Nomad Varkala / Sun Francisco

This ended up being one of our favourite restaurants in Varkala. Every dish we tried was amazing, and would highly recommend their aloo gobi and Kerala parotta. The only downside is that it can get very hot and the ventilation could be improved but it’s worth it for the food and the view.

It is a must-see place if you are in Varkala!
Very friendly staff (Thank you Sunder, we loved your dedication and friendliness!), delicious food, generous portions and a very pleasant atmosphere.
It became our second home:)
The shakshuka and the paneer butter masala, delicious, as well as the smoothies and juices made to order!

A beautiful cafe to enjoy ocean view from the cliff.sit back and relax and lost in the amazing ocean view.
They smoothie bowl with crunch was exceptional. The service was top notch.
The Indian music in the background and gentle aroma is a added charm.

Delicious food, great staff, wonderful atmosphere and lovely location. Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The cafe is located close to the cliff. They have a lot of variety food available on their menu. We ordered pasta and soup. While the soup was good, pasta turned out to be a disappointment. The staffs are friendly and the ambience also nice

Fantastic restaurant, very clean and good music. We ate here twice, had fantastic paratha and aubergine masala for lunch then on another day had the veg thali for 2. Both meals were delicious, the restaurant has a relaxed vibe and all staff were very friendly. The staff clearly care very much for animals, there are 2 very chilled dogs who stay at the bar as well as a mother cat and her kittens who the restaurant seem to be looking out for. Highly recommend!

Felt that foreign tourists are getting more attention though I think the restaurant might not be getting much benefits because of this. Also I was told certain menu item would take time but i could see that it was available shortly for other customer. Taste wise nothing special.

Sun Francisco serves the most delicious food on the cliff, offers the best ambience on the cliff. The menu is large, and all food is cooked with love and taste. Also the food is very well presented. The cafe is sea facing and is very spacious. Even with guests in the cafe, the place feels airy and comfortable. Their choice of music adds to the ambience of the place - chilled and relaxed. We highly recommend this place for anybody wanting to eat at North cliff in Varkala.

Location- nice, right at the north cliff road.

Ambience - good. Very open, airy, quite bright, just the cafe you would want to sit in and read/work

Crowd- mostly foreign guests with a few locals and indians.

Service- very poor and slow. Extremely slow. And this is a unique trait to all restaurants in varkala.

My experience. We went and sat down in the restaurant. Usually the servers turn up immediately with the menu cards. However here and at many other places around varkala, they turn up mostly when you call them. And even to that aspect, an eye contact with them to indicate them to come is so so tough. They usually don’t see their incoming guests and more often than not the guest himself /herself is getting up to get the menu cards.

Once the menu card had arrived, it again took us forever to again call the guy to take our food preferences. It is the same experience while clearing the cheque.

I would have understood the wait time had it been some occasion like some festival/weekend/or some special occasion like new years. However, it was a weekday and thus the kind of wait time was insane.

Similarly, later during our dine-in, I had ordered a tea which never came up to me but for once was added to the bill. Had i not been attentive, it would have been added.

I feel worse to say that the guests from foreign land visiting the same restaurant alongside you are treated way way better than you.

Anyone visiting the restaurants in and around varkala are advised to be patient with food serving times. It can take anywhere between 25-30 minutes.

The place has got a cafe-like vibe and has a lot of people working from here with their laptops.
Thinking on similar lines, I decided to try this place and when I asked about the wifi, the staff indicated they dont know the password. I asked again to someone else and I got a similar response.
I am not going to visit the place again even though the smoothie was nice, my work is still pending.

If the relevant owner or manager is reading this, I would love to know why such a response from your staff.

The atmosphere and the ambience is great. Food is yum. Shakes, Juices, Sandwich and pancakes. Breakfast is unbelievably good. Although coffee was cold, overall is 5 on 5.

We had expected a decent service and tasty food. But lots to improve on all fronts. Be it Ambience. Be it Food. Be it General service offered. The attendants are trying their best to make it comfortable for guests.but overall handling food orders.catering to basic services. We experienced delays. More over I personally had to go couple of times to the main counter to get my attention. I and my family overall had a bad experience. We would think twice before coming next time. Its an honest family review from my end who generally are fond of such variety experiences.this being one off from our list.

Food was good like we are vegetarian so varkala there is less vegitarian option so we tired veg noddles, passion drink, butter naan and masala paneer, aalu Paratha, veg sandwich all thing is good but there's always miss communication btwn thier staff they don't listen properly your order and missed main item so if you want to order plz cross check your order 2 times.

Chhole was fine. We ordered iced tea which was so sour, the worst iced tea I ever had. I also ordered Rösti. It was so salty, I complained and they made it again, it was okay, at least it was edible but the taste was meh. Aloo Paratha we ordered which was nice.

Horrible.

