What to Eat in Port Louis
Port Louis is the capital city of the island of Mauritius. For street food lovers, the central market in the city center is a clear destination. You can taste roti, dholl puri, or the drink alouda there. You can also buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Authentic Chinese food is available in China Town.
Enjoy your food in Port Louis!
Dholl Puri: Mauritian Flatbread Filled with Yellow Split Peas
Dholl puri is a thin flatbread filled with a paste of yellow split peas, brought to Mauritius by Indian indentured laborers after 1834; it's cooked dry here, even though it's named after a deep-fried bread. It's sold in pairs wrapped in paper, topped with bean curry, rougaille and pickled vegetables. In Port Louis, a street cart puts one together in twenty seconds.
Fruit Confit: Pineapple with Chili and Pickled Mango
Mauritian markets sell fruit in a way no one back home would expect: fresh pineapple gets a dusting of chili and green mango ends up in a vinegar brine with salt and sugar. The snack is called fruit confit, konfi in Creole. They'll mix you a bag for pocket change at the market in Port Louis and down by the beaches; practically the same thing is sold on the sister island of Réunion.
Alouda: The Mauritian Milk Drink with Basil Seeds
Alouda is a thick Mauritian drink made of milk, syrup, basil seeds and grated agar jelly, usually with a scoop of ice cream. It's an offspring of the Indian falooda that lost its noodles and a letter of its name on the way across the ocean. I drank it at the source - at the Alouda Pillay stall in the Central Market in Port Louis, where they've been selling it since the 1930s.
Central Market in Port Louis: The Bazaar of the Mauritian Capital
The covered market in the center of Port Louis has been selling fruit, vegetables, spices and fish since 1845 - its ornate cast-iron gates sailed in from Glasgow. The main hall smells of herbs and masala, the side halls belong to meat and fish, and a separate building houses small bistros serving alouda. Saturday is the busiest day, and you only haggle upstairs among the souvenirs.
Victoria Station Market: Street Food in the New Port Louis Terminal
The Victoria Station Market is a market hall inside the Victoria Urban Terminal, a transport hub in the center of Port Louis with buses to the south and west of Mauritius and the Metro Express to Quatre Bornes and Curepipe. Under the same roof as the station you'll find fruit stalls, windows serving dholl puri, roti and gâteaux piments for the road, and a supermarket.