Location: Chamarel
Top Restaurants in Chamarel
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Chamarel Food Guide: 10 Must-Eat Restaurants & Street Food Stalls in Chamarel
Chamarel is a village in Mauritius located in Rivière Noire District, the eastern part of the village also lies in the Savanne District. The village is administered by the Chamarel Village Council under the aegis of the Rivière Noire District Council.
Things to do in Chamarel
1. La Varangue sur Morne
Overall Ratings
4 based on 271 reviews
Reviewed By Kirsty S - Stotfold, United Kingdom
We ate here for lunch as part of a full day excursion. The lunch was a set meal with choices of chicken, fish or vegetarian option with rice, potatoes or salad.
Food was fantastic, I had Pumpkin & coconut soup, followed by Dorado with rice & salad, & a double chocolate mousse, fresh bread was bought to the table when we were seated. Service was great, views were amazing & food was excellent. We ate a late lunch in the restaurant so there were only 6 people & they left before us.
Great place to eat, I'd recommend to eat at lunchtime as you can appreciate the views before it's gets dark.
2. Le Palais de Barbizon
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 372 reviews
Reviewed By Howzit_CT - Geneva, Switzerland
Cosy little Mauritian restaurant. Pretty rough and ready and all the better for it. As per previous reviews, the staff and owner (I believe) are all super nice and helpful. The meal is fixed - fish and chicken + 5 vegetable dishes (dahl, potatoes, aubergine, butternut squash and jack fruit) and a healthy servicing of rice. This plus desert (banana in syrup, which was excellent) all for MUR 400 and change...I can't remember exactly, but in a touristy area very good value. Ohhhh, I think it also included a rum punch, but we decided to stick with wine :-)
The food was absolutely excellent - exactly what you would hope of local Mauritian home cooked cuisine. Definitely recommended, although it is very busy and there are quite a lot of tourists coming in by the small bus load.
3. Domaine du Cachet
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 26 reviews
Best Tasting Food in Chamarel.
Reviewed By royal618 - London, United Kingdom
It's the end of January, just before Chinese New Year. It's the end of lunchtime service, however, I'd suggest no one was here today. There was certianly no need to book.
On reviewing the drinks list, we were told that none of the wines on the list were available and were presented with an array of rose wines brought to the table. OK - "we'll have that one". It comes back warm, sunk into ice on a 28 degree day, and we're hoping it might cool in time to drink. Fingers crossed.
The wait staff were two different stories - one young woman, friendly, if a little shy, but willing to make everything right. The other woman smelled liked she hadn't had a shower for two days and her gruff attitude matched her odour - offensive.
Starters arrived, marlin carpaccio was actually smoked marlin as you'd buy it from the supermarket - actually it was as if it was purchased at the supermarket. It had a sugary sauce of sorts with pink peppercorn. The prawn and palm heart salad was dreary, just dull. Imagine a coleslaw without any flavour, seasoning, spice, herbs or anything - just a watery dish served with five small prawns on top. Cold salad, hot prawns. Hmm.. pretty average.
Then the mains came out. Giant prawns were giant, but these poor ocean crawlers had been kept on heat so long that they were mushy and just unpleasant. The creole sauce they were served in was a thin tomato based sauce that was utterly bland. Where was the spice? The calamari were listless and lacked any flavour. We ate a couple of mouthfuls and realised we'd made the trip to Chamarel for absolutely no reason. And the prices here were not cheap. The equivalent of £20 for a plate of three giant prawns wouldn't be out of place in London, but not here with an absolute amateur running the kitchen.
The young woman was aghast and hugely apologetic when we told her what we thought. She wanted to replace the food immediately to her credit, but we doubted that the cook (far from a chef) in the kitchen was able to render anything half decent so we declined. Same with the cocktails - we weren't interested in staying, as now it was well after 3pm and the potential of having a big lunch anywhere in the area was now declining so we declined the complimentary cocktail.
We found out that a new chef had been in place for two weeks. My suggestion, as I made on the day was that you need to find a chef who can cook. Prawns have to be one of the easiest things in the world to cook considering they tell you when they are done.
Also, if you are serving white or rose wine, have some kept in the fridge. Considering the heat you'd probably need to do something with the red wines as well!
