Roilang's Guidebook

Local Khasi food is predominantly non-veg with pork being the delicacy. Usually small Jadoh stalls are located all over the city, but recently a few restaurants have also opened to cater to tourists who want to try their tastebuds for local food. Food uses spices sparingly unlike normal Indian dishes.

Shillong has a very strong Chinese influence when Chinese migrants from the Han region migrated to Shillong in the late 1800s and early 1900s; some of the oldest restaurants were Chinese. Plus the affinity to pork made the local tribe fall in love with Chinese food. If you want fancy Chinese, then try out Deja Vu and if you want simple Chinese then New Embassy; both located in Laitumkhrah

Shillong also has a very colonial past when the British in 1866 made Shillong the capital of undivided Assam (present day north-east region of India) brought to us Fruit cakes, scones, short bread and Roast and steaks along with potato.

The Britishers also brought along with them educated Bengalis from Kolkata to work as clerks in the Government offices. So a lot of fish and rasogulla was introduced to Shillong cuisine.

With Shillong being made the capital of undivided Assam, came the merchants and business communities from Rajasthan, Punjab and Sindh. However, vegetarian food was not popular with the locals, who had the impression that eating veg meaning not being able to afford a good non-veg meal. But yes you do get good Chole Bhatura, Jalebis and chaats in some places.

In the early 1990s, the IT boom happened and along with it came the wave of South Indian migrants who commanded the Shillong computer scene. A few have settled permanently and opened up restaurants serving dosas and idlis.

In the past 10-15 years, there have been a few places offering some decent Biryani and kebab joints. So you get to choose between Kolkata style biryani and South Indian style Biryani.