Places to eat in Madagascar

Langouste, grilled to perfection, eaten outside
Le Cocoteraie is also the top hotel on the island.
We came here by boat from hotel Le Crique, along a wonderfully blue sea under blazing sun. After lunch we napped on the beach and found sea stars.

Favorite Dish: Langouste !

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Hotel Anita, located just outside of downtown, has pretty good food. Some fish, pasta, beef and pork, most items are grilled, some fried. A common item in Madagascar is a little meat stuffed pastry, fried, called a Sambo. If you go, dont forget to try them, they are very good.
Also, they have a ground up pepper sauce to put on your food. BE WARNED: these little peppers are by far the hottes thing I have ever eaten, and will take you by surprise, tread lightly!

Favorite Dish: The sambos Deep fried, spicey, bite size finger food, whats not to love. Also, the cooks are willing to make food " made to order".

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'La Brasserie' is a delightful looking restaurant inside the Hôtel de France. I saw the beautiful décor and smartly attired waiters one night and decided that I would eat here the night before I left on my travels across the island. I was greeted cheerfully and seated. Then I was served a wonderful looking and tasting Salade Niçoise (Pictured). This was followed by a beef dish (also pictured) and washed down with a good bottle of wine. Delightful. As soon as I returned to my hotel, I became violently sick. I have never been ill after a meal in Africa before or since. I was ill and at least had heartburn for almost a week afterwards. While I was on my tour, the guide told me he was aware of others who had become ill there. He said that they had changed management recently and things that things were imported frozen rather than be sourced locally and that standards had slipped. I suggest if you eat anywhere in Antananarivo –don’t eat here!

I'm going to go out on a limb and offer some generalities about the food when you are traveling for wildlife viewing in Madagascar. In some areas, you will have a very limited choice of restaurants, perhaps only one restaurant to choose from, and service can be very slow. Also, if you have a special dietary requirement, such as wheat allergies or low carb, you might strongly consider picking up some supplies, such as canned sardines in the Shoprite in Tana before you head out. I didn't see any low carb breakfast bars in Tana, not saying they don't exist, but I brought my own South Beach bars from home just in case. If it's really important to you to count your carbs, you should probably consider doing the same thing.

At times, the only choice of breakfast might be a classic Parisian breakfast of French bread, jam, butter, and coffee. If you can't eat wheat and didn't bring your own food, you might be in a pickle. However, there are numerous chickens running around, and there may be omelets available by request for your protein needs. Doesn't hurt to ask because, often enough, the answer was "yes."

In some parks, you cannot buy wine by the glass. You must buy the whole bottle. If I had it to do over, I would have liked to have had my wine-saver cork. In some areas, there is electricity only a couple of hours a day, so I chose a red wine so I wouldn't have to worry too much about keeping it cold. But another traveler with me ordered a white wine and they did offer to keep the bottle for her in the cooler, so it would be chilled at least somewhat for other meals.

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Was there a dish that could be qualified as our "national dish", ravitoto it would be. Still, romazava créole (leaves, zébu meat & ginger stock), voanjobory sy henakisoa (round pea & pork meat) could snatch this title to ravitoto. Malagasy style turkey (turkey & pork meat) also uses to be the classical main dish at a local wedding... but ravitoto is well, ravitoto.

So, what is all about ? Ground manioc (or cassava) leaves cooked with pork meat. The tender leaves are almost micronised, use to be ground in a mortar with a pilar. It is as delicious as... Nothing to compare to it. Especially when the oil in the pan has acquired this dark green colour by the cooking. We do not add oil to the dish, only the fat of the pork meat would cook & dampen it. A cook has succeeded this dish when one can see the "tar" or "goudron" as we use to name it... It is the darkened oil I talked about earlier.

Westerners have to get used to the fact that, when invited to ravitoto diner, they don't have to take all the fat to be polite. Even us who are used to the dish, use to leave the "tar" in the saucepan. The "tar" is a good indicator of a well-balanced ravitoto. Not dry & not too fat. It's too fat when the ravitoto is buried under litres of oil like I saw in Zairean cuisine. Still, it is quite common to "sift" the ravitoto while helping a serving. Don't ask for a sift (of course, not). Use the service spoon, grab a quantity of ravitoto. Incline the spoon against the saucepan to let the oil sink.

