Food in Fiji

One of the nicest things about going to Denarau Island is the number of great restaurants in all the resorts.

The nicest cocktails we found were at the Sofitel, halfway around the island. Still, it was worth walking there every evening for their drinks. This photo was taken at the bar next to the beach during the daytime, but there was also a an upstairs lounge bar that had great live music in the evenings.

The first time we went to the Radisson, the happy hour was 4-6pm and gave you two for one drinks at any of the bars. These Pina Coladas & Margaritas were from the main bar. The second time, happy hour was only at the pool bar. That meant that the drinks tasted just as good, but came in plastic cups rather than looking this pretty.

Chime bar at the Sheraton resort next door was also quite nice, since half the bar is just long couches that you can lie around on drinking your cocktails.

I'm not actually sure which restaurant this is below, since there are two where you are dining on the sand: Flying Fish at the Sheraton and Moo Moo at the Westin. The setting is just beautiful for both and the food is equally good.

Our favourite restaurant of all is Cross at the Radisson. Richard Cross is a kiwi chef who runs the place, and makes the most awesome food. We went there twice on the first visit and three times on the second. In fact, Stephen reckons it is worth flying to Fiji just to go to this restaurant. This was probably my first ever taste of true fine dining, and finally made me understood what all the foodies are on about. It's a qualitatively different experience from normal eating. It's not just food that's higher on the quality/taste scale, it's like an entirely different kind of experience. This is the first time I've understood people who say that food is better than sex. So, on with the food porn.

The best entree I tried was the tapas plate. This is the first half:

And the second half. That's a mojito shooter in the shot glass.

Stephen's prawn cocktail starter also looked delicious:

This was the grilled Salmon main course:

And I can't even remember what this one was of Stephen's. Ballotin chicken maybe?

We tended to skip lunch so we'd have room for a third course. This is Stephen's chocoholic's delight:

And his sticky date pudding:

This was my bombe alaska:

And my favourite of all, coconut tiramisu: