Maputo Eats

I was tagged by Marcia, the organizing queen, for this meme in which you must name your 5 favorite local restaurants for dining out.

Here are my picks for Maputo, in no particular order:

1. Las Brasas. This is one of Maputo's more upscale restaurants, located in the heart of the city on Av. Julius Nyerere. Las Brasas has many Mediterranean-inspired dishes, as well as plenty of local seafood and even ostrich fillets. My very favorite thing to eat here is the Espetada de Mariscos, a huge, dangling sword filled with prawns, cubes of fish and squid that is presented sizzling hot to your table.

Recently this restaurant changed ownership and, under new Brazilian managers, offers daily lunch specials and a killer caipirinha at the bar.

2. Hotel Terminus Restaurant. Right across the street from our flat (and a popular place for business meetings), this hotel restaurant offers some of the best food in town. My favorite is the Galinha Zambeziana, a half chicken cooked in coconut milk and spices. This is also one of the few (only?) places in Maputo where you can get gnocchi, served with a rich bleu cheese sauce.

Also, Hotel Terminus' restaurant has some killer desserts. We especially enjoy splitting one that consists of rum-roasted cherries poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

3. Costa do Sol. This is perhaps Maputo's most famous dining establishment, in its same ocean-front location since the 1960's. The seafood here is unbelievable, especially the mixed platters.

Rico and I are friends with the owner and, as a result, never have to order from the menu. We just show up and ask our friend to make a recommendation. We've never been disappointed.

Costa do Sol is has a special place in our hearts (and stomachs) because it was the place we first went on a date. It's the restaurant where we always commemorate our dating anniversaries, and where we celebrated the night Rico asked me to marry him.

4. Inter Thai. There are 5 Thai restaurants in Maptuo (yes, 5, for a not-so-big city) and, while all are nice, this one is my favorite. The atmosphere at Inter Thai is what makes it so nice. The restaurant is essentially in the enormous backyard of the owners' home, and is fully landscaped with a fountain and a big bamboo forest. There is even a gift shop on the premises where you can buy Thai silk scarves and canned lychees.

My meal of choice here is either green curry with beef, or Pad Thai. We like to come here and drink beers and eat spicy food for hours on end, especially on Maputo's scorching summer days.

Also, Inter Thai is the place to go in Maputo if you need quick service. We've never had a dish take more than 15 minutes to get to our table, something ultra-rare in the city.

5. Mundo's. Typical choice, but this expat hangout is by far the best place in Maputo to get a pizza. You can get any of a number of toppings, and the dough is thin and cooked in a wood-burning oven until it's crispy. My favorite pizza at Mundo's is not on the menu, but occasionally offered as a special: mozzarella topped with figs, arugula (or rocket for you South Africans) and roquefort. It's incredible! Rico likes to get a margherita with prosciutto on top.

Mundo's is in the middle of the city on Julius Nyerere and is a good place to meet people, have a drink, or watch a sporting match - especially if you're into rugby or the english premiere league soccer.

6. Cafe Milano. I know, I know. The meme said 5 places, and here I am choosing 6. But I couldn't leave Cafe Milano, a.k.a. the Schwarma Place, off my list. This is a Lebanese restaurant on Av. 24 de Julho with a great sidewalk patio and a takeaway deli area where you can buy a bag of 10 giant homemade pita breads for 2 dollars.

This is a great place to spend the afternoon drinking beer and eating schwarmas. I like the beef ones, Rico prefers the chicken. We come here an awful lot, so much in fact that the waitresses recognize us and we don't even have to order, they already know what "our usual" is.

Hmmm...seems we have lots of restaurants that revolve around beer drinking and spicy food. :)

------ ------ ------

I have many, many other favorite places in the city... Nautilus for executive lunch specials, Cristal for codfish and mango mousse, Vila Italia for homemade ravioli...

Whoever started this meme should keep track of the answers and make a page where one can access the top 5 restaurants for various cities.

Yum! If you feel inspired to share your dining preferences for the city you live in, consider yourself tagged.