floor seating on cushions as well as tables and chairs. Here the best seat is the cushion placed snugly against a Jharokha – it sits right above the wall’s entrance gate and therefore is a great spot for people-watching as they enter or exit the fort area. All these spaces have been nicely decorated in a modern Rajasthani theme and give the place a wonderful ambience.

As for the food, Jaisal Italy serves really good Italian fare with emphasis on subtle flavors. They don’t overload their dishes with cheese or masala (Indianizing it!) and that was most refreshing. We loved the food and ambience so much that we visited the restaurant several times and each time spent over an hour sipping wine and nibbling on pastas, pizzas and sandwiches – it was heavenly!

A shy but friendly, female German Shepherd walks around the restaurant or curls up in a corner of the terrace. When we were there she had just given birth to a boisterous litter of 8 cuddly puppies and these were another reason for our visits.

Overall, with warm and efficient staff, Jaisal Italy was one of the nicest restaurants we’d stepped into in Jaisalmer.