Picture #2, not enough goudron in the dish. A meager ravitoto is not a Malagasy dish. Neither is it the African sakasaka that is buried under liters of oil...

Wine ? I know a Gato Negro red suits many Malagasy dishes. Have Cab, not Merlot, in this case. I think it is perfect accompanying ravitoto. Now, would your restaurant suggest Gato Negro ? That's another story.

Favorite Dish: In restaurants in the Highlands (Tana, Antsirabe & very probably Fiannarantsoa), ravitoto is served with dry rice. Could there be a tomato-onion relish to dampen the dry rice as even with the tar, the dish is a bit dry...

In many coastal regions (if not all), they add coconut milk to the dish...

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Below are some restaurants & other eateries addresses along RN7 or the so-called Le Grand Sud route (the Big South). You may need this list if you travel on your own (or with a driver but on self-imposed schedule) & do not intend to eat at streetstalls with their share of health hazards risks.

1/ Halfway between Tana & Antsirabe, you could make a halt at Ambatolampy to dine on frogs (panés with garlic) & snails à la provençale (butter, parlsey, garlic) at Au rendez-vous des pêcheurs. Dessert, have their cornet crème. Delicious! Just be warned that as it relates more to a autogrill, there wouldn't be that many dishes to choose from. The cold cuts & crudités starter is quite generous. Ambatolampy is also the place where to shop for aluminium items or visit aluminium kettles workshops.

2/ Many times we passed through Ihazoala, some 84km southward Tana, and noticed this sign claiming to serve paella, pizza..etc.. but the first time we only got there was Dec. 2006 (Jan. 2007 for me). Knowing how easy Malagasy could claim to serve something by just cooking something similar (ignoring the authentic cooking technique and/or minus many main ingredients), by adding chemical stock and calling it a “paella” … or whatever freign dish… , we looked over Iskurna. Yet, we’ve never forgotten this world: “paella", we eventually gave it a try. And glad we were to meet up with the Spanish owner and his wife! Very hospitable persons. Iskurna is the first place I personally know to claim (and really serve!) Spanish specialities. Paella was the main reason for our trip. Yet, their river gambas “a la plancha” were simply scrumptious. Decent crème brûlée. The Spanish wine we had that day was correct. I guess there will be many more trips of this type to Ihazoala. It’s just located some 15 min. from Ambatolampy so it could be your lunch spot if you happen to leave Tana or Antsirabe a tad late (10-11am for instance).

Favorite Dish: 3/ In Antsirabe, AROTEL les Agapes restaurant is good (French cuisine). Use to dine there when in town. You could try NY Avo restaurant as well. Serves Malagasy cuisine & is reportedly good.

4/ In Fianarantsoa, in 1995 & around 1981, the usual spot is Chez Papillon. French cuisine at its best. Very good food. Then, reportedly the best table in the whole island for decades. Now, I cannot say that anymore. Need to try it again... albeit, as below Hôtel du capricorne, Chez Papillon uses to be an institution. Check below tips

5/ In Toliary, Hôtel du Capricorne. Good food as well (experience in 1995). Check below tips

6/ In Tana, you could splash out at Chez Mariette (table d'hôtes). Malagasy food at its best ! Mariette would be glad to entertain you & give explanations, historical facts about dishes she serves & dining à la Malagasy in general. Booking necessary at 020 22 216 02

NOW, WHY NOT ? On your return from the long long roadtrip, why not stocking up yummy foie gras in Behenjy (about 40km from Tana)? The one from Coin du foie gras (the one we tried - last exp. 2007) would be the meal of choice for a diner for two in your hotel room for this last night in Madagascar. Well, from the picture, they serve Malagasy dishes as well. Could be interesting for grabbing a bite along the road.

**Since I live in Tana area, I will give you more addresses of Malagasy food restaurants as soon as I can try some out...**

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Although I use to consider ravitoto as our national dish, Romazava is largely considered as our national dish. It is served all over the island with small variations... So far, I can only recommend a restaurant that serves it well as my dinings out use(d) to be to taste foreign cuisines.

