March 28, 2024
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Nadi & Denarau Restaurants

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Our Nadi & Denarau restaurants of choice

Editor’s Note: The Nadi & Denarau Restaurants have undergone a major metamorphosis over the last decade. This has been captured in a review by Tasneem Hussein of My Fiji Store.

Nadi & Denarau Restaurants

Habibi Fiji Mediterranean Restaurant

Among the best of the Nadi & Denarau restaurant genre goes to Habibi – we absolutely love this place! Run by the lovely French/Tunisian couple Charlene and Yassine, this is a really friendly and unique place. When you walk in the décor is wonderful – it feels like you’ve stepped into a Mediterranean courtyard/lounge rather than a Fiji restaurant 5 minutes from Port Denarau!  TripAdvisor Reviews

Here’s the Habibi Facebook page for more info and weekly specials.

Location of Habibi

Bulaccino Café

Bulaccino care about serving fresh, quality food and it shows – that’s why we’ve rated them the Best Nadi Café. They’re real foodies, sourcing a lot of their fresh ingredients from the Bulaccino Farm. Fruit and vegetables are farm fresh, as well as the Duck, Sheep and free-range Chickens! All herbs are grown on the farm – Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano and Mint.

All their food including the sauces – Hollandaise, Béarnaise, Mushroom sauce etc are cooked fresh every day. There are no syrups used to flavour coffees or smoothies – for example if you want vanilla/cinnamon in your coffee they use natural vanilla/cinnamon. Smoothies are made from real fruit with no added sugar or syrups. Just real, natural taste and goodness.

They’ve made sure there’s something for everyone on the menu which is why we love coming here. Bulaccino offer great Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten free options. They have Vegan Cookies and Muesli Bars and make Gluten Free bread. Just let them know – they’re happy to swap out butter for Coconut or Olive oil, or cater to any other dietary requirements.

We love their all day breakfast options… what’s not to love! Favourites are poached eggs, with a side of hash browns and creamed spinach, or the Bulaccino Breakfast for a big feed. Or you could opt for the Pancake Stack, Café-made Granola or their new Viti Bowls served in Coconut shells. They also do coffee served with a splash of coconut water – delicious!

Bulaccino is great for meeting up with friends for yummy food and a bit of a chin-wag. You often see many local business people in here too having casual coffee catch ups. It’s a friendly, nice place with good food and drinks. A great spot for breakfast or having yummy food throughout the day.  TripAdvisor Reviews

For more information and videos, take a look at the Bulaccino website.

Tu’s Place

If you want to taste Fijian food Tu’s Place restaurant is a good spot to try. They offer Fijian fusion food, so you can find curries and local dishes as well as Thai and European-style dishes. The grilled fish and salad is a personal favorite; they have a salad bar so you can pick which two salads you’d like with your meal from their selection. Some of the options are Potato Salad, Pumpkin and Bean. They serve huge portions so bear that in mind when ordering, you will leave Tu’s feeling well fed and happy!

They do a mean fish and chips, and their breakfast and lunch options are good too. The Roti roll-ups are good value and tasty.

The staff are nice and friendly. If they get busy it can take a little while to get served but it’s totally worth it. On Fridays or Saturdays, make sure you go early or book a table. If you have a sweet tooth, try the Banoffee pie – extremely rich but well worth it.  TripAdvisor Reviews

Location of Tu’s Place

Small Plates

Small Plates Restaurant - Nadi & Denarau Restaurants
Small Plates Restaurant

Good, Asian food in a lovely outdoor setting. Quite a good value option too, dishes are reasonably priced and the garden setting is nice. Small Plates is kind of tucked away on the main Martintar strip opposite Jet Point, it has a lovely private feel to it and the food is tasty. It’s tucked away, making it one of the more intimate Nadi & Denarau Restaurants.

