We visit Le Dodo Affamer in Canterbury, Sydney's only traditional Mauritian restaurant. Find out more about Mauritian cuisine as we try dishes like Salmi, Bol Renverse and fried noodles and desserts like Puits D'Amour and banana tarts.
Le Dodo Affamer, Sydney's only traditional Mauritian restaurant is located on Canterbury Road in Canterbury where Food Tour Hai Phong used to sit. The room has been redone in with illuminated waves. It looks very nice - even if some of the original pictures from Food Tour Hai Phong are still on the wall. The family that owns this are very lovely and friendly. They explain that before this restaurant opened, they were located in Menai but the offering was more casual cafe style food.
Le Dodo Affamer means "famished or starving dodo". These extinct, flightless birds were endemic to the island of Mauritius. The population of this African island is around 1.27 million people. Mauritius was colonised by the Netherlands in 1638, France in 1715 and Great Britain in 1810. They finally gained independence on 12 March 1968. The French colonisation influenced the food along with the Chinese and Indian migrants to make it what it is today.
The menu is handwritten on a whiteboard on the wall. We order almost one of everything on the menu. There are a range of drinks as well available in the fridge from Mirinda orange soda to still and sparkling water as well as a grass jelly drink from Taiwan.
I'm here with Queen Viv and her son Michael, as well as Mr NQN. Miss America wasn't able to make it because of work. Michael lives on the Sunshine Coast so he's always very keen to try food that he can't get at home.
We order the chicken lollipops for starters, and they come freshly fried with a delicious panko-style crumbing and a spicy mayo. These are absolutely delicious. I could even go for two or three of these.
The rest of the dishes come out in succession and we are sharing everything for maximum sampling. The first dish to arrive is the fried noodles with lamb that have a wonderful char from the wok. These thin noodles are perfectly seasoned with tasty pieces of tender lamb and chives. This is my favourite dish.
The next dish to arrive is a rich French stew with slow-cooked chicken in a rich spice gravy, aromatic with ground cloves and cinnamon. Traditionally this would be made with game birds like pheasant or squab and the cooking juices, wine and spices make the rich sauce dark. This is served with rice with the chicken on the bone. It's such an unusual but absolutely delicious dish and this is Mr NQN's favourite.
We also try the Bol Renverse or "Magic Bowl" that come with an upturned bowl. You lift up the bowl, and the chicken and vegetables fall over the rice. There's baby corn, mushrooms, celery and carrot along with chicken and a fried egg on top. It's delicious and reminds me of a topping from chow mein except with rice. If you need to pep up any of the dishes, there's also a garlic vinegar sauce and a very spicy chilli sauce as well.
The Mine Boulle is a dry noodle dish made with boiled noodles. These noodles are topped with chopped chicken and this is also tasty especially with some of the garlic vinegar and chili sauce.
The last dish we try is the egg fried rice. It's a good dish, although it is only when we leave that I realise that they also had a pineapple fried rice on the menu too that I might have ordered instead.
There are three desserts available. First we try the Napolitane which is like a crumbly, sandy biscuit sandwiched with jam and topped with pink icing. The second is a banana tart with a shortcrust pastry lattice top. This is made with fresh banana cooked down until dark brown with sugar. There's no artificial flavour here, just pure banana.
Last but not least are the very Puits D'amour or wells of love. These French tarts are very popular in Mauritius and often sell out here. In fact, when we arrived, I saw only two left in the fridge so I reserved those. These pies are filled with a light, almost marshmallowey custard, redcurrant jelly and a smattering of coconut on top.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Mauritian food before? What would be your pick of the dishes?
This meal was independently paid for.
Le Dodo Affamer, Canterbury
169 Canterbury Rd, Canterbury NSW 2193
Phone: 0466 039 800
Open 11am-9pm
Reader Comments
Loading comments...Add Comment