What’s Cookin’ in The Cook Islands?
Vacation calories don’t exist.
Okay so to preface this blog post I should say that yes, Rarotonga is a paradise of beautiful beaches, serene swimming spots, and wonderful people… but I wouldn’t exactly call it a “food paradise”. A lot of food on the Island is greasy and I wouldn’t really consider anything gourmet… but that’s what you should expect when visiting a small island with very little external influences. Their food is just like their culture; simple, homemade and fresh. My favorite thing about the food in Rarotonga is there are NO chain restaurants. You won’t spot a Starbucks, McDonalds or that new hip “social house” on the island. What you will find are small family-owned and operated restaurants and cafes with locally made food (by local I really mean in their own kitchens) made with locally sourced ingredients. Most of Kevin and I’s vacation time is spent looking for, researching and finding places to eat. What made this increasingly difficult in Rarotonga is that there is very little internet access (which is actually a blessing!), and so therefore not many people posting their meals on Instagram (a way we normally scope out local eats), and no way to check out menus or reviews. Therefore, we did it the old fashioned way… we just ate our way around this beautiful island. We’ve done the work for you so you don’t have to! I will also let you know that we visited Rarotonga in their “off-season” and therefore some of the places we wanted to visit were closed. I also don’t have a TON of pictures (like I normally do when it comes to food) because like I said there wasn’t really much internet or service anywhere so I didn’t bring my phone with me most places.
Tamarind house
I’m going to start this post out with a BANG with our FAVOURITE restaurant in Raro… The Tamarind House! So romantic, so beautiful, so… BEACHFRONT. Yes, this restaurant is right on the beach with a beautiful view of the ocean. Can you get more romantic? I think not. Not only is the location outstanding, but the service is top-notch! The owner of the restaurant actually hosted our table, how amazing is that!?! We were able to dive in with him to find out some history of the restaurant and the area it was a great chat! We started off our dinner with one of my favorite bottles of bubbly…Veuve Clicquot and cheers to the wonderful date night ahead. We then indulged in a few appetizers including tempura prawns, Ika Mata (island-style marinated fish in lemon and freshly made coconut cream, and a Halomi Salad. We had been on the island for about a week and a bit at this point and had not yet had any beef so we inquired with our server about their steak. He said it was good and we had assumed it was New Zealand beef (one of our favorite… free-range and delicious). We, therefore, both ordered the Ribeye steak (we rarely both order the same thing), and it did not disappoint. It was cooked perfectly to our liking (Kevin enjoys medium-rare while I like mine rare). We finished off our meals with sweet and delicious desserts of vanilla Creme Brule and sticky lime toffee pudding with caramel sauce. It was a fantastic meal with wonderful service and a million-dollar view. We would visit again (and hope to visit again), and would recommend to friends and family!
The Mooring Fish Cafe
A great little fish ‘n chips place that is super authentic and located right on the water. The over the top aspect of this little Rarotonga “food-truck” style restaurant is the sheer size of the sandwiches… they are HUGE! A great place to pop by for lunch and get a sandwich, taco and ice cream sundae (topped with fresh seasonal fruit!). A beautiful beachfront casual location with greasy delicious sandwiches and a chill vibe. Would visit again and would recommend!
So, Kevin’s a butcher and I grew up on hamburgers. Therefore I like to consider ourselves “burger connoisseurs”. I LOVE a good, juicy burger. And, just because a burger is HUGE or has a ton of toppings… does not make it a “good” burger in my books. It needs to be flavourful, seasoned correctly and cooked to juicy perfection to be considered a “great” burger in our books. Quite frankly… we are often disappointed when we order burgers to go. Why? We both feel like it is so simple to make a good burger and so many places screw it up. We often prefer homemade burgers… or my favorite, my Dad’s homemade burgers! But… Vili’s burger takes the cake (or the hamburger bun in this case). I am drooling just thinking about a juicy and delicious Vili’s burgers. I think we grabbed meals at Vilil’s about 4 or 5 times on our two week trip to Rarotonga. Not only are the burgers DELISH… but they are HUGE! They are also served with the freshest, most wonderfully seasoned french fries… okay, I am getting so hungry writing this right now and want to fly across the world again to grab one of these burgers. It is a lifesaver this isn’t near our house or I would be 300 pounds! We tried a ton of their burgers but the beef burger is for sure our favorite. If you are SUPER hungry… the Gout Burger is a MOUTHFUL (double beef, cheese, gherkins, onions, lettuce, tomato, mayo and tomato sauce)! Would go back, did go back, can’t wait to go ahead. Would recommend (but not while we are there as the line-up is long already). Okay… I think we have to have burgers for dinner tonight!
