Excellent cuisine

Press, 11 September 1986, Page 26

Excellent cuisine

Rarotonga has a good choice of restaurants with a variety of menus offering Italian, Chinese, Western and island sea-food cuisine.

As prices are based on the New Zealand dollar, eating out is a lot cheaper than it is elsewhere in the Pacific. A cooked breakfast in Fiji’s top-class hotels, for instance, now costs about SFIO which, when converted, leaves the New Zealand holidaymaker with little change from $2O. In Rarotonga, however, a cooked breakfast costs less than half that rate.

During my visit I dined at four restaurants — Brandis (The Rarotongan), the Hibiscus, Portofino, and Trader Jacks. Brandis oozes elegance and its prices are generally a little higher than elsewhere. A four-course meal (excluding wine) will cost about $35 a person, which certainly is not

expensive. The quality of the food and standard of service is excellent. Chinese food has always been a favourite of mine and the Hibiscus House restaurant in “downtown” Avarua did not disappoint me. Two people can dine comfortably there with five dishes for about $45 (excluding alcohol). Trader Jacks is the island’s newest restaurant. It overlooks the sea close to the centre of Avarua and has a spacious casual atmosphere. Steaks and seafood are a speciality. I recommend the garlic prawns in olive oil with peppers ($8.25) and the freshly caught grilled reef fish ($14.25). Visitors with a taste for fine Italian food will be drawn to the Portofino. In addition to traditional western foods cooked Italian style, it also offers a big selection of pastas and pizzas at modest prices. Anyone with a sweet tooth will be tempted by the restaurant’s mango cheesecake.