My husband being a vegetarian, our search for food mainly centres around veg food. Local Creole food in Seychelles usually consists of meat and fish, so veg options are limited. We did try different cuisines though. Italian, French, Indian and Creole food is available in Mahe. Praslin is much smaller and finding different cuisines is not that easy.

Indian food in Seychelles.

There are quite a few Indian restaurants in Mahe. Seychelles has only 1 Indian restaurant, Le Relax in Anse Kerlan. We dined at Mahek (Beau vallon), The Maharaja’s(Eden island), Le Relax(Anse royale in Mahe and Anse Kerlan in Praslin) and The Copper Pot(Beau Vallon).

Mahek: Mahek is inside Coral Strand hotel in Beau Vallon, next to hotel Savoy. Its a fine dine and has a good selection of veg food. If you manage a window seat, you can see the waves lapping on the Beau Vallon beach. A decent veg meal for 2 (1 soup, 1 curry, 1 dal, few naans) costs ~500 scr without any drinks. Food is good compared to other Indian restaurants and service is fast. Non-veg curries are more than double that of a veg curry.

One has to reach early though, they are open from 12 – 2pm for lunch and 7:30pm – 10:30pm for dinner.

The Maharajas: It is on the Eden Island. Parking is in the Eden Plaza (free for an hr and 10 SCR per hour after that). They have outdoor seating with view of the marina and mountains. We went for lunch and it was nearly empty. The service was fast and waiter was attentive. Food was also good, though expensive. We ordered a soup, bhindi do pyaza, dal and few naans/ rotis. The bill was ~700 SCR. The menu clearly stated that the prices included service tax. The bill also mentioned that we needed to pay 10% extra if we paid by card. The waiter however mentioned that we needed to pay 10% extra even if we paid by cash. This sounded very unprofessional on their part.

Le Relax, Anse Royale (Mahe) and Anse Kerlan (Praslin): Le Relax in Anse Royale has one of the best sea views from the cliff. Go for lunch to get the views. It is inside the hotel Le Relax. The one in Praslin has indoor as well as outdoor seating, nothing special about them though. Veg meal for 2 would cost around 450 SCR and food is average. The portions are extremely small though.

You can download the menu as on Dec 2016 here.

The Copper Pot, Beau Vallon: While I would have wanted to write good review for this place, the food was average. Sambar and chutney were very good. Its an extremely small place in Beau Vallon and is into catering south indian food and snacks. The place is one room followed by kitchen. The owner and staff are very good and accommodating. Our flight from Praslin to Mahe was delayed and we reached Copper Pot at 2:30pm after settling down. Though they were almost closed, they prepared veg fried rice and chicken biryani for us. The owner also instructed the staff to pack little extra fried rice for our kiddo. She gave us her number and asked us to get in touch if we needed any help. She asked us to whatsapp her by 6:30pm if we needed any dinner to be delivered. We also got Idly and Dosa packed for dinner in the evening. I wish the food was little better so we could have returned. It was very very reasonably priced though. We paid 120 SCR for veg fried rice and chicken biryani which is as good as having those items in India. If you are longing for Indian food, WhatsApp or call and order. The owner is Mrs.Mangala Raja and she is reachable on +248 2768323 and +248 2728552. Its not a place to sit and dine.

Italian Food

You can find pizzerias easily in Mahe and Praslin. Pizza are of one standard size though, which has 8 slices and is more than enough for 1 person. Veg pizza by default has lots of mushrooms, so let them know what vegetables are okay with you. The best pizza we had was at Island pizzeria at Anse Kerlan, Praslin.

Island pizzeria also accepts orders for delivery between 3pm and 7pm. Their number is +248 2580512/ 4237258. They charge 50 SCR for delivery in Anse Kerlan & Grand Anse and 100 SCR for delivery towards Anse Possession.

We also had pizza at Uncle Wills Pizzeria located in Coco d’Or hotel in Beau Vallon. It was average. The garlic bread however had oil which tasted little of seafood, so not sure if it was pure vegetarian. The waiter was also not sure of it. 2 veg pizza, 1 garlic bread and a fanta costed ~425 SCR.

Creole Food

We had read that creole food is delicious and wanted to try it in Mahe. Our host however, was not sure if we could find anything vegetarian since their local food mostly consists of meat and fish. We got vegetarian curry prepared on request at La Palma Restaurant inside Coco d’Or hotel in Beau Vallon. Creole Vegetarian curry comes with salad and rice and it tasted very good. I ordered Creole chicken curry and was quite satisfied with it too. The quantity of rice is very less, but you can ask for more. We were not charged for extra rice. Chicken curry, veg curry and veg spring roll costed ~600 SCR.

Chilli cakes and Pancakes: Seychelles has something called Chilli cake, which is similar to Vada Pav that we have in India. It is available in grocery shops, small outlets at petrol pumps and bakeries. They also have fresh pancakes that you can have for breakfast.

Cooking

One of the advantages of staying in a self-catering villa is you can cook on your own. This is especially recommended for vegetarians since options are extremely limited in Seychelles. We took a lot of ready to eat food and it came in handy. You can buy vegetables at supermarkets in Mahe/ Seychelles. The prices are almost 4-5 times that of India though. To give an estimate:

Cabbage: 50 SCR per kg

Lemon: 110 SCR per kg (4 lemons in 31 SCR)

Carrot: 80 SCR per kg

Capsicum: 60 SCR per kg

Fresh fruits are also available in Mahe/ Praslin. Our host in Praslin stocked bananas & coconuts for us and we took some fruits from India too so did not have to buy any.

I would advise you carry as much of non-perishable food as possible if you want to do Seychelles in budget. Every meal that we had outside (even if it was local food or pizza) costed minimum 450 SCR (~35 EUR).

Have you travelled to Seychelles and think I have missed out on some great food options there? I would love to hear about them, do leave a comment.