The food wasn't great and the service was just pathetic. The staff there was too laidback, took too much time and not at all professional. We ordered a veggie red sauce pasta and he got us a white sauce one. When we told him this isn't what we ordered, he put the blame on us saying that we ordered this only. It took them 40 mins to prepare two dishes when the restaurant was technically empty.

The food was also not right. Veggie past came with only peas. There were more peas than pasta. Who puts peas in pasta?

I would not recommend this place to anyone, just a big waste of time and money.

The food was very tasty, tandoori chicken and chicken Tikka curry with naan. The ambience was also very nice.
The place was almost empty, as we came a bit before the dinner rush hour, so we were a bit surprised that noone came to take our orders for quite a while, even though 2 servers came around a couple of times and saw us definitely. After the order was taken the food came in normal time i would say.

View and vibe is good but the food here is not that great…may be cz we ordered continental…service was ok ok

Our favorite breakfast / lunch spot in Varkala, we’ve been here at least 30 times. Staff is delightful, smoothies are great, service is fast, food is excellent. Highly recommended.

Bad place to have food. We ordered there signature burger chicken and Falafel which is highly rated. The patty was good but it was put together in a very bad way, no sauce, dry and with some salad. Fries were finished. We ordered masala papad which had egg shells. It looks like a hipster place because it is full of foreigners however if u believe in eating hygienic food. I don’t think this is the place. Beer was served in a chipped mug and the server/ waiter wouldn’t come to the table at all. Wouldn’t recommend for conscious travellers who care about the food they eat.
Even for asking for the bill, the waiter/ server wouldn’t come to the table. Finally when we complained they did not charge for the Masala papad. They were very casual about it, looks like this happens for them a lot

This is arguably the best cafe in Varkala. The food, music and art is excellent. Try their coffee, if you are vegan ask for soya vanilla milk, won't regret! Also loved the Brunch and Disco session on the New years.

The food was awful to say the least. The milkshakes were more like watershakes. The lassi tasted like tar. The pasta was too watery. The hummus tasted like pasty flour. Had decent service and ambience though.

I tried Veg hot n sour soup which was perfect.
They put all kinds of veggies in it.

I also ordered honey chilly potato but they were bit cold otherwise taste was good.

Good view, good ambience, staff is also very hospitable.

Beautiful cafe with good veg options. We had lunch and dinner here, trust me it was satisfactory! Quantity and quality both are upto the mark.

Atit here is very polite and helped us choose us from menu according to our need. Also, got us the food as we told him.

Good decor, helpful staff

Best North Indian food at the cliff. Their thalis are amazing. Good drinks. All food is good in general

The owner Anita was very helpful and gave us a lot of tips about Varkala

My favorite place on the cliff. Delicious food especially the thali. Tried many dishes here and they were all great. They have a proper coffee machine and staff that knows how to make the perfect cappuccino. Super friendly staff and nice atmosphere.

Amazing food we tried their prawns coconut curry and fish fillet in banana leaf.
The curry was tasty and rich in flavours.
One of the underrated cafes in Varkala.

Just a nice experience. Nothing fascinating. Takes some time to get your order placed. Also we ordered their bowls mainly Punjabi and Arabian which both had somewhat similar recipes.

The ambience is neat and welcoming. The place is well managed.

Love the food and ambience. Lovely graffitis and an excellent view of the beach from the cliff. The food was value for money and tasted amazing!

Let me tell you they have really delicious food. Sometime the service can be questionable but the food is undoubtedly good. They have the best beverages on the cliff tipsy and non tipsy as well.
The service yes it’s a hit or a miss sometimes but then you get more time to chat up with the owner anita (lovely person)

The only con - the gulab jamun not so good.

Great place. Awesome ambience. The staff is super friendly. Atit was such a great staff. He was very helpful and friendly.

A good small (but not too small) cafe you can find at varkala cliff. They had drinks which was reasonable.
The staffs were friendly.
Had a great ambience where you could sit and watch the sunset.

Finally, after 2 years, I could go back to Varkala and I found this nice place, new for me. Food is good, with many plant based options, waiters always polite and, no doubt, they serve the best coffee of the cliff! I look forward to come back and enjoy the seaview, sipping my coconut milk cappuccino or cold coffee!

Sun Francisco serves the best food, especially North Indian cuisines, not just on the main varkala cliff but in the entire town. The location is prime and the cafe's design makes it picturesque. It's one of the few well ventilated cafes on the cliff. The owners are very sweet and welcoming hosts and Pankaj makes sure you are served fresh, hot and tasty food. The prices are very competitive and totally value for money. I would definitely recommend their Thalis, juices, smoothies, Indian breakfast, and their Tea is a must try. Overall an awesome place with awesome food and staff. It's much better than other cafes on the cliff.

