Cuisine of Mamanuca Island for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

The cuisine of Fiji and the Mamanuca Archipelago is a combination of coconut, seafood, and various starchy root vegetables. But it is not so easy to find national cuisine today. Chinese, Pan-Asian, and European cuisine is served at resorts and hotels on the islands. Only a few resorts have traditional dishes on their menu. You should go to the remote islands of the archipelago to find exactly the national cuisine.

You should definitely taste dishes cooked in an earthen oven. Both the utensils and the method of cooking are called Lovo. In fact, these are vegetables, root vegetables, meat or fish baked in banana leaves. The cooking process is of interest to tourists. The hole is dug in the ground. It is laid out with stones. Ingredients wrapped in leaves are placed on the bottom. Coals are placed on top. Everything is covered with banana leaves. You get an unusual but very tasty dish after a certain time as a result. Cooking Lovo often turns into a kind of show for tourists. In addition to cooking, you are invited to listen to national music, watch and even participate in traditional dances and rituals. But you can also taste Lovo in some restaurants. For example, you can do this at the Flame Tree. It is located on the island of Malolo Lailai. This is the only island in the Mamanuca Archipelago where you will find restaurants that are not part of a hotel or resort.

In addition, you can taste well-cooked seafood at the Flame Tree restaurant. You will find a good bar with a large selection of cocktails and alcoholic beverages of Australian and European production very close. The restaurant is located on the territory of Lomani Island Resort. A feature of the Mamanuca is the fact that there are almost no restaurants outside the resorts. But you can get into many places even if you are not a guest of the hotel. You should call the place you like and check it out. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

It is recommended to visit the restaurant Dick's Place Bar & Bistro. It belongs to the resort of Musket Cove Resort & Marina Fiji. A special feature of the restaurant is that dishes made from vegetables grown on their own plantations are offered on the menu. The cuisine is quite diverse here.

Sundowner Pizza Bar is another place that deserves attention. It is located on Castaway Island. Amazing pizza is cooked in a real wood-fired oven here.

Local chefs always cook dishes using fresh ingredients, regardless of whether the restaurant offers Chinese, Indian or European cuisine. You can find something interesting even for the most fastidious guest here. Be sure to taste the native dishes. Kokoda is one of the most popular Fijian dishes. The fish is marinated in spices and lime juice to cook this dish. Pieces of unusually tender and slightly spicy fish fillet are obtained as a result.

You should taste a simple but unusual dish of palusami. It is the leaves of the plant colocasia, stewed in coconut milk. You should definitely order fish cooked over an open fire or fried seafood. Everything is cooked from the morning catch and abundantly flavored with spices. You should taste rourou. This is a kind of salad made from the leaves of the colocasia with a special sauce.

The rice is a side dish that is very common in Mamanuca thanks to the Chinese and Indians. It is used along with local varieties of potatoes: tapioca, cassava, and batata. You should definitely taste fish curry with rice. It is cooked from tuna most often. But you can also find options with seafood and other types of fish. Curry is already a national dish among modern islanders.

Local desserts are not very diverse. Therefore, it is recommended to order European sweets. You can buy cookies, candy, and chocolate in small shops in the resorts. You can taste the pudding made of rice or cassava (Vakalolo) of the traditional desserts. This dish appeared in Mamanuca during exploring the islands by the British. It is a local interpretation of the traditional English pudding. You should also taste cassava dessert. This is a tapioca puree mixed with coconut milk, sugar, and banana. It is baked or fried.

Be sure to order tropical fruit juices from drinks. There's not much local alcohol here. Imported wines and beer are offered in restaurants. It is recommended to try Fiji Bitter beer from local brands. It is of good quality and is quite inexpensive. Of course, you should definitely drink Kava (Yangon). This is a traditional drink. It is prepared from the root of the Yangon plant. There is no alcohol in it. But the feeling of alcohol intoxication occurs after its use due to a light relaxing effect.