15 Best Things to Eat and Drink in Mauritius

15 Best things to eat & drink while in Mauritius

Mauritius has an incredibly rich and diverse food culture, influenced by Indian, Chinese, Creole, and European flavors it has the best to offer in terms of delicacies. Street food is fantastic in Mauritius. You can find everything from fresh coconut water, chopped fruit covered in chili and tamarind marmalade, hot curries topped with a chill, pickles wrapped in buttery bread, and Chinese fried noodles.

Mauritius also has fabulous restaurants to propose some delicious and unique dishes all throughout the island. Don’t stay in your resort when you visit Mauritius go out and explore the island and the amazing Mauritian cuisine. So here are the 15 best things to eat and drink and not to be missed when visiting Mauritius.

1. Mauritian Dholl Puri

If Mauritius had a national dish, this would probably be it. You can easily find the roti or dholl puri vendors in every street food corner or snack shop all over Mauritius. This Indian pancake-style flatbread is stuffed with cooked yellow split peas, and served in a pair with bean curry, “achard” (pickle) and chutney.

2. Victoria pineapples

The island is also blessed with fertile soil, so the local produce is incredible – from super-sized vegetables to sweet fruits such as the Victoria pineapples. Mauritian pineapples are sweeter and more delicious than South African ones. There are pineapple sellers who cruise the beaches, ready to cut pineapples into easy-to-hold (and eat) treats. This is not to be missed after a good swim.

3. Mauritian Curries

With a strong Indian influence in its food, how can Mauritius not have great curry? In addition to the traditional Indian curries, there are the tomato-based Creole curries and more. However, all these curries have the same base of garlic, onion, fresh curry leaves, and turmeric. These curries can be savored with rice, bread (farata and roti), lentils, chutneys, and pickles.

4. Gajaks

Gajak are Mauritian snacks, generally of the deep-fried variety. You’ll find them being sold from glass boxes on the back of motorbikes and food stalls near markets, beaches and on the side of the road. You can also taste the exquisite “Gato Arouille” (Taro cakes) and other delices like “Pain frire” (Fried bread cakes), Samoussas- Triangular shaped cakes stuffed with potato curry or cheese and much more.

5. Alouda

Alouda is a sweet milky beverage with tapioca balls, flavored with syrup . It can be bought at the foodcourt of any marketplace. Basil seeds is one of the more important ingredients required for making the Mauritian Alouda. Jelly made out of agar is also added for texture and sometimes you get an ice cream ball with the mixture, making it irresistible. According to locals, the best place to find Alouda is in the Port Louis food market.

6. Dim-sum

Thanks to the fair share of Sino-Mauritians (people of Mauritius who trace their ancestry from China) in the country, Mauritius has delicious Cantonese food. Here you’ll find typical Cantonese dim sum with Mauritian touches, such as shrimp and taro dumplings. The Mauritian version of dumplings, boulettes are steamed balls made out of meat, chicken, tofu, shrimps, or vegetables which are served in a clear stock garnished with fresh chives.

7. Seafood

Any way you want it: baked, grilled, fried, sauteed. Mauritius has incredible seafood. Seafood makes up for a large chunk of the Mauritius food. The best seafood dishes range from local fish Capitaine and crab soup to calamari and lobsters.

8. Mine Frites

Another popular street food of Mauritius that has been derived from Chinese cuisine is Mine Frites ( Fried noodles). This is a simple, yet tasty, a dish of soy-sauce-fried noodles topped with spring onions and chili. The best place to eat ‘mine frire‘ is, unsurprisingly in Chinatown, at a street stall.

9. Briani

A favourite Mauritian dish: briyani (briani) will conquer more than one. Similar to Indian briyani, it’s a rice dish made with beef, chicken, fish, mutton or vegetables. The flavourful briyani is very well known to the Muslim community in Mauritius who specializes in it.

10. Coconut Water

Mauritius is full of coconut trees, and obviously you can’t leave the island without drinking the refreshing coconut water. Like the pineapples, the best place to find coconuts is on the beach. After drinking it you can ask your vendor to cut it into half so that you can eat the white flesh.

11. Local Beer

The local beer of Mauritius – Phoenix Beer – is an award-winning lager named after the town where it is produced. And it goes well with pretty much anything you’ll eat on the island. Acclaimed for its high quality, Phoenix beer remains one of the must-taste of the island.

12. Rum

Since the island is a producer of sugar, cane liquor is locally produced. You can always enjoy some chilled rum, flavoured with fruits such lychee, mango, passionfruit, and pineapple. Surely a delicious cocktail you can never miss. You can find them at different spots on the island like at Rhumerie Des Mascareignes or Rhumerie de Chamarel.

13. Indian Sweets

And whether it is India or Mauritius, the Indian sweets are there for the sweet-toothed tourists. They are sugary, buttery, and delicious. The best place to find them is at the Bombay Sweets Mart in Port Louis (where the helpful shop assistants will let you taste several of their 30 different types of mithai to see which ones you like best).

14. Vanilla Tea

Visit the deliciously-fragranced Vanilla House in St Aubin and learn how vanilla is grown, take a look at the vanilla plants in the garden, and then feast on chicken cooked in vanilla and vanilla creme brulee in the restaurant, on the veranda of the gorgeous old sugar plantation mansion. And it is the only place where you can buy Mauritian-grown vanilla.

15. Sugar

Don’t be surprised to find Sugar in the list of the best dishes from the Mauritian cuisine. The island’s economy has diversified now, but sugar is still the main export, as the vast fields of sugar cane covering the island will attest to. You may visit L’Aventure du Sucre – a sugar museum that offers sugar tasting for over 9 variants of sugar.