- Bib Gourmand, Eat, Italian Restaurant
- Share
Inti: Over Sold, Under Delivers
INTI, LUX* Grand Gaube, Coastal Road, Grand Gaube 30617, Mauritius. 3 starters, 1 main, 1 side dish, 2 cocktails, 1 bottle Riesling, 1 glass rose champagne: MUR8970 (US$250, £207, EUR229, AED920).
The Highs
The Lows
The Highs
Superb decor that modernises colonial architectural features
Focused good cocktail menu
The cheese bread is astonishingly good
The Lows
Surprisingly booked up!
Food is inconsistent and underwhelming partly aggravated by the hype conjured in the hotel
Service works hard but they need more staff to help with
Inti: The Experience
Well, INTI is certainly lauded by LUX* Grande Gaube as the best restaurant in the resort. Almost everyone we spoke who works at the hotel was falling over themselves to remind us how special INTI is.
It is also well regarded as one of the best restaurants in Mauritius. TripAdvisor rankings award it the first-place position with 130 reviews out of 1000+ restaurants in effortlessly beautiful Mauritius (true at the time of this review). It took me three nights to get a 7.30 pm seating despite being guests at the LUX* Grand Gaube. The anticipation was growing: all restless feet and yearning taste buds. I was looking forward to an evening of fine dining and acidulated seafood.
Inti’s Concept
Mrs EatGoSee and I are no strangers to Peruvian or Argentine food. The surging popularity of Peruvian food over the last few years suggests we were not alone in our interest. There are even Peruvian restaurants firmly sitting in the top 10 Worlds 50 Best (also true as of the time of this review).
I am no stranger to Peruvian or Argentine food, but certainly no expert. The surging global popularity of Peruvian food speaks for itself. It is curious that LUX* Grand Gaube opts to jump aboard this bandwagon vs offering a contemporary Creole or Mauritian restaurant. I understand as, in some ways, it makes sense to give guests something that that will want and instantly recognize. Peruvian cuisine still feels novel and special as its popularity has not yet achieved ubiquity. The world wants a little taste of Peru.
INTI’s menu sets the scene assuring that the menu is a calibrated hybrid of the “simplicity and precision” of Japanese cuisine with the opulence of Peruvian ingredients. Nikkei cuisine focuses on fresh fish which is gently acidulated in citrus marinades resulting in the now ubiquitous ceviche. Peru is a country gifted with 4000 varieties of potato, 2000 species of fish and 30 microclimates. It’s a cornucopia of choice and flavour brought to you in North Mauritius.
The bread comes with a rock-hard spiced butter that is impenetrable with anything yet designed on this planet.
First we start with drinks
Aperitifs make for a civilized start to proceedings. Inti’s #847 is a modern interpretation of the infamous Peruvian / Chilean Pisco Sour. Pisco is a Peruvian brandy made from grapes. Pisco is a Quechua word meaning ‘bird’. The fermentation method was introduced by Spanish Conquistadors to Peru resulting in a colourless brandy used to make Pisco Sours.
Now you can be assured that I have put many selfless hours of Pisco sour sampling in as many bars as I could manage. I do this for you and you alone. This #847 is light, smooth with a gentle warming spice that builds to a purr. My favourite Pisco Sour so far is at Coya in Dubai with the additional palate-pleasing twang of passion fruit lifted with aromatic bitters (another blog post for another day). The #847 is a notable Pisco Sour.
We are brought bar snacks with cocktails: mandolin-thin slices of fried plantain (a theme running through the whole evening) with homemade potato crisps (the variety undisclosed). We are also brought a spicy beef sampler which pairs nicely with the #847.
The bar area is a modern interpretation of colonial architecture: contrasting light wooden beams brightened with white painted beams. The bar is gently lit with high seafoam bar stools with thin grey legs and lower seating available for groups. Yet it is warmed with potted palm trees, oversized portraits of indigenous Peruvian people It is the most intimate of the bars at LUX* Grand Gaube.
I would gladly return to the INTI bar for drinks – and so should you if you find yourself in North Mauritius.
We head over to a long-awaited dinner
INTI’s dining room is a stark, swift contrast to the bar. The dining room is brightly lit: chandeliers dangle like a Great Gatsby speakeasy then an incandescent, red neon fluorescent “PISCO” light reminds you its 2019. The grey and red patterned tiles stretch across the flooring throughout. This is more of a busy Hollywood scene than the cooler sanctuary of the bar area.
From the start: INTI does not offer a tasting menu. This is an obvious and missing trick. A restaurant that offers a broad range of small plates and few mains just demands for a tasting menu to relieve the guests of making choices. It also saves embarrassment for those who are unfamiliar with Peruvian food and wish to those their fate to the kitchen, with trust. A tasting menu also helps the kitchen to focus in on a few dishes that will get better and better as they are pumped out with practice and repetition.
