If you like seafood, then the Cook Islands are for you, particularly fish....if you don't, then not so much. Menu options are rather limited for those, like ME, that aren't so fond of seafood. With the island surrounded by a reef and so many fish living in the lagoon, fish are plentiful and a staple food. The fresh fruit on the island was fabulous and so tasty. It's amazing how different things taste when they aren't transported thousands of km's. Every morning breakfast included fresh fruit like coconut, paw paw, star fruit, bananas, apples, pears, pineapple and grapes. I just couldn't get enough of the coconut and paw paw.
We were told by others who have visited the Cooks in the past to avoid eating at the resort because the food isn't that good and it's overpriced. Well, that's true. We did stay at the resort for two theme nights: "Legends of Polynesia Island" night where we experienced an authentic umu feast and "ura" (hula) show. This was a good night, though I felt that some of the food tasted too smokey from the umu. The show after dinner was great and we were treated to island drumming and dancing. I'm still amazed at the ability of the hula dancers and the way they can shake their hips. The other night we participated in was the Island Carvery night and I thought the food here tasted average.
We ate out at a few really great restaurants, which we found through tripadvisor. Handy having that iPhone afterall to look up things even though I couldn't work on my blog. The following restaurants are a must if you visit Rarotonga:
Paw Paw Patch Restaurant - This was about a 15-20 minute scooter ride from the resort. Total bill $82.50 which included a beer for each of us, and a cappuccino for Ziad. I had the Thai Chicken Salad, which the waitress warned me was spicy. It was delicious and spicy so she ended up bringing me a glass of milk to help with that. Ziad had the fish curry which he says was spicy but manageable. We also had dessert which was Paw Paw Brulee which was really tasty. That evening (Thursday) there was also live music which was a nice treat. Two Kiwis playing aoustic guitar and singing. The ambience was great, the staff friendly, the food tasty and the price good!! It was a great way to end the day which started out with a really frustrating round on the golf course.
Cafe Salsa - This is a good lunch spot right in the main town of Avarua. This was the lunch spot after that frustrating round of golf. The food was good, but for the quantity of our lunches I did find it a little pricey. I had a tropical salad with paw paw and a very sweet chocolate milk shake. I can't remember what Ziad had, but I'm sure it involved fish of some sort. And I didn't write down the price of this meal for some reason. Still recommended as a place to try though.
Vaima Restaurant and Bar - This was a short 6-10 minute scooter ride from our resort. Total bill came to $72.80. The atmosphere was nice, and the staff very friendly. Ziad ordered the catch of the day, which was whu (spelling) fish and I had the Cajun Chicken salad. The salad part was great and very fresh. The chicken did not taste cajun at all and was served with the skin attached, so I ended up having to take that off. That was the only draw back for me, but what should I expect if I don't eat the main dishes the island serves? We also had dessert here which was quite lovely...warm chocolate cake with ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. We each had a beer as well. I found it funny that I could get a Heineken here for only $5 and the local beer, Matutu which tastes quite good, costs more. I thought this place was pretty good value.
Kikau Hut - Scooter ride was about 10-15 minutes. Total bill came to $73.This place is a quaint place with two resident cats walking around like they owned the place. We were the first guests to arrive that evening and it turns out there were only 2 other sets of dinner that night. Not overly surprising given the amount of restaurant options available on the island. The staff here was friendly and there was live music as well performed by a guy named Julian who sang and played keyboard. The food was really lovely. I had chicken breast (see a pattern forming yet??) stuffed with garlic, shrimp (yes, I eat a little seafood) and cheese. Ziad had the John Dory fish from New Zealand. Ziad thought his meal was excellent even though it was not fresh this night. We both had mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables as our sides. We had chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert. This piece of cake was enough for 4 people, not 2.
It is recommended that you make reservations at the restaurants at least a day before. This is most likely done so the owners can gauge how much food to have on hand, instead of thinking that the restaurants fill up each night. There really are a large number of restaurants to choose from. Overall we felt the piece of these meals was worth it especially considering these are all priced in Kiwi dollars and the Canuck buck is currently stronger than the Kiwi.
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