Romazava is sometimes called "Romazava créole", it is found in the cuisine of créole island of La Réunion, for instance. Still, it hails from Madagascar. "Ro" means "stock" and "Mazava" means "clear" & seems they use is Malagasy name in La Réunion too. Now, the name does not tell much about the richness of this dish.

It is a stock dish obtained from the cooking of 4 zébu meats (knee, the rear back, tail, ribs) with several anana. Anana are leaves that are largely used in our cuisine: are included anamamy (spinach type, also called "brèdes morelles" in French), watercress, different Chinese cabbages, green onions... and not to forget, anamalaho (also called "brèdes mafana" in French).

The cooking technique resembles the pot-au-feu's. First cook the meats (the most hard pieces first) in order to retrieve a zébu stock and evenly cooked meat pieces. Then add the condiments (ginger, onions) to the meats in order to sear them together and mix their tastes. Then, add the anana (the leaves) and the zébu stock. Cook at low heat for 45 minutes. The trick is to leave some room for the anana to deliver their flavour and it will mix with the zébu flavour. Salt.
Served with hot rice...

*cont'ed*

Favorite Dish: ... To Waistline watchers ! The advantage of cooking the meats the eve is to let the stock pause and to retrieve the fat when the latter has solidified at the surface. The rich taste without the thick grease.

To curious ones ! It is this anamalaho (esp. its flowers) that gives the sought-after "hot" taste. Not the same effect as with chili, rather the one that gives a very light "numb-lips" effect. It is almost indispensable to have it for a good romazava !

**Just be aware that some may confuse "ro mazava" with "romazava". "Ro mazava", also called "ro matsatso" ("insipid stock") is a light stock with only few leaves, without any meat loaf neither meat stock. Commonly used to just dampen the rice whenever the meal is too dry. Now, in restaurants, ro mazava (ro matsatso) uses to accompany rich dish and is not served as a dish per se.**

Twice I had the chance to try romazava outside, the first was at a real tourist trap (not listing its name since even a bad advertizing is an advertizing!!). The second was at a good restaurant although I prefer the zébu romazava we use to have home. Will add names of other (tried) restaurants that serve good romazava, gradually...

- The mix romazava (w/ zébu meat, chicken meat and prawns) is not bad at all at Le Relais de la Haute Ville (in Tana).

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It is where building a restaurant tip on a country page requires a bit of ... organization. After a long long reflexion, I decided to only lits here tips about Maalgasy food. Only about what we use to eat, indulge, swallow, dine on, sip, drink - not about addies.

Sooo.. Restaurant Tips in this Madagascar page are only about introducing local fooding customs, ingredients, dishes, snacks, cooking techniques... Addies ? Browse the city pages.
The only addies you'll find in my Madagascar pages are:
- those of restaurants located in cities I haven't built a page of yet.
- those of restaurants, eateries I tried along a roadtrip route. Good example: RN7 Grand Sud restaurants.

Cooking technique... Here are pictures of chillies... very common ingredients in Malagasy cuisine. Or should I say in Malagasy eating habit. We do not cook our dishes with chillies although a chili paste is always on the table. That's a good thing for people, like me, who cannot stand and do not like chili (lately, I discovered I liked samosas with a chili sauce & it's the only thing I could have with chili). In that way, Malagasy are very polite and respectful and would never force you to eat chili as our dishes are not cooked with it. They use to be served with it. Up to you to have it or not.

Here, there is a general conception that the chili paste doesn't mean to give extra taste to the dish, rather its smell is used to sharpen the appetite. Hence the effort of every household lady to have a fragrant chili paste, made of well-chosen ingredients (and whose recipe is well-kept top secret !) but not simply a hot chili sauce nor chili powder.

Pic2- Some of the several ingredients to make a chili paste: chilies, peppers & bays (green, pink, black). Not on the photo: garlic, ginger...
Pic3- Pickled chilies. Big red, yellow, orange chilies are good for pickles.