Name: Mauritius Bar & Restaurant
Address: 1136-1138 London Road, London, Streatham, SW16 4DS, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8764 9879

Norbury is perhaps an unlikely place to go and visit one of London’s only Mauritian restaurants, but as prices rise in the center our attention is shifting increasingly to these borough destinations. So, if you ever find yourself, as so many of us do, out in the far south, in Stretham, Croydon or Mitcham – or Norbury – then it’s definitely worth a visit to the Mauritius Bar and Restaurant.

Hidden at the end of Norbury’s long London Road, the restaurant is like a portal to Mauritius itself, almost. It’s warm, it’s bright, it’s leafy with potted palm trees. The walls are painted with murals of sand, sea and sky and the air is filled with the sounds of Mauritian music.

On a week night the mood is easy and laid back. A few couples are in close conversation at the candle lit tables and a number of regulars lean against the bar. On Friday and Saturday nights, however, the tempo jumps up with a live band playing Mauritian music into the early hours and the room filling with dancers.
The cocktail list has clearly been configured to enhance the exotic vibe of the place. For £5.50 ( or £4.75 for non-alcoholic mix) you can sample a refreshing ‘Mauritian Bar Special’ and sip at green island spice rum, sugar and lime topped off with soda. For those with a more escapist taste, there’s a ‘Fluffy Dodo’ on offer – a light blend of rum, Malibu, coconut liqueur, and pineapple juice. The allusion to the dodo’s habitation of Mauritius is just one example of the playful attention to detail the restaurant offers.

The wine list keeps pace respectably. Bottles range from £10- £13.75 with a house red of medium bodied merlot and a house white of fruity, fresh Veneto Chardonnay. There is also champagne at £25.99 a go and Rose for £12.50.

But enough about all that. It’s the food itself that you should really go for. The menu is wonderfully varied and the spectrum of cultures that have influenced Mauritius over the ages are very evident as tastes span from popadom’s to prawn crackers to olives to spiced fish curry.

Starters are between £2.75 and £4.50 and have a tappas versatility. Try the ‘Wings on fire’ – chicken with a sweet chili sauce, enhanced with salad mixes and bought to a peak with Aubergine fritters and coriander sauce.

The mains include a wide selection of fish dishes, culminating in the £10.50 Creole Bouillabaisse – a selection of seafood cooked with exotic spices in a seafood and lobster sauce.

The rest of the menu sits affordably between £5.50 and £10. There’s curried lamb and potato cooked with island spices and coriander, and a delicious chicken and mango curry, again cooked with island spices and a ‘touch of exotic mango’. The taste of the spice brings a uniqueness to the flavor that resonates with southern Indian dishes. It brings to mind parallels between Mauritius and the palm trees and humidity of coastal Kerala.

Sides are £2.50 and add a further dynamic to the mix of tastes. The creole rice cooked with fresh tomatoes, ginger and garlic is particularly complementary.
The choice of desert is slightly tempered after the long list of mains, but after so much food, this is actually welcome. And the cheese cake and lychees on offer tonight are perfect – light and refreshing.

It’s always nice to be lifted out of work-a-day life and feel your senses touched by something different, whatever level this occurs on. And the Mauritian Bar and Restaurant certainly does this. There is a feeling of being at a quayside in the Indian Ocean, you could be on holiday. It’s affordable and cheerful rather than West End gourmet, but for a night out in Norbury, it would be hard to beat.

Mauritius Bar & Restaurant

All In London Review

User Reviews