Mauritius is a country with a unique cuisine. It is influenced by the myriad cultures of the people.

It is a country where you might find dholl puri, peking duck, and a classic French consommé on the same menu. Needless to say, the restaurants of this country are an endless adventure.

You can taste a little bit of every corner of the world, and you can enjoy dishes you will find nowhere else.

Because of the unique mingling of cultures, the dishes of Mauritius have also begun to change. Here you can buy a pizza topped with Italian Parmesan and tandoori sauce or a Creole fish dish flavored with Chinese duck sauce. Mauritius has something for people of all tastes.

Grand Baie, in Northern Mauritius is the go to place for a leisurely day and fun filled night. With its proliferation of shops, you will find anything you need; from an adapter for your electronics to a trendy traditional bracelet.  Grand Baie also happens to be home to some of the best Mauritius hotels and nightclubs. There is a selection of Italian, Chinese and Local Cuisine restaurants, most of them lining both sides of the famous Route Royal.

The Quatro Fromagi is a house special at Luigi’s. It is a pizza drowning in creamy mozzarella, sharply rich parmesan, buttery gorgonzola and intense fontina. It is a pizza that captures the best of Italy. Located on Route Royal in Grand Baie, Luigi’s is a rustic little pizzeria offering the best Pizzas and Pastas in Mauritius. Moderately priced, Luigi’s selection of Pizza toppings, risottos and pastas will have you coming back for more.

Don Camillo is another Italian favorite in Grand Baie. It is where the locals go for a nice dinner out, and the food does not disappoint. The restaurant is excellently located with a grant view of the Indian Ocean from the main dining area.

Tutto Bene in Italian means “all is well”. Well, at Le Tutto Bene, all is more than well; all is great. Located in the newly renovated La Cuvette beach, Le Tutto Bene serves succulent traditional Mediterranean meals in an ultra modern setting. It’s well stocked bar will not let you go thirsty, and the staff there are generally warm and friendly. It is one of those rare restaurants that one should never miss.

The most enduring reminder of the prosperous Mughal period is perhaps the tragic Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is homage to love. The story of the lovers behind it is one that brings both sadness and hope to anyone who hears it. Taking inspiration from this prosperous period in India’s history, the proprietors of the Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant have managed to recreate the exotic menus of the Mughal royal kitchens. The Mughals valued their brand of food because it was supposed to increase mental and physical prowess. The price of about 250 rupees for a meal is not much to pay for delectable royal food that is also supposed to increase your smarts.

Chinese restaurants are famous world over for their seafood. The selections of Chinese restaurants in Grand Baie are not an exception, but they bring a little something extra to the table. Located on the famous Route Royal, Le Palais de Chine stands across one of the biggest fish markets in Mauritius. Le Palais offers a range of fresh sea food all with a dash of local Mauritian flavors.

Another notable Chinese restaurant in Grand Baie is Le Jonque restaurant. Also on Route Royal, Le Jonque’s warm inviting décor will keep you comfortable as you enjoy an authentic Chinese meal.

Fusion, in Grand Baie, is a restaurant that lives up to its name. With a sleek, pink highlighted modern décor, Fusion brings together elements of cuisine from all over the world. Here, India, China, Africa and Europe all come together on the same menu, on the same plate.
For a proper romantic setting, then the restaurants in nearby La Pointe aux Canonniers resort are perfect. Both restaurants are located right on the beach. The family friendly La Belle Créole will let you dine in a delightfully antiquated colonial style house. Paul et Virginie, the other restaurant, is just a few yards from the ocean. On the terrace, you and your significant other can sit down to a delicious dinner with the calming waves of the darkened Indian Ocean soothing you.

A good piece of steak: excellently grilled, perfectly seasoned and hard to find anywhere in the world.  The Black Steer restaurant in the heart of Port Louis endeavors to serve you the best steak of your life. Incorporating grilling methods from the heart of America with local seasoning expertise, the Black Steer restaurant will give you a filling meal to remember. Also in Port Louis is the oldest western style restaurant in the Indian Ocean. La Flore Mauricienne was started in 1848, and continues to serve a medley of world class dishes.

Mauritius is a country that is generally devoid of too many night owls; most restaurants will stop serving customers at eleven. However, never despair; there are a couple of places where you can go to get your late night ‘groove’ on. Before you and your gang go out hunting for a good dance floor, it would be advisable to eat first. No restaurant with decent food will serve you your dinner/breakfast at three in the morning. When you do go clubbing, look for something out of the ordinary, something local; something like Sega music.

Sega is passion filled music born of the desire for freedom and the need for pleasure. It was created by African slaves held in Mauritius. It was meant to not only be reminder of their respective homelands, but also a painful declaration of the new creatures they were morphing into. Bringing together the mournful twang of the bobre, the painful bark of the ravane and the teasing rattles of the maravane, the slaves created a harmony that brought out in anyone the primal urge to move. The music of Sega is generally satiric or romantic. The dance that accompanies the music is energetic and sometimes erotic.

The dancers, normally women in colorful skirts, start out with the slow rhythm. They sway gradually to the music and as the tempo increases so does their energy. At the climax, they pulsate and gyrate to every single beat of the drum. Dancing Sega can sometimes be daunting, but if you do happen to be in a club with Sega music playing, give it a try. After a while, the rhythm becomes primal, your movements completely natural. It will be the most exhilarating dance session of your life.

Several clubs in Mauritius will hold Sega nights, although the best places to see true Sega dance are the villages. The music instruments have sometimes been replaced by modern and western instrument, but the underlying sound is distinctly Mauritian. The clubs in Trou aux Biches, near Grand Baie, are the ones most likely to play Sega.

Les Énfants Terribles is one Mauritius’s more famous clubs. In Pointe aux Canonniers, this club’s selection of music is more retro than contemporary. It is a place where people of all age groups will feel comfortable mingling and moving to the beat. It is also a great place to grab a couple of drinks before going out to dinner. Stardance and Godz is a big discothèque in Grand Baie. Although there sometimes is live music, the disco’s taste usually ranges towards more popular, more modern music. It is a great place to meet people, as it is very popular with both the locals and tourists.

It can sometimes be challenging to find a club playing good jazz and rock music in Mauritius. However, Café Banane in Grand Baie has done its best to rectify this shortcoming. With classical rock nights and jazz nights, you can flee to Café Banane to escape that feverish scene in most night clubs. There are live music sessions on the weekends. So if you brought your guitar along, you can try your luck with the local crowd.
Focusing on bringing local talent into the limelight, N-Gyone is one of the hottest clubs in Grand Baie. N-Gyone also hosts major events, sometimes bringing in artists from Europe and Asia.

Bollywood is vibrant, colorful, romantic and energetic. Planet Bollywood in Beau Bassin takes all these aspects of Bollywood and incorporates them into its theme. So if you are into Bollywood, or simply want to see what all the hype is about, then you should pay Planet Bollywood a visit. Also in Beau Bassin is the excelled Saxophone, with good house music and calm soothing environment, it might also be worth checking out.

A gastronomic journey through Mauritius can be quite enjoyable if you know what to look for. So while here, please stay away from your comfortable KFC and Pizza Hut and try something else.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 7:46 am and is filed under Africa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.