French-inspired desserts are among the treats of New Caledonia
A taste of France
Australia’s celebrity chef and ‘gourmet ambassador’ to New Caledonia, Gabriel Gaté, shares why these beautiful islands are a special place to enjoy a gourmet holiday.
New Caledonia is a touch of tropical France in the Pacific and, naturellement, French food is the dominant gourmet cuisine of the islands. Take a holiday in New Caledonia and you will find wonderful French breads, cheeses, wines, pâtisseries, pâtés and, of course, excellent French restaurants. Many of the top chefs have trained in France’s most highly-rated establishments and are now sharing their knowledge with younger chefs on the islands. During your stay, make sure you try some of these exquisite restaurants and savour the best of the French-Pacific experience.
When I first visited Nouméa 15 years ago, I went straight to the market to discover what the locals were cooking, and was not disappointed. Today, the colourful food stalls, managed for the most part by Melanesian, Vietnamese and Indonesian locals, display a huge variety of fresh tropical fruits and superb vegetables, as well as fish, seafood (local prawns and oysters), and a good delicatessen and takeaway section. And the market is a great place to enjoy a delicious French-style breakfast – however, I suggest you get there early to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Dining over the water at Restaurant 1881
If you are picnicking in Nouméa or preparing a meal in your apartment, I urge you to visit the closest supermarket, as the fresh food section of French supermarkets is quite astounding. You’ll find many easy meal ideas, as well as wonderful French cheeses, smallgoods, such as French pâtés, terrines and foie gras, excellent pre-prepared French meals and salads, and great value French wines. On the way back from the supermarket, don’t forget to pick up a baguette in one of the many boulangeries or bakeries dotted round the suburbs.
Nouméa also offers many specialised gourmet stores, including butchers selling good meat and prepared meals, chocolate shops, cake shops where you’ll find wonderful croissants, take-away shops and specialised liquor stores. There’s also a great selection of beer, and the locally brewed Number One beer is obviously very popular.
Restaurants in New Caledonia offer you a delicious cross-section of French foods and recipes, representing most of the French regions: quiche from Lorraine, world-famous Camembert and Pont l’Evêque cheeses from Normandy, crêpes from Brittany, tarte tatin from the Loire Valley, coq au vin and boeuf à la bourguignonne from Burgundy, seafood dishes from Bordeaux… and that’s just a start. The restaurants also offer an excellent choice of French wines to suit all tastes and budgets. One thing worth remembering is that the French also drink some of their red wines chilled during the summer, which you will also find in New Caledonia – quite refreshing and tasty in a tropical climate.
One of the best ways to discover the Nouméa gourmet experience is to explore the many different precincts individually. Start at Anse Vata, an attractive tourist area that features most of the major hotels in Nouméa. Here you’ll find a range of other restaurants and cafés including Chinese, Italian and pizza, seafood, coffee, and a choice of snack and ice-cream bars, as well as an excellent butcher’s and several small supermarkets.
A dish from La Coupole
Some of the capital’s best-known restaurants are here. Le Miretti Gascon is the oldest French restaurant in New Caledonia, situated in a warm and inviting Mediterranean-style country house. It serves traditional French regional cuisine from the southwest, especially foie gras, a range of duck dishes and fresh meat dishes. It also specialises in fresh seafood including lobsters, prawns, fish salad, crab salad and succulent oysters.
Nearby, La Coupole is an excellent restaurant; wine buffs will be delighted with the extensive list of excellent French wines, especially the Bordeaux inclusions. Try one of the foie gras dishes prepared by Fabrice Louyot, the excellent chef de cuisine. The pastry cook produces some absolutely beautiful desserts.
L’Hippocampe (French for ‘seahorse’) is the gourmet restaurant of Le Méridien Nouméa hotel. It is a very sophisticated establishment, combining elegance and plaisir de vivre. Talented chef Claude Ségard, heads up the kitchen, and his wife, Shona, is the pastry chef, and their contemporary cuisine uses the best available local ingredients. It offers a creative and imaginative range of dishes, as well as traditional French specialties, accompanied by a large selection of wines.
Fresh baguettes for sale in a neighbourhood shop
Still in Anse Vata, Le Roof is actually built over the water, some 100 metres from the shore. It serves a fine, creative cuisine in a superb setting overlooking the water with some of the best views in Nouméa, as well as a viewing atrium in the middle, where you can see fish feeding as well as the occasional passing dolphin or turtle. And Le Bilboquet Plage is a popular French brasserie situated in a tropical garden facing the sea. In addition to the fraîcheur du jour dishes of the day and New Caledonian specialties, the menu offers mixed salads, seafood and fish from the lagoon, fresh pasta dishes and grills. The atmosphere is warm and friendly; locals often meet here for a meal after a show, as the restaurant remains open until midnight and later on weekends.