4. Les Palmiers Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 108 reviews
Les Palmiers Chez Dev is a family run Table D'hote, serving Typical Mauritian Cuisine, in a typical Mauritian Atmosphere. Where possible, most fruits and vegetables served are home grown in our organic garden. Our Heart Of Palm Tree Salad (Salade Palmiste) is out of this world! Try also our delicious seafood, or our Dish of The Day (Plat du Jour) . If you are feeling adventurous, we can serve your food on banana leaves if you wish!
Reviewed By like2travl2004 - Knysna, South Africa
We discovered this restaurant on the main road through Chamarel on the way from a hike in the Black River Gorges NP. Our waiter Alain (who might as well have been the owner judged by how devoted and kindly he received us) came to the parking lot out front to greet and welcome us. The menu was explained to us, the service was very friendly and attentive, like in a family restaurant, and the food we had was by far the most delicious and flavourful food we had during our stay on the island! Lovingly prepared and decorated on a banana leaf. Both our chicken creole style and fish vindaya style were imcredibly tasty. Eaten by hand (which you don't have to) with the pancake-type flatbread served wrapped around it, it was even better!
Not to forget the heart of palm salad starter and banana flambé to round up a perfect lunch! Open until 5pm it seems, so great for late lunch too.
Great find - we can highly recommend it!
5. Saveur Tropical
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 21 reviews
Reviewed By Fifer_8 - Dunfermline, United Kingdom
We were brought here by our taxi driver who obviously had an agreement with the restaurant people. That said, the place is pleasant enough, staff friendly and food more than adequate. We ate outside at a table(s) big enough to accommodate all twelve of us. Service was efficient and we had no complaints about the quality or quantity of the food. I cannot comment on whether the general cost was reasonable as I didn't keep my bill but I do remember my wife had lobster which I felt was definitely overpriced for what she got.
6. L'Alchimiste
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 224 reviews
Reviewed By Boniface8th - Bedford, United Kingdom
We had a wonderful lunch here. I had the chicken and prawn curry, which was fragrant and moreish. My mother had pork in rum that simply melted and my father had a very good lamb shank.
The setting is wonderful on a lush, green hillside coming down out of the Black Rivier Gorge.
Go at once!
7. La Citronelle Bar-Restaurant
Overall Ratings
3 based on 142 reviews
Reviewed By hexaminer - Durham
Whilst staying at he hotel had many and varied meals in the restaurant. Everything of a high standard and whilst largely buffet style the chefs are at the stations ensuring everything is fresh and replenished . The waiting staff are attentive and professional. The bar is a great place for cocktail, aperitif and digestif . Evening entertainment a good way to end the day.
8. Chez Ruben Restaurant
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 119 reviews
Situated in the heart of the village of Chamarel with its typical atmosphere and its waterspout gushing with water, and some minutes from the seven Colored Earth, the new restaurant is well known for its food and services. The Chef offers you the know-how and the diversity of the local food. Our specialty is seafood cooked in our famous local ways. We serve typically Southern and Northern Indian food cooked by our two experienced cooks from India. We also have a beautiful porch which is very famous among our clients. All is situated in a natural garden with lots of flowers and a Fountain at the heart of the restaurant in a musical and natural environment. We also have a huge wedding hall that can cater for more than 400 persons. Having more than eighteen years experience in the restoration, we assure you a memorable lunch for you and your client. We hope to welcome you soon in our Restaurant. We are open for dinner under reservation for more than 30 persons with a special package. We also have a special package consisting a starter, main course, dessert and drink for MUR 800 per person.
9. Chez Pierre Paul
Overall Ratings
4 based on 22 reviews
Reviewed By Knetap - Upplands-Vasby, Sweden
We dropped by for lunch when passing. The place was crowded and we had to wait for a long time for the food. We ordered chicken and first of all most of it was skin and bones as most of the meat was removed. The seasoning was excellent but the meat was rare close to the bones. We sent the food back to the chef and a few minutes later we gave it another try. Now one out of two dishes was OK but one was still rare and the chef got it back another time. The coffee had the strangest taste ever. After a lot of discussions we came to the conclusion that it must have been around for some time and was bitter. To compensate for the bitter taste they probably put some sugar in it.
The only good thing I have to say about this place is that the bread was fresh and the staff was polite. Our experience is that the place only can survive due to the location close to a tourist attraction. Compared to similar places on the island the prices are very high. During our stay at Mauritius this was the most expensive lunch and by far the worst.
10. Restaurant The Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 279 reviews
Reviewed By MrsC40 - UK
The tuna steak was excellent as is every meal we had here.Great views and you can eat on the beach if you want to. Pay it a visit!
