We stayed in Grand Baie, the most touristy town on the island… but all that really meant was that there were more white people, everyone spoke English and the restaurants charged higher prices. The entire island is strewn with tourist destinations so you really only use Grand Baie as a home base. This photo is of the main drag along the waterfront in Grand Baie where the majority of the restaurants are. I wish I took more photos of the place for context. There are no sidewalks to speak of and the roads are very narrow… as a pedestrian you try not to get hit and as a driver you try not to hit anyone.
We ate at a number of restaurants with amazing views – some were planned, and some were not. Our first stop just happened to be at what was probably the most expensive restaurant in Grand Baie, likely because it was easy to walk to and it has an awesome view. It was called Cafe de Grand Baie Plage and was right on the beach. We even went back a 2nd time because we enjoyed ourselves the first time, despite the higher price!
For lunch we shared the octopus salad and it was totally delicious! For our first dish in Grand Baie, I was pretty stoked. It was very fresh and light with lots of mild citrus flavour.
As a main, M ordered the Shrimps Marinara for 700 MUR (~$26 CAD). When I think marinara, I think tomato sauce… but nope, the shrimp were cooked in a butter and garlic sauce – no tomatoes in sight! I can’t tell you what exactly the potato looking chunks are – but they are not potatoes… The shrimp were delicious and the rice was moist and flavourful. I actually wished I got M’s meal instead of mine!
I ordered a more traditional Mauritian dish, the shrimp curry for 650 MUR (~$24 CAD). Slow cooked in a curry with parsley and tomato, my shrimp was also very tasty. I had experienced some of the traditional chutney flavours the previous day when I ventured out on my own. The dahl was not very enjoyable to me (in the silver dish to the right); it was very watery and bland. For 2 alcoholic drinks, a bottle of water, an appetizer, and two entrees our bill was $96 CAD.
Our next restaurant with the most amazing view of all, was Le Chamarel, in the south end of the island. I made the reservation for this restaurant long before our trip – it was a must for me! I have to say that the drive to the top of the mountain was a tad insane… Not only was I driving on the opposite side of the road, but the switchbacks were very narrow and windy (thankfully the roads were paved and in excellent condition). At the top of the mountain near the restaurant, there was one viewpoint… and with insufficient parking spots, the tourists and big buses just park on the road. Or should I say, in the road? So, you’re trying to navigate around cars parked in your lane and parked in the opposite line, coordinating with oncoming traffic, and with no shoulders and a cliff on one side… but, it’s beautiful and it smells nice LOL.
Le Chamarel focusses on traditional Mauritian Creole dishes, offering a good selection of dishes through a tasting menu if you so choose. We each chose the three course tasting menu for 1050 MUR (~$39 CAD). For the view, the service and the food, this was perhaps the best bang for our buck on the whole trip. I totally recommend this restaurant!
First course was a salad: M chose the green papaya salad with prawns and citrus dressing.
I chose the tropical palm heart salad with toasted almonds and passion fruit dressing. The palm hearts were super tangy and the toasted almonds gave the dish that hit of texture it needed. The toasted almonds held up well to the tang of the palm hearts. This was a delicious and refreshing salad (and a huge serving size!) and I would like to find a recipe for it.
For our entree we could choose between a local fish, a dry venison curry or wild boar stew. M chose the fish – served with a coconut crust, a green banana curry, banana chips and tomato salsa (served with rice on the side). The green banana curry was really good. I never would have guessed what it was made of. The fresh fish here in Mauritius was awesome – always locally caught that day.
My traditional wild boar stew was served in separate dishes. The rice was served with fermented cabbage, banana chips and an odd chutney that I wanted to love but didn’t.
A much more enjoyable dahl than the last one!
Melt in your mouth wild boar meat. Wow… it was tender and delicious. I don’t think I’d ever had wild boar before – it was more like beef than like pork. Perhaps it’s how they slow cooked it, but it was way more tender than I expected.
Then, I had to put it all together to eat it.
There’s me… happy as a clam, in a beautiful location eating amazing food with an awesome friend!
Our server was super nice and provided us with dessert on the house. There was gelatine, tapioca and coconut in some form or another. Their home-made coconut ice cream is the bomb!
After lunch we left the car in the restaurant parking lot and walked 50 m to the tourist-filled lookout. Thankfully, security guards keep a good watch on the parking lot so sneaky tourists who are not eating at the restaurant don’t use the lot.
