Hippocampe - Flic en Flac, Mauritius

I'm back in KL for Christmas and New Year! Woo hoo! Main purpose, of course, is to eat eat eat. And then eat some more! In the meantime, though, I've got a bunch of backlogged restaurants from Mauritius that I haven't blogged on yet. Figure I'd better clear them off before I totally forget about them, ha ha.

So well, the darling and I took a trip to Hippocampe over at Flic en Flac for dinner. And not just any dinner, if memory serves me correctly, it was my birthday dinner, hehe. (die la ... barely one month ago and I can't remember clearly already). According to TripAdvisor this is the second best restaurant in Flic en Flac (only losing out to the wonderful Domaine Anna), so we came with high expectations.


Like all good restaurants, we're served with assorted bread, and some plain salted butter. The bread has been warmed up, which is a pretty nice touch.


For starters we share the assorted samosas. They come on a plate of three assorted ones. Two of them were delicius with a nice combination of meat, veg and spices, but the third was a bit weird - had a kind of mustardy taste, which didn't suit my taste buds at all.


We also shared the deep fried chili salt squid. These weren't too bad either, nicely battered, and tasted extremely similar to those Taiwanese-style salt-and-pepper deep fried meats. Squid itself was also fresh and tender.


Unfortunately the main courses went a little downhill. My Lamb Daube (lamb stew, basically) was kind of nice, but nothing special. The dish had a rather strong tomato-ey flavor, and the lamb meat itself was a tad bit on the tough side.


The darling's gourmet burger was even worse. Other than the slightly eccentric choice of ingredients (a slice of radish? and no cheese?), the patty itself was bland and dry, despite being requested medium. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I'd rather have a Big Mac over eating this burger again.


Forgot to keep the receipt, or jot down the prices, haha ... =[ ... but I do recall they were somewhat high-moderate. Shame then, that the mains were a bit of a let down - because the service and appetizers were great. I hear that the desserts are to die for - if you're willing to give it a shot, Hippocampe is just behind the SPAR supermarket in Flic en Flac.

L'Atelier Dumont - Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius.

The place where I'm currently stationed in Mauritius is in Cybercity, in a small township called Ebene. It's kind of like a mini version of Cyberjaya, in that it's all office buildings and nothing else, so food is a big problem - from the building I'm in, I've got a grand total of 2 options for lunch: a cafeteria in another building (10 minute walk), and a food court in a commercial centre (20 minute walk).

So I was pretty surprised when I found out about L'Atelier Dumont, which is a pretty fancy dining restaurant also in CyberCity. It's newly-opened; presumably to cater for all the CEOs in the companies stationed here to entertain guests.


Initial impressions are that it's cozy and nicely decorated - which is perhaps a bit out of place from its' surroundings.


I also have to say that outdoor/open air dining in Mauritius is much more enjoyable in Mauritius, thanks to the weather - it's never higher than 25deg at night.


Starting off with the complementary breads, we're again a tad bit disappointed. Perhaps we've been spoiled by the bread we get from restaurants back in KL, but there's nothing interesting about the rolls we have here. Even the butter is hard, and difficult to spread.


Starter - Heart of Palm salad with Shrimp in Wasabi Mayonnaise (Rs 320). A nice touch is that the waitress pre-split a single helping into two plates for both myself and the darling because we were sharing. A nice touch that all restaurants should adopt.

Never heard of heart of palm? Me neither. According to wikipedia it's expensive and an 'upper-class' kind of food, though to be honest I didn't quite enjoy its' taste/texture.


On the (very polite) waitress'es recommendation I try the Tuna Steak with mashed potatoes (Rs 660). The steak is awesome, perfectly seasoned and cooked. Mashed potatoes were of the chunky rather than creamy variety, and the addition of mint leaves gave it quite an interesting taste.


The darling has Leg of Lamb (Rs 590), with grilled vegetables. Again, great tasting dish - with a tasty peppery gravy that complements the lamb well. Sadly the vegetables were a bit of a miss, due in part to the fact that neither of us eat brinjal/zucchini, hehe.


After two cokes (75 Rs each) and 15% VAT, the bill came up to 1,970 Rs (RM 203.90). All things considered I think it was a bit on the pricey side - especially after factoring in tips (as there is no service charge on the bill).

L'Atelier Dumont is located on the lowest floor of 1 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius. Reservations are probably not needed as there aren't that many people there.

La Rougaille Creole - Grand Baie, Mauritius

Continuing my Mauritius journey, the darling and I, after an hour-long search in vain for another restaurant, find ourselves seated in La Rougaille Creole in Grand Baie (north-west corner of the island). It's a pretty cozy restaurant by the roadside, with an extremely friendly waiter.


Appetizer (free) is some sort of deep-fried eggplant, served with a chili dip. The chili is delicious, has a very unique taste to it - but it's also pretty hot. Shame that neither of us are big eggplant fans, though.


We open up with Seafood Gratin, which is chunks of calamari, octopus, fish and prawn in a thick cream-based sauce, topped off with biscuit crumbs. Heavenly!


