Good Food hat 15.5 / 20 How we score Mauritian $$ $$ New restaurants can be fun and exciting, but if you really want to be carried along by a dining experience, find yourself an eatery that’s just turned three. The kinks have been ironed out and the owners have shrugged off the overreach and imposter syndrome of the early months.
Neighbourhood regulars have smoothed any rough edges, just as their derrieres have polished the chairs. Team members who didn’t quite belong have moved on and the remainder can easily help new recruits settle into a system and rhythm. Three is still young and energetic, but innovation springs from an assured base.
There’s nothing as enjoyable as a restaurant that knows exactly who it is and what it’s trying to do, and that’s Manze now, sitting in the sweet spot. What’s it like to dive into a meal here? Maybe you’re on one of 24 seats inside, where the cosy room feels like an arty bowerbird lounge. Pickle jars and wine bottles line the walls like cheery sentinels, local flowers and sturdy pot plants connect soil and table, a jumble of cookbooks seems to celebrate the international family of happy cooks – we’re part of something.
Perhaps there’s cruisy dub music playing as a nip of pineapple rhum lands before you, the same music sound-waving through an arched hatch to the small kitchen, where there’s a gentle sizzle of octopus over charcoal (you’ll get those tentacles later, with watercress soup and rice). Or maybe you’re sitt.
