What food should you try in Mauritius? What is the most common food sold in local restaurants?

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Mauritian cuisine

Mauritians simply love food, they eat all day and they also love to talk about food. You can put a smile on their face if you try some of their traditional dishes.

Typical Mauritian specialties

Mauritian cuisine is heavily influenced by Indian cuisine, as the majority of the population is of Indian origin. So expect very spicy and hot dishes with chilli being ubiquitous.

However, the dishes do have a Creole flavour, especially in the case of rice dishes.

Mauritius also has a large Chinese minority, so expect Chinese bistros with fried rice, noodles and spring rolls.

Although we are on an island, locals mostly eat chicken, not fish or seafood. The reasons are not only religious (Muslims shouldn't eat pork, Hindus shouldn't eat beef) but mainly economic, as poultry is the cheapest.

Main dishes

Bol renversé - a typical dish of Creole cuisine accurately translated as "upside down bowl". It is a mixture of rice, chicken and then choi put into a bowl that is turned upside down on the plate.

Briani - Mauritian version of the traditional Indian biryani, which is chicken or lamb with fried rice (sometimes potatoes) and yoghurt. The most common spice is coriander or saffron.

Rougaille - a very spicy (sometimes hot) tomato sauce with any kind of meat usually served with rice. One of the typical Creole dishes.

Mine Fritte - fried noodles, very similar to what you know from Asian cuisine, for example from Thailand or Malaysia.

Boulettes - boiled dumplings filled with various meats, vegetables or shrimps.

Fish vindaye - spicy fish flavoured with curry.

Savoury pancakes - pancakes of all kinds are very popular in Mauritius, and savoury pancakes filled with meat, cheese or Indian sauces are often eaten as a main dish.

Curry - a typical Indian dish of any kind of meat with a very hot curry sauce is also widespread in Mauritius.

Small and fast street snacks

On the beach or in the markets you will often come across various stalls offering quick and very cheap local snacks. The most popular are:

Dholl puri - flatbread filled with typical Bengali chana dal or yellow lentil sauce.

Roti (sometimes referred to as farata) - a different type of pancake than dholl puri, it is firmer and crispier and is often filled with meat, unlike dholl puri.

Samosa - my favourite beach snack! A crispy triangle-shaped pastry filled with potatoes, vegetables, sauces, meat, cheese, prawns and fish. In short, anything!

Gato - a small crescent-shaped pastry filled with different kinds of savoury sauces, but sometimes also made as a sweet dessert.

Fruit - the markets and stalls sell great looking and tasting fruit at very reasonable prices. Apples and pears are the most popular.

Fast-food

You will only find large western fast-food outlets like McDonald's or KFC in the biggest cities or at the airport.

However, local fast-food joints are very common on the beaches, where you can most often buy burgers, fries or chicken.

Sweets

Mauritians don't have any downright typical local sweets.

The most common are various sweet pastries, muffins, gato and French desserts are very popular.

Drinks

Locals prefer to buy lemonades of well-known brands such as Coca-Cola, Fanta or Sprite.

Interestingly, apart from Coca-Cola Zero, you won't find any sugar-free sugary drinks in the shops.

The following drinks could be described as typically local:

Alouda - a sweet, creamy soft drink made of milk, vanilla, gelatin, water and often served with ice cream.

Mauritian rum - rum is distilled in several places on the island and is one of the leading alcoholic products.

Phoenix beer - the most famous brand of beer in Mauritius.

Coconut water - coconuts are sold on every beach and their water/milk is one of the most refreshing things you can have on a hot summer day.

How to eat like a local

Street vendors selling food straight from their scooters and vans and small tin stalls selling traditional dishes are gradually disappearing at the expense of brick-and-mortar shops and restaurants and, of course, fast food chains, but you'll still find plenty of them around the island.

On the beaches in particular, small stalls are still very common and even in busy tourist spots like Flic en Flac or Trou-aux-Biches, street food is very cheap.

Get in line with the locals and try a roti pancake, small fried samosa treats or a fresh sliced pineapple. Prices are more than reasonable and freshness is guaranteed.

On weekends, locals head out in droves for picnics on the beaches, often bringing along homemade goodies to sell at makeshift stalls.

For example, I had a great meal like this a few hours before my flight on Le Bouchon beach.

Usual prices in restaurants

There are plenty of restaurants in tourist areas offering not only traditional local dishes, but of course international cuisine: Italian, French, Japanese (sushi) and many more.

In the more expensive restaurants aimed at tourists, expect a meal with drinks and coffee with prices around 400 mur.

On the other hand, local bistros on the beach or in markets offer main dishes such as bol renversé or mine frite from 120 mur.

Small pastries like samosa, roti or dholl puri cost between 15 mur and 20 mur.

A detailed breakdown of prices, not just food, is given in the Money and Prices chapter.