La casita mexican cafe
This was a little gem to find in Rarotonga. Just a short 15-minute walk from the action of Muri beach, we were so glad to find this Mexican restaurant on the island. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I just think that Burritos, Chips, Salsa & Margaritas are just a MUST when you are on a beach vacation! The service was FANTASTIC and the food arrived quick and hot to our table. To top off the delicious (and filling meal), the margarita was so refreshing! Would go again, will gladly go again!
I would like to mention that we don’t eat a lot of Mexican Food so we probably are not the BEST judge of Mexican food. The flavors were good and everything as cooked well, but we cannot speak to its authenticity.
Nautilus restaurant
So this might have been the worst restaurant experience we have ever had (well actually second worst, if you ever want me to tell you the worst story… just ask, HA!). We had walked by this resort a few times while walking the beach and thought, this would be a great location to dress up nice (instead of having beach hair and sundresses on), as it presented itself as a fancier, more “upscale location”. It was even rated “Rarotonga’s Restaurant of The Year”. I do not know who gave them this rating, but they DID NOT visit on the same night as us and must have been given a completely different experience. There are a ton of positive reviews online for this restaurant, but we just received a completely different experience. From photos online, we assumed we would be sitting beachfront for a romantic dinner but instead were seated poolside with a child’s birthday party in front of us complete with a pool party. I am all for kid-friendly restaurants and fun, but it just wasn’t the experience we were expecting. This was pre-Linden… so I do wonder if I would view this differently now. The service was putting it frankly, horrible. We were ignored for a long time, drinks took forever, there was no “personal element” and we felt like we were more of a nuisance rather than a valued consumer. All the food we have was very lackluster. The plating was nice but besides that… really didn’t enjoy any of the rest of the experience. We would not go back and definitely, would not recommend.
The Rickshaw Vietnamese & Asian Cuisine
We were shocked to find so much good Vietnamese and Thai food on restaurant menus in Rarotonga! The Rickshaw was no exception. The food here was so good and the service was extremely friendly. Not only was the service exceptional… but our server gave us plenty of honest recommendations for food and experiences on the island. We ended up visiting this restaurant a few times on our stay in Rarotonga and if they had delivery, we probably would have ordered takeout a few times as well so we could enjoy it beachside at our villa. Please keep in mind that everything in Rarotonga is family owned and operated and therefore there are times when they are closed, so call ahead to find out which days of the week they are open. A few of the eats we had were: pad thai, satay kebabs, Singapore prawns, spring rolls, and beef randang. As a bonus, all the beer on their menu is from local Matutu brewery. We loved this restaurant and would go back again. Do you think I can put in a request for the delivery to Vancouver?
Sails Restaurant and Isobar
We ate food from The Sails a lot! Not because it was amazing, but because of convenience. Because of it being more of a touristy restaurant, it has really long hours (open for lunch and dinner when a lot of other places are closed), it does take out and even delivered directly to our villa. Is it amazing and would write home to Canada about? No. But it is good. While the food may not be amazing, the VIEW IS! Right on the water with the ocean breeze wafting through your hair. This is one of those “can be fancy” but also “can be casual” locations that I LOVE because if you want to make it a fancy night out, you can dress up and not look out of place, but if you want to keep it casual that would totally be fine too! Some of the items we ordered were Salt and Pepper squid (similar to North American Calamari), Hummus & Foccacia, marinated olives, seafood linguini, Isobar snack basket, Seafood Board, Rau Rau Platter and my favorite on the menu… Island Fries. I loved the Island fries as a beachside/poolside snack. The taro fries were my favorite (I wish we grew taro here), and they are served with a delicious chili mayo sauce. There are also one of the few places on the island that had “special coffees” so I definitely enjoyed indulging in these. So, would I go back? Maybe? If I was in the right mood for a nice casual meal with lots of deep-fried options.
