Mahé, Seychelles Hotels and City Guide

Mahé - Eating Out

Local Cuisine and Customs

Kreol cuisine is a compôte of Indian, Chinese, French and African tastes. Based on local fruits de mer, coconuts, breadfruit, mangoes, chillies and spices, it is delicious, varied and healthy, every ingredient fresh. The enormous round green fruit of the breadfruit tree grows in every garden. Eat it in the form of chips, mash, baked or in a pudding, to ensure you return to Seychelles.

Octopus curry (zourit) cooked in coconut milk is the national dish, while favourite fish are red snapper (bourzwa), kordonnyen, and karang. Most dishes are served with rice, a staple. Crayfish and prawns, smoked sailfish, mackerel, tuna and parrotfish are on most menus, as are fish, clam and Indian lentil soups. But there is more to Kreol cuisine than seafood. Suckling pig is served with saffron rice and a delicious salad of onions, oranges and spices. If you are feeling adventurous, try fruit bat for something completely different.

There are many salad dishes incorporating breadfruit, aubergine, avocado and various tropical fruits mixed with onions and black pepper to suit vegetarian tastes. An expensive dish is Millionaire’s Salad, so named as it is the heart of the palm which necessitates the whole tree being cut down.

Desserts mostly consist of fruit such as small caramellised bananas, wild strawberries, pineapple, papaya, coconut cream, custard apples and more.

Seybrew and Ecu are the local lagers. Coco d’Amour is a Seychelles liqueur served in a bottle shaped like the coco de mer nut. Coconut juice is a staple and a good pick-me-up when needed. Citronella tea is refreshing.

Tipping Advice

A service charge is normally included in restaurant and hotel bills, so tips are not expected. If you have received excellent service, a 10% tip would always be appreciated.

Hotels in Mahé, Seychelles