Where to eat around Grand Baie and Mont Choisy

Mauritian food is Indian, Chinese, Creole and French at the same table. The dishes to know: rougaille, a tomato, onion and chilli sauce served with sausages, fish or salted fish; cari, the local curry, with chicken, octopus or venison; vindaye, fish or octopus marinated in mustard, turmeric and vinegar; mine frit, fried noodles from the Chinese kitchens; bol renversé, rice, meat and a fried egg turned out of a bowl. Palm heart salad, called millionaire's salad, and smoked marlin are the starters to order by the sea. Dholl puri and gateaux piments are the street food. Phoenix is the beer; the rums of Chamarel and Labourdonnais finish the meal.

The waterfront of Grand Baie, ten minutes from the villa, has a line of restaurants with tables over the bay. Le Capitaine has been the seafood address for decades: grilled lobster, prawns and the catch of the day, with the boats in front of you. Cocoloko, in the centre, is the lively one, open from breakfast to late, with pizzas, salads and cocktails in a garden. Luigi's is the Italian the expatriates fill on Friday nights. Sunset Boulevard and La Croisette have cafés and more casual places for lunch between shops. Book the waterfront tables for Friday and Saturday evening.

Five minutes south, Trou aux Biches has the fine dining of the north. Le Pescatore sits on the beach and has been the special-occasion restaurant for years, with a seafood menu and a wine list to match; book ahead and ask for a table at the front at sunset. Along the coast road there are smaller places doing excellent fish at half the price, with plastic chairs and a view just as good. Fish is bought from the boats at Trou aux Biches in the morning if you want to cook at the villa.

Pereybere, ten minutes north, has a cluster of restaurants around the cove. Wang Thai is the Thai restaurant the whole north drives to; Café Müller does breakfasts and lunches in a garden; the places along the beach road grill fish and serve rougaille at local prices. Towards Cap Malheureux and Grand Gaube the restaurants are fewer and more local, and the fishermen's catch is on the plate the same day.

The best lunch for a hundred rupees is a dholl puri from a stall, folded around butter bean curry, chilli and pickles. The roadside snack sellers at Mont Choisy and Trou aux Biches beaches have gateaux piments, samosas and pineapple with chilli salt. In the villages between the villa and Goodlands, small Chinese restaurants serve mine frit and bol renversé to families on Sunday, and Indian places serve biryani on Friday. Nobody minds a visitor at the next table.

The kitchen has everything for a proper dinner, and the alfresco by the pool is the best table in the area. Super U in Grand Baie has French cheeses, wine and bread; the Goodlands market on Tuesday and Friday has the fruit, vegetables and fish; a private chef can come for an evening with a Mauritian or a European menu, and we put you in touch. The wine cellar in the basement keeps what you buy at the right temperature. Guests tend to go out three or four nights and eat at home the rest, which is the right balance.