Cafes in Shillong: Coffee, Khasi Food and Live Music

Shillong's cafés run on guitars. Walk down the Laitumkhrah road on a Friday night and you will hear a Dylan cover from one doorway and a local rock band from another. This is a city with a deep music culture, and its cafés are where much of it lives. Here is where we send guests for coffee, Khasi food and an evening of live music.

Where the cafés are

Shillong is compact, but it has distinct eating neighbourhoods. Pick one per outing; traffic between them at peak hours can take 30–40 minutes.

If you only have one evening, spend it in Laitumkhrah. If you have one lunch, spend it in Police Bazar.

Cafés we send people to

These are long-running names that were operating as of our September 2026 update. Café hours and menus change often, so confirm before you cross town.

Dylan's Café. A small café built around Bob Dylan, with posters and memorabilia on the walls, board games on the shelves and painted tiles on the ceiling that guests can add to. It hosts live music, typically at weekends. Regulars order the chicken wings and the Mississippi mud pie. It sits in the Laitumkhrah area, near St Edmund's.

Café Shillong. In Laitumkhrah, this is one of the city's longest-standing live-music cafés, with local bands and singers on its small stage. The roasted pork ribs and Irish coffee are the usual orders. It gets busy on gig nights, so arrive early or book.

Swish Café. One of the oldest cafés in Meghalaya, open since 2003, with a small library and an easy, unhurried feel. Good for mac and cheese, roast chicken, smoked pork fried rice and a long coffee.

Munchies. A Laitumkhrah regular since 2011, near Café Shillong. Burgers, hand-beaten coffee and smoothies, with a menu that wanders from Mexican to Lebanese.

Café Shillong Heritage. Set at Tripura Castle, the old residence of the Tripura royal family, with dumplings and hazelnut coffee in a heritage setting. A good choice for a quiet breakfast.

ML 05 Café. On the Upper Shillong side, before the Eastern Air Command gate, with a motorcycle theme that bikers love. It makes a natural stop on the way to or from Shillong Peak. Known for its chicken wings.

For a full list of sights around these neighbourhoods, see our guide to places to visit in Shillong.

Live music: how to catch a gig

Shillong has produced generations of rock, blues and gospel musicians, and the scene is still active. The rock band Never End, for example, was planning an international tour in 2026, and open-mic nights keep circulating between venues.

How to find what is on:

• Follow the venues. Dylan's Café and Café Shillong post line-ups on their social media pages, usually a few days ahead.
• Read the walls. Gig posters go up around Laitumkhrah and Police Bazar.
• Ask your hotel. Staff usually know which band is playing where this weekend.
• Go early. Small venues fill fast on Friday and Saturday nights.

Bob Dylan's Day, 24 May. Every year on Dylan's birthday, the veteran Shillong musician Lou Majaw leads a tribute concert, and the 2026 celebration was billed as the 55th. The venue changes, so check local news in early May if you want to time a trip around it.

Why music runs so deep here

It helps to know a little of the background before you sit down at a gig. Music in Shillong grew out of two strong traditions: church choirs and hymn singing, which arrived with Welsh missionaries in the 19th century, and the rock and blues records that circulated through the city from the 1960s and 1970s.

The result is a city where many families have a guitarist or a choir singer, and where musicians who started in cafés and church halls went on to national stages. Lou Majaw has been playing Dylan in Shillong for decades. The Shillong Chamber Choir became a household name across India after winning a national television talent show in 2010. Younger bands, from blues to metal, still come up through the same small venues.

What that means for a visitor: the standard at an ordinary Friday café gig is often high, audiences sing along, and a request for a Dylan, Beatles or Eagles song is rarely refused.

A café by season

The café scene follows the calendar.

• October to December is the busiest stretch, with pleasant evenings and visitors in town. Book gig nights ahead.
• Christmas week is special in Shillong. Churches, homes and streets in Police Bazar and Laitumkhrah are lit, carol groups sing, and many cafés run festive menus. Note that some close on Christmas Day itself.
• January and February are cold, with nights around 6 °C. Cafés with heaters and a fireplace-warm feel come into their own.
• June to September is the rainy season, when a long afternoon in a café is often the best plan for the day. Our Meghalaya in the monsoon guide has more rain-day ideas.

Cafés for working and reading

Shillong has a growing number of remote workers and students, and several cafés are comfortable for a few hours with a laptop. Swish, with its small library, is a quiet choice by day. Before settling in, check for plug points near your table, ask for the Wi-Fi password when you order, and buy something every hour or two. Weekday mornings are calmest; after 5 pm many cafés switch to music and dinner mode. Power cuts happen in storms, so keep your laptop charged and a power bank handy.

