Where to [and NOT to] EAT
- katlynsaley
- Jan 2, 2018
- 3 min read
Mozambique Island comes with the luxury of being able to eat fresh seafood for every meal. During our week-long stay we ate at a lot of different restaurants, some local and others mainly for tourists. Overall we really enjoyed the food we ate and were impressed by the number of places to eat on the relatively small island. Find quick reviews with our experiences below.
Ancora d'Ouro was definitely one of our favorite places to eat. The first real meal I had on the island was Ancora d'Ouro's lobster and from then on I only wanted to eat at this restaurant. We ate here multiple times during our trip - including our Christmas dinner - and each time it was delicious. Prices were reasonable and the quality of food was excellent!
Rickshaws was another restaurant we really enjoyed. With afternoon tea and crape specials, good pizza, an amazing view of sunset, and friendly staff we ate at this place more than just once. We also had the chance of meeting the owner - originally from Denver, Colorado - who has lived in Mozambique for more than 14 years. Being able to chat with him about his experience and the time and energy put into renovating Rickshaws was very inspiring and had the 4 of us thinking maybe we should open a little place on Mozambique Island.
Restaurante Reliquias was a restaurant that we would not eat at again. Maybe it was just the meals we ordered or a bad day for fishing, but overall the food was not impressive for the price we paid. Especially when compared to all of the other amazing places we ate at, this place was not our favorite.
Sara's Place was one of the last restaurants we found during our trip, but if we would have found it sooner we would have eaten here again. As one of the most popular local restaurants on the island, Sara's Place was recommended to us by Omar (the man managing our AirBNB). The food here was great and the price was much cheaper than any of the other restaurants we ate at. We would definitely recommend checking this place out for a quick bite to eat!
Restaurant O Feitor was the highest-end restaurant we ate at on the Island, but we wanted the experience and the food was pretty good. Personally I think the other restaurants we ate at were just as good, but the views from the outside seating area were beautiful. The service was fast, and the waiters were great. We would recommend getting the Seafood Platter - we split it between 3 of us and it was plenty of food.
Escondidinho was a restaurant we were invited to by a group of people also staying at our AirBNB. We all went as a big group (probably around 15 of us) for dinner one night, and we were not impressed. Knowing that this building was used to hold slaves during the slave trade gave the place a weird feel before we even arrived, but not wanting to decline the invitation we still joined for dinner. After being there for 20 minutes and not even receiving a drink we knew this was a mistake. The food we ordered was just marginal and was more pricey than the other, much better restaurants. Also, when trying to leave the bill was a nightmare (which I do understand probably had something to do with the amount of people, but still). Overall, we would not recommend.
Another local place we ate at was this little place on the northern end of the island. I'm not sure if it had an official name, but it doesn't matter because the food was good, ready to go, and cheap. At this location there were many women cooking lunch - fish, lobster, squid, rice, etc. - and many locals stopping to get a bite to eat. There aren't any menus, the women speak Portuguese, and they only have a few tables, but if you go at lunch time you are likely to leave with your belly full!
The last meal I'd like to mention is the breakfast that was served daily at our AirBNB - Casa do Gabriel Guesthouse. Included in the price of our room, we were served warm bread rolls, an egg cooked to our liking, different types of fresh fruit, mango juice, and coffee or tea. We ate on the roof with a beautiful view overlooking the water. What a great way to start the day!!
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