The best restaurants Port Mathurin

This is one of the best charm-quality-picture ratios in Port-Mathurin: a colorful Creole hut combining good food and a nice setting with a lot of simplicity and kindness. A variety of Sino-Rodriguese dishes, based on fresh local products and at reasonable prices: crab broth, seafood stew, black pudding rougaille, etc., and a few desserts, such as breadfruit and banana fritters, not bad. The store is also a café and serves drinks and snacks from 10 am. Nice shaded terrace at the back.

This is the most stylish restaurant in Port Mathurin. At the helm are Frenchmen Romain and Isabelle, he a sommelier, she a decorator, both of them in love with this little piece of island. In a nice chic bistro atmosphere, they offer French cuisine that speaks Rodriguan (or the other way around) accompanied by beautiful bottles. The products are chosen in short circuit and the menu plays on the two soils via a selection of worked dishes (Trio of carpaccio, braised country ham...) or more classic (Farmhouse chicken-fries). Artisanal store on the spot.

We sit down directly at the fisherman's, who has a store and serves freshly grilled fish, and especially a Tino Rossi salad of which we will not reveal the secret... but... quickly, go ahead! Known throughout the island and adored by travelers for his incredible kindness, our man also takes whoever wants on his pretty pirogue: to Cocos Island and Catherine Islet, for 8 people maximum and with a picnic. Much more than a dinner or an excursion, it is above all the occasion of an extraordinary human meeting!

A place of sharing, exchange and conviviality, this café, just like the receptive of the same name, is meant to be an open space and a dynamic meeting point between Rodriguans and travelers passing through. An oasis in the heart of the city, it occupies the former parish priest of Port Mathurin (lounge area) and extends to a shaded terrace and a landscaped garden. The spirit of recovery inspires the decoration and the furniture. Everything is homemade, you can stop by for a fresh juice, a delicious sweet or savory crepe, a dish of the day... and also to book an excursion.

Located at the beginning of the street, close to the river, here is a small hut with a few tables that makes roast chicken aficionados happy! To take away or to taste on the spot, the poultry, golden brown, is cooked and juicy. The service is simple and efficient, with a little chat and little waiting. We also stop there to have a drink or to buy/swallow a small homemade sandwich ("varied choice" as the sign says) before going to survey the streets of the capital. A nice place to stop if you are in a hurry or if you don't want to be hungry.

In a popular atmosphere, a wide range of dishes from Rodriguan, Mauritian, Chinese and European cuisines are prepared and served: fish, seafood, shellfish, lobster, etc., in all sauces and ways. The establishment has a good reputation among the locals even if the room is not really crazy. Very local atmosphere on game nights (flat screen TV) and musical entertainment (band) once a month. Also a bar with a nice cocktail menu.

In a "small" street full of "small" squares, a few steps from the city center, it is a "small" popular address as we like them, without any decoration effect, with just a few tables and chairs placed here and there. One lines up at the crack of dawn to take away Nabeel's famous briani presented in a big pot with tempting smells: chicken during the week, fish and beef on Saturdays, there is not a grain of rice left at the end of the day, nor even a roti, another popular specialty of the house!

It would be a bit like the local fast food, fast and crowded at peak hours, except that in addition to the speciality filled buns (the equivalent of our hamburgers, only better and healthier), they would also serve daily specials at very low prices - pork in wine, pineapple chicken, sweet and sour fish, octopus carry... To have lunch on the spot: a handful of tables on the first floor and on the sidewalk, a few others upstairs, and waiters who take off. Takeaway and home delivery on request. Efficient and cheap.

A few steps away from the market, on a wasteland with tables and benches laid out in the open air, several street vendors line up their fast food trailers. For three francs six pennies, you can eat small local dishes, sausages, kebabs, fried mines... in a nice popular atmosphere that is reminiscent of a pretty guinguette. A small note for the fragile stomachs: there is nothing to fear in opting for this kind of restaurant in Rodrigues where the products are fresh and often come directly from the vegetable garden and/or the sea.

Brother of the famous Min Koo alias Marcel, the king of pork sausage, whose gleaming orange-yellow hut has always stood in the port area, Georges displays his Chinese origins through a simple and quick cuisine made mostly of boiled mines decorated in many ways - beef, chicken, minced pork, ourite, etc. We appreciate the impeccable cleanliness of the place and the friendly courtyard at the back. Also some chicken legs, pork chops or lamb chops with salad and chips.

Recently opened, this new restaurant is located at the northern entrance of Port Mathurin, a bit removed from the bustle of François Leguat street. Refreshed by a small breath of air, it consists of a large shaded terrace on stilts overlooking the river where the very first inhabitants settled. On the slate, the dishes of the day are chosen according to the fishing and the arrival of the producers. Fish, seafood, chicken and duck are cooked in the Rodrigues style, according to traditional recipes. A winning equation: the restaurant is always full!