Khasi food: what to order

Khasi cooking is built on rice, pork, black sesame, ginger, turmeric and fermented soybean. It is flavourful rather than fiery, and the portions are generous.

Where to eat it. Trattoria in Police Bazar is the best-known sit-down Khasi restaurant in the city and a reliable first stop. It is small and very busy at lunch; go before noon. For a cheaper, more local version, jadoh stalls around Laitumkhrah and near Iewduh market serve rice with a choice of pork, chicken or fish curries, usually until early evening.

Our wider guide to Northeast Indian food covers Assamese, Naga and Arunachali cooking if your trip continues beyond Meghalaya.

Vegetarians and cautious eaters

Shillong is easier for vegetarians than its pork-heavy reputation suggests.

• Police Bazar has vegetarian restaurants, including Jiva Veg, plus North and South Indian places.
• Cafés serve pasta, sandwiches, pizza, veg momos, salads and desserts.
• Khasi vegetarian dishes include jastem, tungrymbai, pumaloi and local greens. Ask for them specifically.
• In villages such as Mawlynnong and in Sohra, tell your homestay or hotel a day ahead so they can plan.

For sensitive stomachs, fresh cooked food and bottled water are the safe rule, especially on the first day.

Tea stalls, bakeries and the street

Some of the best eating in Shillong costs very little.

• Tea stalls serve sweet milky tea and snacks from early morning; they are where drivers and office workers start the day.
• Bakeries in Police Bazar and Laitumkhrah sell cakes, puffs and breads that make good road snacks for Sohra and Dawki.
• Momos are everywhere, steamed or fried, with a sharp chilli chutney.
• Street stalls at Police Bazar sell roasted corn, fruit with chilli salt and grilled snacks in the evening.

Keep small notes for stalls. UPI works at many, but not all, and networks sometimes drop in crowded markets.

Food to take home

Iewduh market and the shops around Police Bazar are the places to buy edible souvenirs. Things that travel well:

• Lakadong turmeric from the Jaintia Hills, known for its deep colour and high curcumin content.
• Black sesame, the base of dohneiiong, sold by weight.
• Local bay leaves and dried chillies, including the fiery varieties sold in the market.
• Pickles of bamboo shoot, pork or chilli, sealed in jars; pack them in a zip bag in checked luggage.
• Seasonal fruit such as Khasi mandarins in winter and pineapples in summer, for eating on the road rather than carrying home.

Buy from shops with sealed, labelled packets if you are flying; airport security may question loose powders and liquids in cabin bags.

If you want to stay within walking distance of the cafés, our best hotels in Shillong guide lists options in Police Bazar and Laitumkhrah.

Eating beyond the city

On day trips, food options thin out quickly, so it helps to plan.

• Umiam Lake: roadside dhabas and resort restaurants on the Guwahati highway; good for a lunch stop on arrival day.
• Shillong Peak and Upper Shillong: tea and snack stalls near the viewpoint, and cafés on the way back.
• Sohra: local eateries in the market serve rice, dal and curries; hotels have restaurants. Evenings are quiet, so eat by 8 pm.
• Mawlynnong: homestays and a few small eateries serve simple Khasi meals; lunch is usually rice, dal, a vegetable and a pork or chicken curry.

Timings, Sundays and manners

• Hours are shorter than in big cities. Most cafés open between 10 am and noon and close by 8–10 pm.
• Sunday is different. Much of Meghalaya is Christian and many businesses close or open late on Sundays. Plan café visits for Saturday.
• Book on gig nights. Friday and Saturday evenings fill up.
• Ask before photographing people, including musicians mid-set.
• Alcohol. Meghalaya is not a dry state, and Shillong has bars and licensed restaurants. Not all cafés serve alcohol. Nagaland and Mizoram are dry.
• Tips. Not compulsory, but 5–10 per cent for good service is appreciated.

How we'd plan it

For a food and music evening, we suggest a Laitumkhrah crawl:

1. 4:30 pm: coffee and a slice of cake at Swish or Munchies.
2. 6:00 pm: walk the Laitumkhrah main road and look at gig posters.
3. 7:00 pm: dinner and live music at Café Shillong or Dylan's Café, if a gig is on.
4. Next day, 11:30 am: early lunch of jadoh and dohneiiong at Trattoria in Police Bazar before the rush.

Our Shillong weekend trip leaves a full evening free for this. With a day more, the three-night Shillong and Cherrapunji plan adds Sohra's falls and caves. The four-night Shillong, Cherrapunji, Dawki and Mawlynnong trip adds the clear-river boat ride, and our Meghalaya on a Budget trip keeps the stall-food spirit throughout.

Teams planning an offsite can combine a café evening with Umiam Lake on the Guwahati and Shillong team offsite.

Want a café evening built into your Shillong stay? Tell our travel desk.