The most relaxing day of the trip was time spent on an island (Ile aux Cerfs) that was only accessible by a boat service. I purchased the deal through Mauritius Attractions and added the parasailing package (you’ll have to check out another post for the parasailing experience!). There were a few vendors on site if you blew a flip flop or a swimsuit strap, but otherwise it was pretty basic. At least there were flush toilets and outdoor showers and a lounge if you wanted some drinks or snacks.
As part of the package we got to choose our meal at the Sands Grill on the beach. Because my meal came with a salad to start they brought M’s salad to eat at the same time as me. Their bread was delicious and M laughed at how many photos I took of baskets of bread on the trip.
I got the Standard 3 Course Menu:
- Starter: Caesar Salad with curried chicken skewer, sprinkle parmesan cheese
- Main Course: Char grill fish filter, lemon rice and steamed vegetables
- Dessert: white coconut mousse, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce
The fish turned out to be white tuna! So good! (And check out the serving size!)
M had the BBQ Lunch Menu:
- Main Course: Grilled fish, grilled chicken, grilled sausages (lamb and chicken)
- Side dishes: Potato wedges, side salad, garlic bread
- Dessert: Vanilla scented pancake, Banana Flambé & Coconut Ice cream
There was honestly too much food… we were stuffed after eating all of this and M couldn’t finish his plate of meat. I find it interesting that in both Nigeria and here in Mauritius their ‘chicken sausages’ are what we would consider to be chicken ‘hot dogs’… I was excited when I first saw the sign for chicken sausages at our breakfast buffet in Nigeria… until I saw the ‘sausages’ and realized they’re just ‘hot dogs’!
Every restaurant makes their own hot sauce using different chilis… but one thing they all had in common is that they were all bloody hot!
A very cool experience on the island was when a local fisherman came up to us with a bucket of live, freshly caught sea urchins. I had never had one before, and I believe he called them sea eagles, so I was even more confused about what these creatures were (Wikipedia says there are over 950 species of sea urchin!). The fisherman brought me to the water, cracked one open and cleaned out all the innards (see the video here). He then squirted fresh lemon and Tabasco hot sauce on the roe (eggs) and we scooped them out with a spoon (that he only rinsed off in the salty ocean and re-used for all his customers). One urchin cost 200 MUR, or about $8 CAD. I’m so glad I did this, even though I was a bit apprehensive at first; when in Rome… (as the saying goes)!
One day we went for a drive to the northern part of the island – with no plan we hit up a beach and had messy ice cream cones from an ice cream truck.
Further up island we stopped into a hotel in a town called Grand Gaube with no idea with was on the other side of the privacy fence. It turned out to be a beautiful, high-end, adult-only resort with multiple restaurants/bars, pools and a private beach. The restaurant we ate at was on a jetty with a sand floor and a beautiful view. Thankfully the restaurant was decently priced because I sure can’t afford to spend the night at the hotel!
M ordered the locally caught fish with fries and coleslaw. I thought there should be more to the dish… but it was good.
I ordered the fish biryani and it was delicious! Full of awesome flavour but not too heavy, even with the rice and potatoes. I’d definitely love to make something like this at home.
For two entrees, two cocktails and a bottle of water the bill totalled about $49 CAD. You can’t get that much for that price here in Calgary, that’s for sure!
Our last meal with an amazing view was back at the first restaurant we went to in Grand Baie – Cafe de Grand Baie Plage. I knew that it would be an expensive meal but we also thought we’d enjoy it. However, there was a horrible band playing all through dinner – a couple of Asian guys playing keyboard, guitar and singing songs that I grew up with. The music was mostly from the 70s, 80s and I knew the words better than the guy singing. It was actually painful to the ears… I was seriously tempted to go up and take the mic from him because I could even keep a tune better than he could! But, alas, I did not embarrass M and I stayed seated 🙂
We decided to go for the locally caught lobster, sold by weight. They supposedly just had the one lobster in stock – a giant one weighing 1 kg. We split the lobster and they gave us enough sides for the both of us. I have to say that I’m glad I got to try a fresh, local Mauritius lobster… but it was not worth the price. I should have just bought a lobster from a local fisherman and cooked it at our condo. Even the sides were not that great. The garlic butter sauce was to die for but it came out luke warm. The best part of the meal was dipping my bread in the garlic butter sauce… For the lobster, a glass of orange juice, one beer and bottled water the bill came to $124 CAD. It was the most expensive meal of the trip!
There are so many beautiful locations in Mauritius I would love to go back and do another foodie tour. I’d return to some restaurants and would find many more to try. All in all, it was an awesome experience!
Comments