Cafe Sol — Restaurant in Himachal Pradesh

The Sol Café has a prominent sign on Shimla's Mall and is located close to the Mall Lift. From the Mall itself it doesn't look anything extraordinary, but Sol The Brewhouse seemed to hold promise and I was in mood for a mug of draught. I saw an outdoor seating area, small but with a few unoccupied tables, so preferred sitting there, rather than the indoor area, which has no particular ambience. There's a partial view of Shimla south of the Ridge, from the outdoor terrace. The café is clearly pitched at the nouveau riche, rather than the discerning. Its ordinary design and structure is belied by the pricey food and drinks. A pint of Indian beer will set you back USD 6.40 including taxes. And if you ordered a Bud bottled in India, a pint will lighten your wallet by USD 9.20 !!! It's clearly not a place for solo travellers or backpackers. So you're FOREWARNED! The small peg of Blenders Pride I ordered came with roasted peanuts. That was the good part. The Panzanella salad I ordered for lunch didn't have fresh vegetables, the helping was modest, and the price was a cool USD 4. When it came to billing, I was in for a surprise. They'd coolly overbilled the salad by 20%! They rectified the bill a bit when I pointed this out, though not wholly. I don't quite know what to make of it. I'd advise all customers at the Sol Café to check your bill thoroughly, if you dine there. You might be better off though, visiting the nearby Café Shimla Times, with its great draught beer, expansive views, good ambience and...

4/5 for food, drinks and ambience 0/5 for service, management and hospitality

My experience:

We got a corner table as the place was crowded. As its an open area and temperature was in negative, we requested to open the sheets to block the wind. Three different guys listened to our request several times, said okay but did nothing. While we waited in cold, hoping someone would listen to our request, they turned off the heater for the area, which was our only solace. We noticed that one of the center seats was empty by that time and asked if we can move there. We were told that we can move there but need to wait couple minutes as the table was being cleaned. After waiting several minutes standing near the dirty table with drinks in our hands and again requesting several guys to clean the table, we complained to the manager but he rudely replied that it will take several more minutes and move back to old table. Table got cleaned after a lit of heated discussion with manager. Finally at the new table, we ordered a snack platter and waiter took the order. We waited around 30 minutes for the order but nothing. When asked, waiter replied that order is canceled as the grill is closed. No one even cared to inform us without asking.

TLDR Visit only if you have a LOT of patience and tolerance for...

Went on Jan 1, 2023 around 11 am. Extremely poor service. Highly disappointing. Waste of money. untrained and unprofessional staff The waiter was flirting with the trainee in full public view. Both he and the trainees were apathetic towards the very customers it is their job to serve. The waiter went to the extent of ignoring our calls for him, even after having made eye contact. And his attitude was impolite and discourteous in general. The sofa seat was so stained and tarnished, it looked as if it hadn't been cleaned for years. If that's the condition of hygine in full public view, I wonder what the kitchen is like! the Saffron soup ordered was as salty as the ocean water. The excise given was that saffron is salty in nature, quite contrary to what it actually is. They took half an hour to serve English tea. (Boiled water with tea bag) (because the waiter was busy romancing the trainee. How pathetic and absolutely unprofessional!) The portion of the Delux Grilled Vegetables was scanty for the exorbitant price they charge. Unreasonable! I was keen on speaking to the manager but the staff dilly-dallied to save their skin. They only serve good views and not the best food or service. I'll spare you the other details but that was a very poor start to the new year...