The best restaurants South

Much larger than the average, designed to accommodate groups as well as individual clients, this table d'hôtes serves daily dishes of Indo-Mauritian cuisine in a room as large as the owners' ambitions. Even if it is not our favorite setting, the same family has been running the business for 20 years, a guarantee of a certain form of regularity and quality. On the menu: curries accompanied by rice, faratas and achards, spicy fish served with local vegetables, deer curry in season, etc.

Very simple but clean as a new penny and very local, frequented almost exclusively by locals, here is a popular canteen where you can enjoy a briani, a kebab or a sandwich - and not bad with that since the whole of Mahebourg is rushing there! No menu or table service. You go in, get your drink from the fridge, head to the kitchen at the back to choose and take your plate out, sit down, tell yourself it's good, and so copious, and so cheap... And there you go!

It's great to explore the green heart of Mauritius and, without necessarily taking part in any activity, to recharge your batteries in the forest, preferably beside a river or waterfall! At Bel Ombre Nature Reserve, picnic spots have been set up (but not too many) to offer a time of immersion that's both disconnecting, exclusive (privatized site for 2 to 10 people) and upmarket. Quality of service, quality of food, quality of the picnic pod - a brilliant innovative concept that we'll let you discover...

In the beautiful old planter's house of Saint Aubin, some tasty dishes of traditional Creole cuisine are served under the veranda in a "Mauritius of the past" atmosphere. On the menu: cocktail and fritters, palm salad with smoked marlin, vanilla chicken, pineapple flambéed with Saint Aubin rum... The products are fresh and come mostly from the Domaine. Lunch begins or continues with a visit to the many cultural sights of the area.

On the site of the Geopark, this small fast food restaurant is especially noteworthy for its beautiful panoramic location overlooking the copper-colored sheep. A few wooden tables placed under thatched huts allow you to take a drink break (fresh juice, local coffee, homemade iced tea, etc.) and/or to have a snack - choice of sandwiches, paninis, grills, pastries, ice cream... Taste the freshly squeezed cane juice, the flavor of the islands. And also the Chamarel Coffee, an Arabica grown on volcanic soil that gives it a unique taste.

Lagoon, swimming pool, landscaped beach, nautical hut and, under an open structure topped with thatch, in a large VIP robinsonnade version, the C Beach restaurant, a bohemian club: sand, decks, swings, a coolissime atmosphere and a menu as sunny as the ocean under the zenith - mixed salads, wood-fired pizzas, catch of the day, candied papaya... and on Sunday lunchtimes: large buffet! There are also 2 bars, the Chill and the Coast, where you can sip cocktails and mocktails at any time, by the indigo blue pool or in the cosy lounge.

Here is a small restaurant run by Shivam who has been working hard for a few years. Smile, quality, service and success are all there. On the menu, fresh fish and Asian flavors. The fillet of old red fish and its sauce with dried tomatoes is delicious. The pad thaï keeps its promise, the vegetarian or not curries delight the most gourmets. If you don't have room on the terrace, climb the spiral staircase. A room made of wood in a salvaged style awaits you. Facing the window, you can sit down as if you were at the bar with a breath of air.

It's a small grocery-cafe as we like it, respectful of the environment and short circuits, and offering mainly bulk products to limit two of the problems of our time, waste and overconsumption. You come directly with your jars (or you buy some on the spot) and you fill them with seeds, dried fruits, cereals, without forgetting the delicious preparations of Laetitia like these seed breads, dried fruits without sugar, cereal bars, tomato-pesto-avocado sandwiches, etc., to take away or to taste on the spot with a small coffee.

In the shade of lush trees, it is a small restaurant with an evocative name. You can enjoy it… crocodile (!), all the sauces and all the forms, even in a burger… Also some dishes from the sea and the land (canard conflict, red woolly filet grilled…) and Mauritian specialities (various curries), salads, snacks, ice creams and desserts. 

At one of the corners facing the market, hidden by dozens of potted plants, this address, whose interior is reminiscent of a Chinese store, holds the record in the sector in terms of implausibility and decoration (r). One sits between windows filled with shells and animal figurines to unwind a menu offering a myriad of Chinese and Mauritian dishes: dumplings, fried mines, meat and fish with all kinds of sauces... Come more for the originality of the place than for the cuisine, or just for a drink.

On the public beach of Bel Ombre, wild, quiet and deserted (wrongly) by travelers, everyone knows François' pretty blue-roofed caravan. Every day, the queue speaks volumes about the flavor of the fried dumplings and mines that our man concocts in his pots and sells in the shade of the filaos, facing the ocean. A few picnic tables complete the picture, making for an exotic, no-frills, local taste experience in the form of a cool beach lunch. To make sure the roulotte is actually there, check it out on facebook.

Bel Ombre is home to its Marilyn! Her real name is Marylin Laura Monroe, idol of the American woman and star of the kitchen herself. Under the glamorous eye of the Hollywood photos pinned to the walls, she concocts small local dishes based on fresh produce: Creole-style parrot fish, wild boar salmis, venison curry... and above all, ourite, of which Marylin is as much a fan as the American sagas. In the past, on the day the fishing season reopened, musicians would take over the little hut and there would be nothing but ourite on the menu. It's all about passion!

This small open-air restaurant is located a few kilometers from the village of Bel Ombre, behind the Bel Ombre Nature Reserve visitor center. Even if you're not taking part in the estate's activities, you'll still want to sit down under the hundred-year-old tree at this bucolic eatery, for its charming setting (relics and greenery) and for its menu of dishes inspired by the local terroir and highlighting the island's culinary heritage: arouille fritters and coriander chutney, venison salmi, chicken curry, ourite vindaye and more. A big plus: prices are super tight.

French retirees on a long stay in the area as well as vacationers looking for authentic local addresses swear by it! For years, this popular canteen has been delighting customers with its simple and tasty dishes based on super fresh products: boiled mines, fried rice, onion fritters, seafood stir-fry, octopus salad, meefoon broth, etc. Of course, the setting is not very nice and the wait is sometimes long because of the success, but the service is smiling, the quality-price ratio is excellent. And it's so good!

Behind the historic Baie du Cap post office stands another old house on the edge of a small square. This is Anbalaba, a village of luxury residences in the heart of the hamlet. The restaurant is on the second floor, offering a tasty stop-off on the road to the South and a view of the lagoon from the varangue. While the dining room is charming, you can sit out on the terrace to discover and enjoy delicious local cuisine featuring fresh seasonal produce reinterpreted by a talented young Mauritian chef - sautéed crab, banana leaf fish...