La Table du Chateau, Mauritius by Obelix

Domaine de Labourdonnais is a magnificent neo-classical house built in the 1800s by Christian Wiehe. It’s reminiscent of the grand homes in Gone With The Wind.


The grounds itself is filled with meticulously maintained greenery which makes my heart sing. Also on its grounds is La Table du Chateau, a restaurant serving a modern take on Mauritian classics. 

Noodle Square, Mauritius by Obelix

The last time I was in Mauritius, my friend brought a small take away container of niuk yen for us to snack on at the beach. These were steamed juicy balls of choko, mixed with fried rice vermicelli and dried shrimp. Plump and texturally interesting, it sounds like a strange combo but trust me, it’s moreish.


Having tracked down where she procured the niuk yen from, P and I made sure we visited the place the subsequent time we were in Mauritius. So here we are.  It made sense to order what we came for, more niuk yen. We met the proprietor Ryan, who affably told the tale of how he strove for months to perfect the right ratio of ingredients so that his niuk yen formed the perfect sphere and soft yielding texture without losing form. 

Wheelers Hill Hotel Bistro, Wheelers Hill by Bureaucrat

The Wheelers Hill Hotel Bistro is one of those places that sort of blurs into the background.  Situated on the downward slope near the intersection of busy Ferntree Gully and Jells Roads, I've never given the place much attention.  However, a birthday dinner for my grandpa gave us the opportunity to check it out as it ticked many of boxes for us - in particular, it's close to home and wheelchair accessible.

250gm scotch steak with chips and salad

The Wheelers Hill Hotel complex has something for everyone - and it is certainly popular among the locals.  There's obviously the bistro (with a big indoor playground for kids), bar and TAB facilities.  We had a booking for a 6.30pm dinner and the bistro was almost at capacity - teeming with families with young kids and golden oldies.  Although the bistro is quite big and spacious it was nonetheless quite loud with all the goings-on.  

There's plenty of staff ready to seat you or take your order at the counter.  It was certainly noticeable how friendly and eager to help they all were.  There's quite an extensive menu - fairly typical pub dishes.  Of interest to the golden oldies on our table was the fact that senior citizens get roughly a 20 per cent discount on many of the main dishes - a real crowd pleaser, this was!  

Falaise Rouge, Mauritius by Obelix

Falaise means cliff and Falaise Rouge, perched on the cliff’s edge, is built on red soil, hence the rouge, I think. I noticed red gritty sand on the car mats after our lunch there and I’m drawing my own conclusions.


Chicken and prawn curry

The setting is nothing short of magical. We were there on a drizzly day and instead of the rain putting a dampener on the experience, it heightened its mystique. I’ll pop a few photos below of the surrounding sea and mountain views.

Little Si Chuan Xiao Sichuan, Mauritius by Obelix

I have been told on good authority that Little Si Chuan ranks number one on Weibo if one was to search Chinese restaurants in Mauritius. And after visiting the Plaine Magnien edition, I could understand why. After stepping off a long haul flight, we were brought there supposedly for a quick dinner by friends due to its close proximity to the airport. Groggy from crossing all these time zones, eating was the last thing on my mind but Little Si Chuan soon revived me better than any shower or power nap.


Stir fried squid

Obviously by its name, Little Si Chuan does seafood Sichuan style. Whilst I normally steer clear of the hot heat and tongue numbing properties of Sichuan pepper, I was pleasantly surprised that the food at Little Si Chuan did not blow one’s head off and one could actually appreciate the flavours.

Chayo, Clayton by Bureaucrat

The last time I was in Clayton, I wasn't too thrilled with Ping's Dumpling Kitchen.  However, this time around, I spotted Chayo, a Japanese eatery, which turned out to be an unexpected delight.  A small cafe, Chayo offers a semi Japanese fusion cafe menu (think brunch with some Japanese elements).  It's arguable whether it's located in a prime spot (right in front of a busy bus stop on a main road) - the noise from the buses and the crowds of people waiting for buses don't really add much to the atmosphere.  However, the food and service is what matters and Chayo did excellently on those fronts.

A rare solo lunch meant that I could choose whatever I wanted to eat!  I went with the karaage chicken teishoku.  This was delicious and an absolute steal at $13! This generous serve of crunchy tasty chicken (about seven good sized chunks of chicken breast and thigh) was amazing.  With a thin batter it was hardly oily at all.  There was just so much chicken for the price - any other eatery would probably serve half the amount of chicken and charge you a few dollars more, too.  I was only able to eat two pieces and took the rest home for a lovely afternoon snack.  

Golden Child, Glen Iris by Obelix

Tucked next to the Anniversary Trail is Golden Child, a cafe capturing the Burwood station commuters and cyclists alike. P usually stops off for a bite after a weekend morning bike ride with his friends and this time he brought Kiddo and I along for brunch.


He started with his standing order - the lobster stuffed portobello mushrooms, fried eggs on toast. I snuck a nibble of the mushies and was suitably impressed with how the delicate flavours of the lobster combine with the juicy mushrooms.

Ranges at Olinda, Olinda by Bureaucrat

Ranges at Olinda is one of the bigger cafe-restaurants in the Olinda village up in Mt Dandenong.  It's a lovely touristy village which has a few of my favourites places in Melbourne, including Nourish Day Spa (who do wonderful massages), Herbicious Delicious (all the kitchen paraphernalia you could ever want for) and Soap Opera (gorgeous naturopathic beauty products).  Ms S and I decided to make ourselves comfortable at Ranges for a good old catch-up.

As it turns out, we both ended up choosing soups for our lunch.  I went for the soup-of-the-day.  A pumpkin and bacon soup, which came with a toasted cheese and caramelised onion sandwich.  This a lovely bowl of soup - a generous serve and warming, it was velvety smooth.  It had lots of bacon pieces too (a good thing) but it did make the soup a tad saltier than I would have preferred.  The toastie was crisp and went well with the soup.  All in all, a very comforting meal on a cold day.