About us

A house, a hill, and a kitchen that takes its time

Stone Hill Resto Cafe 1959 sits on Stuart Hill, a few minutes above Raja Seat in Madikeri. It is a café and a restaurant in the same building — and most of what is worth knowing about it is visible from the courtyard.

The Stone Hill house at dusk, lamps lit under the tiled roof, with the blue and white bus parked alongside. — The house at dusk · Stuart Hill, Madikeri

The house

Tiled roof, red plinth,white walls

A single-storey house set behind a paved courtyard, with a long tiled roof and lamps under the eaves that come on before the light goes.

The name is carved into the dry stone wall at the entrance, which is as close to an explanation as the place offers.

“Stone Hill Cafe 1959” carved into a dry stone wall, framed by greenery. — The wall at the entrance

Inside

Rosewood, brassand red oxide

Long rosewood tables and benches, arched windows with dark wooden shutters, brass lamps and vessels on carved stands, and red-oxide floors.

Nothing has been styled for a photograph; it is a room people eat in.

An arched window with dark wooden shutters, brass vessels stacked on a carved stand against a red-oxide floor. — An arched window and the brass

A wooden table on the terrace under flowering bougainvillea, looking out over the rooftops of Madikeri.

Madikeri, below

The town falls away

Stuart Hill sits above the town, near Raja Seat. From the terrace Madikeri drops away below the bougainvillea and the ridges of Kodagu run to the horizon. There are tables out there for it.

From the kitchen

Cooked here,in this house

Everything is made to order on the hill, which is why some of it takes a while. The board on the wall says so plainly, and it is the reason the kitchen gives when a dish is slow.

Filter coffee and cardamom tea, pakodas and fries, soups, paneer and chicken starters, akki rotti and neer dosa, Coorg chicken curry, and a short list of desserts.

See the full menu

Two brass tumblers of filter coffee held up against the green hills. — Filter coffee, against the hills

Photographed at the house. Nothing here is styled or brought in.

From the board on the wall

We cook with care and passion,not just for profit.

No artificial food colours
No tasting powders
No reused oil
No halal

Every dish is freshly prepared.

Please note: we do not serve halal meat.

The people at the table

“The owner dines here every day, so we maintain the same standards for our guests.”

— From the board on the wall

In the courtyard

The bus,and the jeep

A retired TATA bus stands on the property, still lettered Shri Thalakauveri. An orange Mahindra is parked alongside with the Stone Hill name across its windscreen.

Neither is going anywhere, and both are how people describe the place to each other.

An orange Mahindra jeep parked on the property, “Stone Hill Cafe” lettered across its windscreen. — The name across the windscreen

In brief

Stone Hill, at a glance

What it is: A café and a restaurant, in the same house.
Where: No. 14, Stuart Hill, near Raja Seat, above Madikeri.
The kitchen: No artificial colours, no tasting powders, no reused oil. Everything freshly prepared.
Please note: We do not serve halal meat.
Day off: Closed on Wednesdays.

The Stone Hill house with its long tiled roof, a jeep and the bus in the paved courtyard.

Come up to Stuart Hill

The road climbs past Raja Seat and the house sits near the top. The kitchen cooks to order, so call ahead if you are coming a long way.

Get directions Call