Favorites are the Won Tons and Cashew Nut chicken – delicious! Great for those wanting a nice meal without splurging too much. The only down side – take mozzie spray with you if you’re partial to getting bitten as some of the tables are in the garden area. Even with mosquito coils you might get bitten as it’s very green and natural.  TripAdvisor Reviews

Location of Small Plates

(End of Taz Hussein Blog)

The New Nadi Farmers Club

The New Nadi Farmers Club - Delicious local style pumpkin curry - Nadi & Denarau Restaurants
Delicious local style pumpkin curry at the Farmers Club. (courtesy Rob Kay)

The Club is called “new” because it’s the second incarnation of this venerable institution, which actually was a social club for cane farmers. Readers should be aware that in its current guise, it’s anything but a “farmers club”. Perhaps that makes it an official 21st century Nadi & Denarau Restaurant.

It’s now a casual restaurant/bar catering both to locals and tourists. Located on the banks of the Nadi River, the original footprint has been expanded to include a beer garden so you can dine al fresco.  They have excellent local style curries served with dhal and veggie curry, chutney and either rice or roti. Carnivores will delight in their goat curry, beef curry, sizzling beef hot plate, pork curry, pork stir fry or pork chop with fries and salad.

Seafood selections include fish & chips with salad, calamari with fries and salad, fish in lolo with cassava, prawn curry and prawn chow mein. Prices are reasonable, in the F$15-20 range for most entrees. So here’s the curious thing about this establishment. Like the mighty Nile in Egypt, the Nadi River floods on a regular basis, which means the Farmers Club has water up to its ceiling every couple of years. Once the mess is cleaned up, they are back in business.

Nana’s Cafe

Really decent, inexpensive Indian food. Just a click from the airport entrance. (Rob Kay Photo)

Nana’s is my latest find. Tucked away off Westfield Road, just a 1 km from the airport (headed towards town), this is as unpretentious as they come. It’s really more typical of the old style Nadi & Denarau restaurants. The area is clearly being built up and around what was cane fields. It’s within a 10 minute walk from the Gateway and the Trans International hotels and there’s a liquor store (Tipsy’s) across the street so you can bring over a Fiji Bitter to chase down that curry.

Despite the modest trappings (it only has a few tables), the food is consistently good and one of the few eateries that I know, especially on the lower end of the price continuim, that serves great vegetarian side dishes such as pumpkin or jackfruit. Of course they will also serve the standard curried chicken, fish, lamb, etc. They also have the best masala tea this side of Singapore. All hand ground spices. Yummy. Average meal is going to be under $F15.

We wish to thank My Fiji Store for this informative blog post. (Check out their full Blog here).  Visit their website and  discover beautiful, unique Fiji-made products.  Thanks again Gang!.   Enjoy your time in Fiji, we hope you experience some yummy food 🙂

Port Denarau Eateries

About 20 minutes down the road from Nadi is the Denarau hotel area and Port Denarau, the gateway to the Mamanuca Group. There’s some excellent food in this modern little commercial complex, which seems out of place in the rest of Fiji. The Port is in walking distance of several of the hotels and the restaurants are very popular with hotel guests who enjoy going beyond the hotel walls for their dining pleasure.

Bonefish Seafood Restaurant

Seafood platter - Bonefish Seafood Restaurant
Seafood platter with lobster, tuna, pawns, walu, squid, and chips

I love the Bonefish Seafood Restaurant because you can dine al fresco, right on the water. In the realm of Nadi & Lautoka restaurants, this is an exceptional setting. Founded by the folks who created Chefs and Saffron in Nadi, its got some of the best seafood in town. The local prawns, seasoned with salt and pepper, were tasty and fresh. (Evidently they come from Labasa, on the neighboring island of Vanua Levu). The seafood platter, which comes with lobster, tuna, pawns, walu, squid, chips and salad is undoubtedly more than one person can handle. Try the dalo (taro) fries and wash everything down with a Vonu beer. Prices in the F$20-40 range.

Cafe O

Cafe O, at the Denarau Palms - Nadi & Denarau Restaurants
Cafe O, at the Denarau Palms, offers reasonably priced items for in-house guests and visitors.