Very nice restaurant owned by a very charming woman who pays attention to detail and quality. The place looks great and it's very cosy. Great choice of röstis/hash browns. I tried the cheese /egg ones and they were delicious. Wonderful musicians that play indian pop music. Honestly, I think I found my favorite place in Varkala. The waiters are very effective as well. Thank you for a very nice evening.

Nice, stylish restaurant/bar with great coffee, meals, drinks and waiters.our favourite place to hang in while in varkala

Worst experience so far in varkala.
Me and my friend went. Ordered 2 beers and 1 peanut chat
He poured the beer in 4 glasses in kitchen And it was mixed with water. Can feel the taste. There was no fizz and then kept open extra two glasses in fridge. We finished our beer then also asked multiple times for just 1 simple peanut chart. Its total scam. They should pour in front of us and need to ask how we want like in other restaurants.

Superb spot on the Varkala Cliff. Just loved the ambience and menu was very nice. All items were well priced and the portions were plenty.

It was good experience with Nomad café one of best café in varkala beach, food was so delicious, service was very friendly as well, nice sea view great vibe
And ambiance highly recommend,
Sure return,

A bit long waiting time to make an order even though it was early morning and place was fast from being full. Had some little plastic string in our "fresh" juice. They also forgot to put Nutella in our pancakes with Nutella.

Went there twice. First time waited way too long to get the 2 drinks and staff was rude both taking the order and when paying, like just plainly disrespectful. Second time ordered food, taste just your average.nothing special but when my kid went to order his soft drink they served him a glass instead of the 750ml bottle as per menu. Very puzzled, I sent it back saying that that is not what was on the menu and that there's no mention of per glass soft drinks.mmmm, questionable. In doubt, I will not go back, there are many nice places, honest and with guinenely kind staff.
Edit: after reading the owner's response I'm baffled! I will not comment as the tone of the response speaks for itself in my opinion. I have reviewed several other places in Varkala and it is up to the users to read, go and compare:)

Good juices, but very bad coffee and food.maybe just was not lucky with a choice, but why you are keeping so bad dishes in the menu?

Multiple Buddha bowl options, all of which were tasty with huge portion size.
Interesting juice and smoothie options as well.
Good ambience with pleasing music.
Service wasn’t bad either.

Would I go here again: YES

Great experience. Fresh fruit juices are just 100 rupees and other food also nice price. Must try smoothie bowl for breakfast. Day time is not so crowded, but night time is crowded. They have music live also - it was great and everyone looks excited.

Nomad created a good ambiance for relaxing and enjoying the beach when you’re waiting for the food and drinks (Yes, taking the time for fresh food but taste and freshness of the food will compensate for the time.)
Staffs are very friendly and trying their best to give the good service for everyone who coming there.
After all a perfect place for chilling with good food and service.
Thank you Anitha for creating such a nice place for us.

Spinach-Mushroom Burger was excellent, the rest of my family happy with their drinks and food as well. Tranquil place and a cool hideout from the sun.

The best restaurant in Varkala!
I can claim so because we visited several other restaurants which are actually also not bad. But the first place goes to Nomad, without doubts.
I don’t want to break down my review to “food” - “drinks” - “service” and perform detailed analysis and so on. Briefly, everything was great.
The most important things as for me - the cherish memories after time spent there.
Especially the last night there, when there was a live performance by one very talent guy with his guitar and a lot of favorite songs. And more thing - the team that hosts this place is a really one big family which gifts to you their hospitality and happiness.
Varkala - Nomad - One love!

Nice place with good and fresh seafood, a place with a open view to the sea. Making order fresh as per the order, good staff. Cool.enjoyed.keep it up nomad

A bit more expensive than normal, but the quality makes up for it. Enjoyed every visit at this place, especially for the staff. Definitely a must if you stay in Varkala for a bit.

Pathetic experience. We waited for 10 minutes and no one attended us. Totally ignoring Indian tourists. Cant comment on the food as no one offered the menu even after asking for it.

Nomad is as lovely as Varkala cliff. Anthony will make you laugh, pankaj would make you feel home and Binu will make you an out of the world Coffee. Cuisine is excellent and crowd is cosmopolitan.

Fish burger was with bones. Looks like they grind fish leftovers and made fish burgers. Smoothies and coffee was good.

Very nice restaurant with delicious food and drink. Great view of the sea and the sunset.very good service, super nice people and a very nice proprietress

Stopped at Nomad for a drink, regretted it. They can't make a decent cocktail, even if their life depended on it. Their Pina Colada tasted terrible, and the server tried to convince us that Pina Coladas are supposed to take like the swill they served us. The Mojito was just OK. At the end, they overcharged us for one of the drinks, had to get them to correct it.

Lovely Cafe and Restaurant, Location is on the North Cliff in Varkala ordered a Latte and it was really fresh and good. Service Staff were all Cool. It's a must visit cafe in Varkala.