June – September, 2013
One thing Fiji cruisers find out quickly is there’s very little in the way of provisions available once you leave the cities: Savusavu (in north Fiji), Suva (in south Fiji), or the Denarau/Vuda Point area (in west Fiji). Those of us without a big freezer need to return to these places periodically to re-provision.
Since we spent our entire season cruising only the east side of the Fiji island group, Savusavu became our re-provisioning base, and we were always happy to return here after cruising and rush to our favorite eateries!
The best foods to enjoy in Savusavu (and Fiji in general) are Indian, Chinese, and Fijian cuisines. There’s always burgers and pizza, but the former three really stand out as special–we had some fantastic dining experiences! Here, in approximate order, are our favorite places to eat in Savusavu (on the island of Vanua Levu, Fiji).
Hidden Paradise Restaurant
If we could only eat at one restaurant in Savusavu, it would be Hidden Paradise Restaurant (not to be confused with the Seaview Restaurant at the Hidden Paradise Guest House). It’s a very basic little hole in the wall, minimally decorated, cooled only by fans, and no liquor license so it’s byob. It’s not the place to come for the ambience, but in a town with lots of great Indian food, this easily stood out as the best (and incidentally the cheapest).
The curry was served as a meal called a thali, on a metal plate with bowls of dahl (lentil soup), rice, the main curry dish, tomato chutney and rotis (an Indian flatbread much like a tortilla). It was wonderful, but our very favorite dish to order was the Thai chicken with an extra side of rotis. Whatever we ordered, we’d put some of it over rice and stuff the rest into rotis and enjoy it burrito-style.
Savusavu Wok
Savusavu Wok is almost a tie with Hidden Paradise restaurant and often the first place we’d go when returning to Savusavu. It’s a casual and fairly inexpensive eatery, and while it does get some mixed reviews from cruisers, the foods we ordered were fantastic! One of the best foods on earth are their dumplings. The flavorful homemade-tasting pasta surrounds an incredible meat filling, and alongside are a sweet chili dipping sauce and, on request, a soy chili pepper sauce. They were so good we’d each get an order, then share the sizzling Mongolian chicken or the garlic eggplant. We had many, many happy meals here!
The Captain’s Table
There are two upscale restaurants in town, and this is one of them. It’s located in the Copra Shed Marina building and looks out over boats docked at the marina. The food is continental cuisine, a mixture of Indian, Fijian, Italian, etc. Whatever we ordered, it was always wonderful. Our favorites were the chicken tikka masala, the spaghetti bolognese made with kidney beans, the Toa Vakalolo (a Fijian dish made with chicken cooked in coconut milk, greens, onion, chili, garlic and lemon), and some of the wonderful specials from the blackboard.
Surf ‘n Turf
This is the other upscale restaurant in town and generally known as the best restaurant in town. I can’t say I disagree–it does have some incredible food. Like the Captain’s Table, it’s continental cuisine, and they serve a lot of specials aside from their regular menu. Our favorite special was the salad nicoise which had seared tuna chunks, avocado, green beans, potato, egg, lettuce and a wasabi dressing that was out of this world. Our favorite regular item was the Kokoda, the Fijian name for the classic south pacific dish of raw fish and vegetables marinated in coconut milk and lime juice. It’s listed as an appetizer but made a great meal.
The Captain’s Cafe
This is the more casual eatery at the Copra Shed, with sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, and some Chinese, Indian, and Mexican dishes. We enjoyed their chili garlic chicken, chicken curry, and their chicken quesadilla. We also enjoyed an occasional breakfast on their deck, a wonderful place to sit in the morning and have eggs on toast and coffee.
Decked Out Cafe (aka Dinner’s Paradise)
This is a laid-back, comfortable eatery with pretty good food. They make a variety of good dishes: curries, burgers, some Chinese dishes, etc. Our favorite, though, was the pizza. Depending on the person cooking that day, it was either pretty good or great.
Chong Pong
This hole in the wall is hard to spot. Once you do find it, you climb the stairs to find a very basic eatery, another one not to come to for the ambience. But the food is good and very cheap, and they serve the best chow mein in town.
The Seaview Restaurant
This is a nice Indian restaurant in town that also serves Fijian dishes. The Indian food is good, but not as good as Hidden Paradise down the street. It does have a prettier dining room, though, and the Fijian dishes were very good.
Ravin’s Restaurant
Yet another hole in the wall with cheap-but-good food. We enjoyed their chow mein and bara, an Indian appetizer of savory donut-like balls rolled with vegetables, deep fried, and served with a tamarind sauce.
Farmer’s Market Eateries
Around the farmer’s market are a few tiny eateries that serve Fijian food. We went to this one because I wanted to try their fish in miti, a coconut milk sauce. It was OK but not good enough to come back to the restaurant. I don’t know the name of the place, but other people found some good stuff at some of the other little eateries around the market.
The Planter’s Club
This is more of a bar than a restaurant, but they serve a monthly lovo, a Fijian feast where the food is wrapped in banana leaves then cooked in an earth oven over hot stones.
Street Foods
The best street food to get in Fiji is a stuffed roti. They are pre-made burrito-like things stuffed with spiced chicken, beef, or a potato mixture. They are cheap, delicious and filling enough to make a meal. They are sold near the farmer’s market, or there might be a plate of them on the counter of a shop.
Ice Cream
There is ice cream in Savusavu, and the most famous place is Surf ‘n Turf for their homemade ice cream. It’s good and there are lots of flavors, but we found the ice cream at the Captain’s Deck was creamier and quite excellent, although the choices were limited. It didn’t matter: their coffee ice cream was so good that’s the only flavor we wanted.
Usually we just wanted a quick ice cream cone and would go to Ram Charan’s 1 Stop Shop. Our favorite flavor was the passionfruit. We always enjoyed coming here, and the friendly staff who knew what we wanted as soon as we came in. One thing we love about cruising is how quickly some places get to feel like home.
Fiji Water
Who knew Fiji Water is actually from Fiji? It is, and it’s available everywhere here. It’s very good water, and we ordered it with a lot of meals.
And now, I seem to have gotten really hungry. I wonder how much it costs to fly back to Savusavu? –Cyndi
