The Rickshaw at the Corinthia Palace has always been a favourite. My years in Mauritius have made me very partial to 'exotic' cuisines and spices used judiciously. The good restaurants were mostly to be found in hotels. When a pizzeria opened in the town where we lived, it was headline news. The best food I ate on that island was invariably at the home of friends, often on a sugar estate where you could not really say anything too provocative as each of us had a servant standing behind listening to everything that was being said and ready to report it to anyone who would listen.
I have eaten Briyani with Muslim women, their faces veiled, sitting in a circle and eating with our fingers. Good food doesn't depend on forks; to this day the Moors eat with their fingers and yet their dishes are among the best on earth. Better Briyani I have never eaten.
At Indian weddings which were colourful and with a great many guests attending, food was served on a banana leaf, but better curries I have as yet to taste.
Our darling Chinese friends set out a long table in the garden by the banyan tree and got their numerous aunts to each make some delicious dish so that the meal turned into a feast, both for the eyes and the palate. Happy times those. I thought they would last forever.
The anglophile André Maurois with the courtesy which befits a Knight of the British Empire, could not say enough about the excellence of English teas. With infinite delicacy he had advised his fellow-countrymen, if they desired to feel happy in England, to dispense with luncheon and dinner, they would find that English breakfast and tea foods were delicious. But man cannot live by breakfasts and teas alone. Attitudes to food have changed so much since the Maurois days, in England too. In fact, some of the best oriental food I have eaten is in quite ordinary restaurants in London, often in Soho.
I love the way food is presented at the Rickshaw. Here is a restaurant which has been discovered only by the discerning tourist who is usually staying at the Corinthia and not by the redfaced, beer swilling, bare-chested variety who are more often than not only interested in chips with everything. Nor are you going to get large families with babies screaming and throwing their food around. This is a place for a quiet dinner and there is no loud music either. In fact there is no music at all so that one can have a proper chat in a normal voice.
The Rickshaw changes its menu from time to time which is a good thing for the regular client. Thus a number of hacks and hackettes were invited recently to sample the new menu. This invitation induced an instant good mood. The menu was created by Chef Stefan Hogan and Chef John Xi, with the gastronomic consultancy of London-based food consultant Andy Kwok , the Good Earth restaurateur, who was present. Although on these occasions we are served a 'tasting' menu, in fact they turn out to be two or three meals rolled into one.
The team has improved the selection of soups, including a peppery hot and sour soup. Clay pot specials have also been added to the permanent menu, including a new oyster dish. I love these oriental soups. They make a change from the minestra, the carrot and coriander soup, the qarabali soup which I make throughout the winter months, always in the hope that I will lose some weight.
As we become more and more conscious of the harm some food can do to our health most restaurants are now offering us more healthy options. At the Rickshaw there are new healthy additions, too ,which include a heart of palm appetizer. I have to say that I find the heart of palm somewhat overstated. It is really quite tasteless. It was considered a delicacy in Mauritius but I have never taken to it. However, I loved the marinated grouper with lime and palm sugar. Now, this was really delicious and offered our tastebuds something truly different.
The menu is written in plain language. None of the symphonie de something, caressed with this and nestling in that. The 'body conscious' can indulge in several of the dishes served keeping their virtue intact.
There are so many who do not eat meat these days. I have to say that now that I have a foot in the grave I eat less and less of it too. A large juicy steak no longer appeals. I still love veal, lamb and white meats though. Very sensibly there are new vegetarians dishes on the Rickshaw menu. They include ingredients like the lotus root, which the chefs serve wok-fried with chilli and garlic, as well as gailan, which is sometimes referred to as Chinese broccoli. I had never eaten the latter though Chinese cabbage is now available in Malta. I enjoyed this dish very much.
As for dessert, the team added three new options inspired by Japan, India and China but dieters still have to beware the pudding menu. The answer is to share a dessert of course. Or you can simply sit and admire the presentation, if you have the will power to resist.
The whole show at the Rickshaw is run by the manager Memely Villanueva Mansay. She always gives patrons a warm welcome and is on the lookout to make sure they are happy, without being obtrusive. Definitely a most enjoyable meal. All praise to the chefs and consultant.