I’ve had nothing but good reports about Cafe O, an in-house eatery at the Palms Denarau which has a retro-inspired interior and an eclectic array of menu offerings. It’s within walking distance of Port Denarau. Prices are less expensive than the typical Port Denarau restaurant. You’ll pay F$45 for a large steak with potato cake and local spinach with coconut cream. A crispy skin pork belly served with a Vietnamese lemon sauce and green pawpaw salad goes for $32. Figure on dropping about F$45 for a bottle of decent red wine. Breakfast is between $10 and $25. It’s one of the few places where you’ll  find a regular crew of locals for breakfast. They’re also famous for their brownies which my friend, Fantasha, describes as “The best”.

Cardo’s Steakhouse

Cardos Restaurant - Nadi & Denarau Restaurants
Can’t beat the view or the steak at Cardos.

This Steakhouse has been a Fiji institution for years in Nadi and more recently at its newer location at Port Denarau. It’s one of the newest Nadi & Denarau restaurants and it’s on the water which is delightful. They are best known for their steaks as the name implies but they also have wood-oven pizzas and a cool, open-deck dining room overlooking the port. means yachties can dig into their  for two while keeping an eye on their rides. You can get a F$90 Giant Seafood Platter or consider their rib-eye fillets, aged tenderloins, and T-bones in any of three sizes. If Cardo is around, call him over to your table. For certain he’ll keep you entertained. The steak at Cardos ranges from $49 – $59 for only the steak while the side dishes are extra. Cardo’s also does an excellent “boatman’s brekkie” for around $15 that is very popular with the locals.

Port Denarau restaurants include:

  • – Hard Rock Cafe
    – Nadina (Authentic Fijian Restaurant)
    – BiloCCino Cafe
    – Rhum-Ba (Eclectic mix of seafood and meat)
    – Amalfi’s (Italian Restaurant)
    – Hard Rock Cafe
    – Taka (Japanese Cuisine)
    – Mamas Pizza*
    – The Kebab Shop*
    – Chicken Express*

*Eateries with asterisk are less expensive that the non-marked restaurants.

Lautoka Eateries

Even if this pate is entitled “Nadi & Denarau Restaurants”, let’s not forget about Lautoka, located a 20 minute drive from the Nadi Airport.  It’s very local compared to Nadi which is flush with tourists. If you really want to experience the real Fiji, head up north to this port town.

Blue Ginger Cafe & Bar

Blue Ginger Cafe & Bar
It’s all happening at the Blue Ginger Cafe & Bar

The Blue Ginger Cafe & Bar, located on Elizabeth square, opposite ANZ bank (Narara parade) is a coffee house. Opened in 2017, it brings a sophisticated flair to Lautoka. Entering the Blue Ginger (which is delightfully cooled with air con) is like entering a European salon. Painted in a nuanced Salmon, with a white marble floor, they offer a variety of home baked pastries such as brownies and carrot bread muffins. Its international ambience reflects the owners–a Filipina and her Swiss consort. I liked it not only for the pastries and coffee, but it attracts an eclectic clientele – young old and representing Lautoka’s ethnic melting pot.

Northern Club’s eatery–a down home Nadi & Denarau Restaurant

Home made fish soup at the NC--spicey and hot.
Home made fish soup at the NC–spicy and hot.

The Northern Club’s modest little cuisine is quite good. It’s not the flashiest of the Nadi & Denarau Restaurant scene but I like it’s off the beaten track environment.

I prefer fish and the meals prepared by Chef Clinton Ho’s staff – the pan fried walu, fish curry, and a vegetable soup with cubed walu was outstanding. The fish was always incredibly fresh. Carnivores will not feel left out. All the standard fare such as lamb chops, hamburgers, chicken chow mein, chicken burgers, steak and eggs and even chicken schnitzel are available. I had dalo on the side for every meal instead of rice or bread. This is an incredibly nutritious Fijian staple. Average price for a meal was around F$10-12. Don’t let the low prices fool you. The food is very high quality.

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