For mains, we restrict ourselves to the "Creole" section of the menu, of which I pick out Beef Curry. It's a bit of a disappointment - while the curry is spicy (flavorful), it is also not at all spicy (hot). I'm not a chili fanatic, but I prefer my curries to have some "kick" to them. Beef was a bit tough, too.


The darling's Calamari in Creole sauce was similarly unimpressive. Hardly tasted any different from just a tomato sauce. Calamari itself was nice and fresh, though.


Unfortunately we come away rather disappointed. Seeing as Grand Baie is essentially a tourist area, it's possible the cooking wasn't authentic Mauritian Creole cuisine. That, and the somewhat expensive price - lunch for the two of us was about a thousand rupees - about rm100.

Photo Spam: Mauritius Diary (Post #3, Day 20)

Third Photo Spam post in my Mauritius series! We start off with the West Coast of the island, at a beach named Flic en Flac. It's a Rs24, 45 minute bus journey from the township of Quatre Bornes.


What I like best about this beach is that it isn't commercialized yet. It's not like Phuket's beaches where every 5 minutes you're accosted by someone trying to get you to ride their jet skis.


The wind is also cool and refreshing. None of that 'sticky' and 'salty' feeling you get at tropical beaches. Click here for the bigger version of this pic.


I'm here on a Sunday and it's really quiet.


Managed to catch a glimpse of an Indian wedding.


Restaurants are nicely decorated - I decide to eat my lunch here.


This dish is called magic bowl (I kid you not). Nothing magic about it, it's just rice, egg, and some chicken.


Coming back to food from the city, I don't know what this is called, but it's dumplings in soup. Vegetable dumplings. If you can imagine taking siew mai wrappers, stuffing them with chinese cabbage, and then boiling them in soup ... that's what it tastes like.


Snack shop opposite the apartment I stay in.


Here's the chicken tandoori. It's wet and rather tasteless, nothing like the tandoori I'm used to and was expecting.


That's the last photo in this series - will post my Nairobi Safari pics next!

Photo Spam: Mauritius Diary (Post #2, Day 4)

Continuing my previous series for my Mauritius trip! Starting off with the Sunday market in Quatre Bornes. Not unlike Petaling Street, but 90% of the things sold here are clothes and food.


Speaking of food, I go for 'special briyani' from one of the dozens of stalls selling ... briyani.


It's a huge mound of savory rice (not as 'strong-tasting' as indian briyani), with a big potato and chicken drumstick buried somewhere inside. Delicious, and at 80Rs or so, not too pricey either.


Can't say the same about the Curry Chicken with Rice I had at the Food Court at Ebene Way. Lots and lots of rice, but the curry wasn't spicy at all and tasted closer to tomato sauce chicken than curry.


Not sure how accurate it is, but this pizza chain advertises itself as Mauritius' best pizza.


I try the Cheesy Double Salami. The pizza itself is pretty good, but pricey as heck. 179Rs for a personal pizza (19cm diameter).


Finishing off the post with something cultural. Colleague in the office's son just took his first Holy Communion - and these 'gifts packs' were passed out to everyone in the office (and I assume everyone at the church, too). Commemorative gifts! I don't even remember when I took my first communion.


Won't have any more updates til next week; weekdays are pretty much work only, with the weekends for exploring. Also I'll be in Kenya the whole of next week. Still undecided if I should lug along my camera ... hmmm.

Photo Spam: Mauritius Diary (Post #1, Day 2)

Photo Spam time! Just some random shots about my working trip to Mauritius! It's only my second day here so I haven't actually gone to any touristy-type places, but anyway we start off with a fountain. In the Dubai airport. And you thought KLIA was cool :)


There's another big manmade pond/garden there too:


So anyway I'm staying at a small residential township area named Quatre Bornes, in a rented apartment. Office is in Ebene City, about 10 minutes' drive away. The 'commercial' area of Quatre Bornes is quite quiet, if I'm honest.


Lots of cars, though.


And since this is supposed to be a food blog, here's some Kebab shop named Shabaan Snacks.


Chicken, Shredded cabbage, some kind of vegetable, and 3 sauces in a Baguette. Doesn't look like much but tasted great - 75Rs I think.


Random musing: I've seen Proton Waja's, Wira's and Perodua Kelisa's, all the way here in the African continent! Don't know whether to have the 'Malaysia Boleh' spirit, or to feel bad for the sorry sods who bought Protons over Hondas or Toyotas. Oh, random wall.


Saw lots of sugar cane fields on the road from the airport.


Distant mountains ...


Don't know what building this was, but it looked nice. Couldn't get a good angle cos the security guard chased me away after this shot :(


Same buildings.


Some important building. Houses one of the government ministries if I'm not mistaken.


Things here are expensive! Food is okay, but groceries and household goods are pricey. I bought a smallish tube of Johnson's & Johnson's facial wash/scrub for 270Rs T_T (usd1 = 29.9Rs, myr1 = 9.69Rs)


Day 2 thoughts: I thought the entire continent of Africa was supposed to be dry, hot, and humid, but it's been pretty damn cold these 2 days. Like Genting Highlands cold, brrr. Read Wikipedia if you want actual facts about Mauritius.