The best restaurants Amazonie Brésilienne

This restaurant takes its title from a famous Werner Herzog film set in the Amazon. Opened in 2016 at the same time as the beautiful boutique hotel that houses it - the Villa Amazônia - Fitz Carraldo offers international-influenced dishes with an Amazonian twist in a modern, elegant setting. Fresh, well-presented starters, fish or chicken main courses - unless you prefer the excellent house burger - accompanied by South American wines, and hearty desserts. European prices.

Overlooking the Theatre, it is on the floor of an old building that the service room of the excellent Caxiri is located, a Brazilian gastronomic restaurant with an inventive chef from São Paulo in the kitchen. From starter to dessert, you can enjoy very good preparations with Amazonian influences, elegantly presented, with a local fish, the pirarucu, as a star attraction. Beautiful wine list, attention to detail, high quality products and friendly service. Perhaps one of the best tables in the city, which is still worth its weight in gold.

Opposite the Bar do Armando, Casa do Pensador has carved out a place for itself in the small world of Manaus restaurants. Close to the famous Manaus Opera House, right in the tourist and cultural heart of the city, Casa do Pensador offers cheap pizzas and typical regional dishes (fish, for example), as well as good beers. Service is sometimes a little slow, but the friendliness of the staff and the magnificent view of the Opera House more than make up for this.

Japeto is a recently established bar-restaurant, a little outside the traditional area surrounding Praça São Sebastião. On weekends, this blue-fronted establishment, with its friendly atmosphere, comes alive to the sound of DJs and well-crafted bands. Amazonian dishes are on offer, of course, but also Brazilian fare such as feijoada on weekends, at very affordable prices. Beer is served ice cold, as is traditional in Brazil, and Japeto is no exception.

Often, the observant visitor, whether Brazilian or French, is quick to point out the lack of visibility of indigenous culture in Brazilian and Amazonian metropolises in particular, or its "folklorization". The Biatuwi restaurant is the exception that proves the rule. It's a true gastronomic experience based on the culture of the Sateré-mawé and Tukano ethnic groups. Tasting insects, of course, but also excellent indigenous-style sambaqui. A very simple and welcoming place, reflecting the culture of the local tribes.

This is one of the 2 restaurants at Hotel Tropical. He also deserves 5-star, if only for the refinement of his presentation. You can choose between 18 salads, one of which is tarragon, presented in buckets of wood, and the tender tendre pirarucu, with alcapaz sauce, carrots, mayonnaise, complete bread. A delicious and unexpected soup of broken peas and vegetables. The tambaqui is 10 kg wet, it is served braised, and has a taste of sole. Maminha is a good roast; picanha is a meat sought in churrascarias; the cupim shall be salting; in outsiders: beef ribs, pork, pork nipple, fried chicken. Everything is accompanied by polenta, rice, feijoada, grilled onions, lasagna, apples to small mushrooms. Then 9 desserts, including a fresh fruit salad, delicate struck/orange blanks or chocolate, steeped in water melons.

Waku Sese is a café-restaurant specializing in iced açai. In the 90s, the Amazonian açai fruit saw its nutritional virtues being recognized beyond the borders of its region of origin. From the 2000s, it is the iced açai that will conquer the country. Waku Sese offers very good preparations of açai, but also buriti. It is also a very good option to eat typical and tasty manauense food like the traditional Amazonian tacacà , or melted cheese with tapioca. Varied menu

Here, as diners will have gathered, tambaqui, a highly prized species of Amazonian fish, is the featured dish. In a relaxed atmosphere, the restaurant offers fish dishes, especially grilled tambaqui(assado), a tasty, boneless local species. The menu also features dourados and pirarucu. Other recommended dishes include traditional moquecas and caldeiras . Casa do Tambaqui has acquired a solid regional reputation and welcomes locals and travellers alike.

Celeiro is a mineira restaurant with a good reputation in the region. The reputation is well-founded. The place is cosy, simple and pleasant. It's almost like an American-style outdoor restaurant. A variety of hot and cold dishes are served buffet-style in a rather family atmosphere. For some, it's a subtle fusion between a Nordic and an Italian restaurant. Vegan and vegetarian dishes are also on offer. Meat lovers will love the prime rib marinated in cachaça.

The former "Caravela do Madeira" restaurant has been transformed into a Peruvian specialty restaurant. The place hasn't changed much, with the view of the river as pretty as ever, although Andean-style tablecloths have replaced the old decorations. Good fish is still on offer, but in the form of traditional ceviches. Fish or shrimp ceviches, seafood ceviches marinated with lemon and Peruvian chili, now form the core of the new menu. More classic dishes are also available.