Trader jacks
Okay, so we had pretty high expectations for this place. Why? I don’t really know. We had just past by it a few times and thought, that place looks good. It had lots of customers at all times, was right on the water and is literally right in the middle of the “downtown” of Rarotonga (Avarua District). When we finally decided to dine we realized this was definitely a “tourist” kind of place. There weren’t any locals dining in the restaurant and it definitely had that “Cabo-Wabo” vibe. By that, I mean tacky decor and a Margaritaville vibe. So, we knew at that point what we were getting into. A prime location, North-American style food and drinks, and a “franchisey” vibe (not very authentic). So all in all, it hits those points. I think a lot of travelers would like this kind of place. It’s the kind of place I would bring a group of friends to have a drink, some decent eats and nothing too “off-the-path” in terms of food choices. We had margaritas, a beer, tacos, and steak. Everything was good, not great but sitting on the patio in the sun looking out into the ocean was perfect. I would definitely go back for some drinks and an appetizer with friends.
Vaima Polynesian bar and restaurant
Finding this restaurant was like a happy accident! Kevin and I had gone for a ride on the motorized scooter and all the sudden out of nowhere the skies opened and it started to rain. The road filled with rain pretty quick and we saw Vaima out of the corner of our eye and decided to pull in and get some refuge out of the rain. We walked in and we were the only ones in the restaurant. The server asked if we wanted to sit inside or out as outside had a covered patio. We grabbed a seat outside and it was outstanding. Even though it was raining it was still warm and there was no floor on the patio, we literally got to sit down at a restaurant with our feet in the sand, in the rain just the two of us. It was kismet. We ordered some coffees and pulled out a deck of cards from my backpack (something I always have with me on vacation). We played a game of cards while enjoying our coffees. We then decided to order a pizza. The pizza was soooo good! The server was amazing as well she was from Fiji and we had a very long conversation about what brought her to Rarotonga, the differences between Canada and Fiji and of course… Rugby. We LOVED our entire experience at Vaima and I can’t wait to go back. Who knew a sudden rainstorm would lead to a perfect day that we will remember forever?
LBV - Le Bon Vivant
Aside from our hotel and the beach, this is the first place we visited on the island. We ended up coming here often as it was a great cafe to grab a cup of joe or latte, breakfast, baked goods, and THE BEST DONUTS! OH MY GOD, the donuts were sooo good! I have such a sweet tooth and the donuts here were fresh, flavourful and even topped with candy!! They also had delicious fresh baked bread that they served with homemade jams and butter. It was also licensed meaning you could come by in the afternoon and grab a glass of wine or a beer! What more could you want from a little roadside cafe? LBV was great. Open nice and early so we could pop by to start the day. We loved it and cannot wait to go back to LBV!
Muri night market
Not only one of my favorite places to eat on the island… but one of my favorite things to do. When you can make a whole night of evening entertainment out of eating… I’m in! This is like a food truck festival, but Rarotonga style. Fold up tables for the vendors, picnic-style tables for eating and food homemade in the kitchens of the locals…LOVE! There is a ton of variety of food from seafood to BBQ to Asian inspired dishes to CHEESECAKE. There’s even a great charitable and environmental competent where you can “rent” plates and cups from the local school and use them for the evening instead of using plastic or paper plates… BONUS! I love eating for a good cause, haha! We would try something new every night and all the recipes were delicious and amazing. We went back like every other night and can’t wait to go back again soon! I’m totally craving a slice of homemade mango cheesecake… yum!
