Best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles

Life is too short for average food and mediocre wine or cocktails, especially on holidays! So here’s the serious foodie list of best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles, from barefoot beachside to fine dining.

Best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles : Koi, Four Seasons

Best sushi in Mahe Seychelles : Koi, Four Seasons

(1) Michelin star quality sushi with dramatic sunsets and hillside views over Petite Anse beach? Look no further, this is KOI – Four Seasons’ Seychelles intimate sushi bar and restaurant.

Best sushi in Mahe Seychelles : Koi, Four Seasons

For us all this is Seychelles’ best fine dining and perfectly feasible with kids in tow, especially if you have some serious sushi lovers like ours! We were delighted to sit by the counter and watch in awe the chef and sous-chef crafting all the exquisite wonders. Our culinary journey included tuna tataki with yuzu and truffles, jack fish sashimi coming into their own ball of ice and wasabi lime, classic spicy tuna maki and funky osaka crab. The kids loved their salmon and cucumber rolls plus sashimis!

Best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles : Koi, Four Seasons

Seychelles fine dining with kids at KOI

World class wines and cheese cake yuzu with berries coulis to wrap up, all was just WOW. The seating is intimate, the chef and sous chef delightful to talk to about the dishes and their journeys. There is so much to rave about Four Seasons dining and Mahe with kids!

Best of Seychelles food: Koi, Four Seasons

Mahe Seychelles fine dining: Koi, Four Seasons

There’s tones of ingenuity, fresh beautiful ingredients and savoir faire.  A serious Michelin star candidate and that’s coming from some serious sushi addicts regularly spoilt rotten by Japanese fine dining scene in London.

Koi counter, Four Seasons

(2) Thai cravings? Head to Banyan Tree signature restaurant – Saffron.

Set in the quiet forest glade the wetlands beaming with wildlife and birds, Safron is the best South Asian restaurant on the island and bookings are essential. We fell in love with it 8 years ago and we were so pleased to find again delicious dishes crafted on traditional recipes.

Banyan Tree signature restaurant – Saffron

We were invited to Saturday buffet dinner, Saffron delighted our taste buds and won our hearts. I’m Pescatarian and I adored the Tom Yum Goong (the traditional Spicy Prawn Soup with Lemongrass and Galangal), the spicy green papaya salad and the fried Squid with garlic and pepper sauce.

Banyan Tree Thai with kids: Saffron

Banyan Tree Saffron delightful buffet

The kids and my other half enjoyed thoroughly the rice, noodles, Chicken Breast Satay and  delicately steamed red snapper with a chili lime sauce. The deserts were out of this world, special mentions for the trio of Crème Brûlée, Banana Fritter with Coconut Ice Cream and all the exotic fresh fruit. Our full impressions about Banyan Tree  gorgeous setting and sustainable luxury initiatives in here.

Best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles : Saffron with kids

Best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles : Saffron

(3) Barefoot convenience by the ocean? Windsong on the beach at Kempinski does it!

Kempinski Seychelles with kids

Cocktails Baie Lazare Seychelles

Life with the kids is so easy at Kempinski Seychelles and we opted so many evenings for dining with our friends in here! Barefoot luxury and no fuss about outfits plus kids running around the beach with their kids club friends. The go to place after diving or snorkelling to grab cocktails and beers; for lunch and dinners.

Best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles : Windsong on the beach at Kempinski

I loved the salads and the island style fish curries; my vegetarian friend liked their hummus and vegan poke bowls; the boys loved their steaks and Chef prepared risottos. And don’t be fooled by the easiness, the chef is ready to cook for you the freshest fish and seafood. The best lobster we ever had was in here – a serious 2.5 kg of delight !

Best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles : fresh lobsters at Kempinski

Seychelles fresh lobsters at Kempinski

(4) Local creole cuisine and Middle Eastern flavours and spices? That’s Chez Lamar, back at Banyan Tree.

Seychelles local creole cuisine at Chez Lamar

Inside there’s the the classic beautiful setting of a colonial mansion and outside the al fresco wooden veranda. We opted for outdoors overlooking Banyan Tree iconic infinity pool and found it superb and relaxing. Chez Lamar team is lovely, the fish was so fresh and beautifully spiced, the kids feasted on pitta bread, fresh vegetables and fries. The rose flowed and the stars glittered, our first dinner back in Seychelles 2020 was enchanted!

Sunset at Four Seasons – just above ZEZ & KOI

(5) Exquisite hillside dinner with dramatic sunsets and Pan-Asian twist ? That is Zez – Four Seasons Mahe.

Elegant dark-wood interiors, sunsets setting the skies on fire and views over Petite Anse bay make Zez very special.  This is Four Season’s fine-dining venue: our pre-kids days we found it utterly romantic; but it’s absolutely cool for family dining.

(6) Dramatic waves crashing nearby, wide skies and an impeccable international menu? This is Jardin d’Epices again Bayan Tree, so very special.

Dining Au Jardin d’Epices

International menu Au Jardin d’Epices – Bayan Tree

We dined twice in here and each time was memorable. First with our friends and thereafter to our kids pleas as they loved it so much. During the day there’s a casual easy setting, with the ocean shimmering and glittering.

Banyan Tree Au Jardin d’Epices nameday celebrations

Banyan Tree Au Jardin d’Epices nameday celebrations

The sunsets bring drama to the colours and thereafter at night Le Jardin looks enchanted under the wide skies filled with stars.  The food Au Jardin is exquisite – ink risotto, tuna tataki, fish soup, salads – all beautiful. The boys tested the steaks and were pleased and the wine of course world class.

International menu and wide skies Au Jardin d’Epices – Banyan Tree

(7) Last but not least villa dining.

Banyan Tree Seychelles Ocean View Pool Villa was our amazing treat, highly private, gorgeous Creole architecture with stunning views over Intendance bay. Dining in here was easy at lunch and in the out of this world in the evenings.

Villa dining Banyan Tree Seychelles

Banyan Tree Seychelles Hillside Villa

We have dined a couple of times to other local restaurants, whilst we love the Seychellois warmness and chilled vibes, we found the waiting times (2 hours) not realistic with hungry children or (even starving ) grown ups. Also for serious foodies looking for consistently yum dishes we reckon the above are best.

Have we missed any of your favourites from the best restaurants in Mahe Seychelles? Give us a shout, as we write few friends heading there and taking notes and suggestions.

Banyan Tree has now for a change in ownership, rebranding and refurbishment by 2022 – but one will truly find at Four Seasons all magical ingredients from former Banyan Tree Mahe and perhaps even more, with fab bay swimming, snorkelling and diving right on Petite Anse. For further Seychelles inspiration, check our article on Best of Island hopping Seychelles : Praslin, Silhouette island, Courieuse and La Digue are so diverse and unique! 

Seychelles fine dining scene and dramatic skies – THANK YOU!

Travelling during the pandemic.  December 2021 onwards and being fully vaccinated made travelling to Seychelles from UK easier, just a couple of extra forms and tests. The travelling guidance has been fluid though, always best to check the latest UK Foreign travel advice.

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Four Seasons Seychelles for hosting and delighting us at KOI and Kannel. And many thanks to Banyan Tree for their Thai buffet feast at Saffron and being so graceful with our cheeky monkeys. As usual, impressions and pics entirely ours.