13 Best Restaurants in Mauritius

The C Beach Club is Heritage Resorts' indoor/outdoor dining experience on a prime beachfront with a stunning view on the Indian Ocean. With your feet on the sand, you'll enjoy delicious Mediterranean dishes in one of three restaurants offering buffet or a la carte service: Cyan, Coast, and the Chill Lounge. The three C's, as they are known, have a solid reputation on the island, offering visitors one of the island’s most beautiful dining settings. The friendly and knowledgeable staff are always eager to please.

On a private peninsula, just 15 minutes from the airport and across from the historical village of Mahébourg, the Preskil Beach Resort shelters one of the island’s best steakhouses. Their high-quality meats are imported from South Africa, and the fish and seafood come from the day’s catch. Complement your meal with a traditional Ti' Punch, or choose from a number of South Africa's finest wines. Outdoor seating on the beach is offered. Inside, the atmosphere is refined and romantic with a contemporary décor in warm tones and African motifs.

In the Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel within the busy Le Caudan complex, this eatery offers a complete change from resort life. The complex is a popular retail area with some 170 shops and eateries and an amphitheater performance space. Diners can watch all the action of the harbor and the pedestrian piazza from this lovely restaurant dressed with white tablecloths and decorated with Maurtian-styled timber lattice-work dining chairs. Choose from Western, Asian, and Creole dishes—the Madagascar shrimps are tasty. If on a budget, opt for the plat du jour (dish of day) at an affordable 275 MUR. The fruit salad with sabayon au calvados (zabaione and brandy) is a must for dessert.

Once you navigate your way to this charming little restaurant, down a poorly lighted street some 30 meters (100 feet) past the open-air market in Grand-Baie, you'll be glad you made the effort. Hostess Francoise will greet you at the door, clad in a toque blanche (one of those white hats worn by chefs), as will the main chef. The restaurant has only 20 tables and a big following of happy diners, so it's advisable to book in advance. Try the house specialty, aumonieresde crabes (crab wontons) followed by a shrimp curry with saffron rice, or go for broke and order a large plate of delicious langouste (lobster). Finish off with the dreamy warm-chocolate fondant. Grand-Baie, on the northwestern tip of the island, is a buzzing resort with many restaurants, but this out-of-the-way place, with lace-curtain windows and potted palms, is a real find.

When tired of the bustle and the heat of the city, locals head to Lambic to sit under the century-old mango tree and sip one of their 144 international beers. Located in an old colonial house with whitewashed walls, this gastropub and craft beer spot has a vintage setting, but the cuisine makes the best of fresh and local products, cooked using some of the beers found in the shop. The fish and the mussels are often flavored with the Hoegaarden wheat beer. Ask your waiter about beer pairings with the entrees.

With stunning vistas of Le Morne, the Black River Gorges, and a string of beaches, this attractive spot is where you come for food with a view. The indoor-outdoor restaurant is perched on a wooded hill and has a thatched roof and a verandah suspended over the valley. Named after the nearby village of some 700 people, Le Chamarel is the ideal lunch stop when exploring the beautiful southwestern corner of Mauritius. Dishes include such island specialties as salmi de cerf (venison casserole) and octopus curry, and more traditional French fare like filet de boeuf sace poivre (beet fillet with pepper sauce). The dessert menu includes caramelized bananas, chocolate mousse, and coconut flan.

Le Courtyard has transformed a colonial building with its rusty-looking brick façade into the capital’s trendiest address. Set in a small interior courtyard, the charming eatery often attracts local high-profile politicians, businessmen, and foreign ambassadors looking for sophisticated French cuisine and discretion while seated among the palms, ferns, and other tropical plants. Most of the time, these people go back to work only after they've eaten the restaurant's renowned home-made fruit sorbet. The staff here is always helpful and quite efficient.

Between the mountains and the sea, Le Dix Neuf Restaurant is a real treat for golfers and non-golfers alike. This exquisite setting and the delicate Mauritian cuisine ensure a great dining experience. Make sure to try the Creole sausage, the local fish curry, or the famous citronella flavored crème brulée. Overlooking Tamarina Golf Estate's 18-hole golf course, the restaurant offers a casual and relaxing atmosphere where socializing is made easy.

Seafood lovers gather in this trendy little gem facing the ocean just outside of Grand Baie. Casual during the day, the place gets a little dressy in the evenings. The menu included mouth-watering chicken, calamari, and a wide variety of local fish. Portions tend to be generous and the staff friendly and helpful. Seated feet away from the white sand, clients appreciate the sound of the waves crashing of the shore while sipping on mojitos, the house specialty, and wine.

Opposite the botanic gardens (officially the Sir Seewoosagur Botanic Gardens, named after the country's first prime minister), this quirky eatery is the spot for lunch after a morning viewing giant water lilies and exotic plants. The interior is a knockout, with a huge petrified litchi tree as the centerpiece. Decor is eclectic, with many of the fittings and ornaments made from recycled materials purchased from the nearby Handicraft Artisan souvenir shop and workshop. Authentic Creole curries and Chinese dishes share the menu with light snacks, such as toasted sandwiches and paninis. Try the Mauritian fish curry with eggplant, the prawn curry, or an array of vegetarian curries. As the restaurant name suggests, this spice paradise is all about blending the island's flavors with the choicest ingredients—and at very affordable prices.

Here's a chance to dine in a wonderful old colonial home, once the residence of sugarcane plantation owners. Built in 1819 from the timber of demolished ships, the house was taken apart by its owners in 1970 who moved it, bit by bit, a few hundred meters away from the noisy mill. It was lavishly restored in the 1990s, and today it's a lovely restaurant with a wide verandah, resplendent with black and white tiles and white wicker furniture, and interior rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, serving authentic cuisine using local farm produce. Forming part of a greater complex containing a boutique hotel, vanilla and rum distilleries, and a working tea plantation, the restaurant is a relaxing place to dine after walking around the grounds and gardens. Favorite dishes include smoked-marlin salad, and Creole chicken flavored with vanilla and spices. For dessert there are tempting sorbets in many flavors. The complex is just north of Souillac on the island's south coast.

No one knows meat like South Africans, and owner-chef Gerard Samouilhan proves it every day at Medium Rare Steakhouse. The restaurant offers a variety of steaks, from sirloin to ribs, cooked to perfection with your choice of sauces, including garlic, mushroom and onion, and blue-cheese, among others. French fries and onion rings are crowd-pleasers, and their burgers are outstanding. It’s no surprise that the place gets very crowded at lunchtime. Friendly service and great value make this a spot well worth a stop. The pleasing venue also displays works of arts for sale.

This French brasserie in the La Croisette Shopping Mall is often packed with locals and travelers fueling up before shopping sprees among the fifty outlet stores. Popular because of great starters, generous grill items, and a fresh seafood selection, Wine Connection also offers eclectic dishes such as deer in a house honey sauce. The in-house sommelier does a great job advising diners on wine pairings, and the staff provides good service and is knowledgeable about the menu.