My first recommendation to INTI is: get a tasting menu together, maybe even more than one.
The menu focuses on tapas (para picar), causas (potato-based dishes with assorted toppings), tacos, ceviches and grilled mains, oh and dessert.
I seldom take time to talk about the bread course. What looks like a giant roast cauliflower floret is really a gooey, crusty, dense parmesan cheese bread roll. This is a handheld fat parcel of unmitigated pleasure. Comfort food and carbs served casually and without warning. The bread comes with a rock-hard spiced butter that is impenetrable with anything yet designed on this planet.
At its core, INTI is good, but not great. There are a number of well-known Peruvian restaurants globally from the world-famous (and 50 World’s Best) Lima to the popular Coya with locations in Dubai, London and more. These establishments will be known to the clientele who come to LUX* Grand Gaube creating a direct point of comparison. The fetishising by the staff goading us towards booking adds to the expectation that INTI is truly remarkable. A balloon is slowly but firmly inflated with anticipation to only be released and heard quietly whizzing around a room with every served course. INTI does not sustain the hyperbolic reviews on TripAdvisor nor the nodding from LUX* staff that uniformly insist it’s a must-visit.
INTI’s Highlights
Glimmers of joy appear as Mrs EatGoSee and I nod at each other audible appreciation munching through the crunchy pork belly glistening fat (but see lowlights below). The mixed seafood ceviche is tender in pools of leche de tigre (but, again, see lowlights). The Chilean seabass is a thick wedge with petals of soft fish pulling away with every forkful held together by crispy skin. The hibachi tuna is delicate, sweet and dotted with roasted, dried corn kernels adding crunch and gentle char flavour.
The causa divided us: I loved the polenta like-texture of the mashed yellow potato topped with avocado purée encircling spiced chicken. In fact, you could remove the chicken all together leaving a delicious vegetarian (maybe vegan) dish. Mrs EatGoSee felt the causa was a hot dish in spirit left out to be cold.
We poorly paired the spiced potatoes side dish with the Chilean seabass; we expected chilli and fiery heat but received a punch of coriander seed and something closer to a masala. This would be perfect for a charred hunk of rib eye demanding to go ten rounds with a robust side dish. Alas, the Chilean sea bass here just quivers at the thought.
Inti’s Lowlights
Yet many dishes still feel like work in progress. A kitchen should explore unusual pairings in search of something new and pleasing. I am cautious to chastise restaurants for being daring (unless it obviously does not work). I sense INTI is still, however, two to three hundred metres into a four hundred metre race.
The ceviche pairings were strained at times. The truffle-infused tuna ceviche is an earthy light mushroom dish that overwhelms a subtle, delicate tuna. The tuna may as well not be there frankly. This is not the only observation about the ceviche. This is a mixed seafood ceviche featuring tuna, prawn and mussels. Each is jewelled with spherified pearls of coffee. This is novel but left me divided and unconvinced it does much for a selection of seafood. Keep in mind there is also truffle-infusions for tuna. There is a lot of skill and premium ingredient on display but there is a marked absence of restraint that usually comes with an experienced kitchen.
I love crispy pork as much as anyone. There are few things more satisfying that whisper of smokiness from the charring. Yet this pork crosses the rubicon into, first, just tasting burnt and, second and unforgivably, dry. Dry pork belly in a signature restaurant and – supposedly – one of the best in Mauritius? This is sharp counter-evidence to the ‘simplicity and precision’ they take time to call out in their menu concept. The sauce can not resuscitate the whole dish.
Service is a mixed picture
The service is friendly, amiable and engaging. Yet, the service here is clearly overwhelmed; they could do with an additional 1-2 people supporting the restaurant floor. The waiters were unable to quickly complete basic tasks like changing plates, getting drinks or confirming ingredients on a menu. Their intentions are clear: they want to support and make your experience enjoyable. The service is a joy when they are with you. They just need more people to lighten the load.
Bring On the Food
Would I return to INTI?
INTI strikes me as a victim of both its hype. This is aggravated by the fact that expectations are goaded with by staff recommendations, generous online reviews, its fine dining appearances, de rigueur Peruvian cuisine and brave menu choices that exude confidence. I am not rushing back and I did not go back while I was staying at the LUX* Grand Gaube during my eight glorious days in Mauritius.
You May Also Like
Loading...
- Arabic Restaurants, Casual Dining, Dubai Restaurants, Eat
- Dubai Restaurants, Eat, Fine Dining, Japanese Restaurants, Michelin Guide Dubai, Spanish Restaurants