Next door to Anse Vata you will find Baie des Citrons (Lemon Bay), which is fast becoming the most popular restaurant and bar area with the locals. Côté Sud has been described as ‘like walking into a restaurant in the middle of Paris’ with formal white table cloths down to the floor, and a very large menu offering modern, creative French cuisine. Les 3 Brasseurs (The 3 Brewers) is a truly unique dining experience, where the beer is actually made on the premises. Originating in the north of France, a region with great brewing traditions, the owners wanted to recreate the atmosphere of traditional breweries from the past. It offers specialties of the north and east of France, with an extensive menu. Try the flammekueche, a delicious style of thin pizza from Alsace.
Also in Baie des Citrons, La Fiesta is a great place for a good time. A Basque restaurant with a quaint country-inn atmosphere in Baie des Citrons, it’s reasonably priced and great for a casual night out, and turns into a popular nightclub after dinner. Its menu of highly original cuisine is full of the warmth of sunny southwest France and Spain.
A fresh fish dish at Restaurant 1881
On any weeknight, and especially on weekends, this area is buzzing with casual bars and restaurants. Le Sorbetier is a popular place during the day, serving a delicious choice of ice creams and sorbets, as well as light meals and drinks. Le Rocher crêperie and snack bar sits high on a hill offering superb views of the bay. And during the day, you will often find the traditional French ice-cream man as he wheels his colourful trolley along the bay.
The city of Nouméa is built around the Place des Cocotiers (Coconut Square), which is a large and very pleasant area bordered by palm and flame trees. Surrounding this square is a vibrant shopping district, which includes a wide variety of cafés and restaurants such as La Chaumière, with its creative French cuisine, and Le Zanzibar. The latter is known for the inspired touch and originality of its cuisine with the flavour of the south of France and is located in a renovated French colonial house dating back to the 19th century, with a stunning view over the city from the balcony.
Near the square you will find the famous Comtesse du Barry with its excellent choice of French food and wines. There is an excellent range of classic French bakeries and pâtisseries with a superb choice of breads, baguettes, cakes and pastries, as well as two superb chocolate shops.
Chef Oliver Polizzi from Restaurant 1881
Just a few minutes from the city centre, Restaurant 1881 is a seaside restaurant that enjoys a rich history, as it is located in the grounds of the former penal settlement. It is one of Nouméa’s most exciting restaurants with a romantic setting. It has one picturesque over-water dining room on a deck facing the bay with a superb sea view, and the main dining room set in a Colonial-style building with an enchanting décor.
Like all great destinations, the food and gourmet scene in New Caledonia is continually changing. New restaurants open, new chefs arrive, stores change hands and what’s nouvelle now is not so nouvelle after time. I’m amazed at the number of good eateries, and I consider New Caledonia to be the most exciting gourmet destination of the Pacific region. I have no doubt you will also discover great eating. Enjoy your stay in New Caledonia, and bon appétit!
Photography courtesy New Caledonia Tourism.
The smiling faces of New Caledonia kids
Travel Facts
Getting there
- Air Calin flies direct to Nouméa from Sydney and Brisbane, with partner flights from other destinations. Phone 02 9244 2211 or 07 3407 7244 or visit www.aircalin.com
Where to stay
Where to eat
- Côté Sud, phone +687 26 28 11.
- Restaurant 1881, 98 avenue James Cook, phone +687 24 00 42.
- Le Bilboquet Plage, Palm Beach Shopping Centre, phone +687 26 46 60.
- La Chaumière, 13 rue du Dr Gueguan, phone +687 27 24 62.
- La Coupole, Rocher à la Voile, phone +687 26 44 11
- La Fiesta, Baie des Citrons, phone +687 26 21 33.
- L’Hippocampe, Le Méridien Nouméa, Pointe Magnin, phone +687 26 50 00 or visit www.lemeridien.com
- Le Miretti Gascon, 24 rue Gabriel Laroque, phone +687 26 40 41.
- Le Roof, 134 promenade Roger Laroque, phone +687 25 07 00.
- Le Zanzibar, place des Cocotiers, phone +687 25 28 00.
- Les 3 Brasseurs, Baie des Citrons Shopping Mall, phone +687 24 15 16.
Further information
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