This is a review of a Mauritian restaurant that appeared in the Montreal Mirror in October 2003. Once I've tried the restaurant, you'll have my personal review. BTW, along with all the good things, they're calling our cuisine "strange". I wonder why... :)

Mauritian mélange
La Ravane serves sumptuous eats from the African isle
by MARK SLUTSKY

The newest restaurant in Montreal to offer the strange and varied cuisine of the island of Mauritius, La Ravane opened on the Main some months ago without much fanfare. The smallness of the crowd eating there on a recent weeknight testified to the place's unfairly overlooked status among the swarm of restos along St-Laurent. Though it's in a fairly good location, just below Duluth, the narrow front window makes it easy to miss, and the resto's décor is somewhat misleading, even if you were to peek in.

Shiny hardwood floors, fancy chairs and lots of glass give the impression that La Ravane is a would-be trendy eatery perhaps specializing in Italian dishes, which couldn't be more untrue. The restaurant offers hot, homey Mauritian fare, and the island has one of the most diverse cuisines in the world.

Off the east coast of Africa, and not so far by boat from India, Mauritius was settled variously by the Portuguese, Dutch, French and English; the cooking is an intriguing combo of African, Indian, Chinese and European influences. This gives La Ravane one of the strangest menus I've ever seen - you'll find meatballs, curries, sweet-and-sour fish, Creole steaks and kulfi ice cream all sharing space on its pages.

On a recent visit, my companions and I enjoyed dinner at La Ravane (though they do offer a completely separate lunch menu featuring inexpensive sandwiches and noodle dishes). We passed on a very good special, including an appetizer, soup, vegetable curry, dessert and coffee for $9.95, in order to order freely among the dishes.

From the appetizers (or Gojacs) we went for the chin kon yuen meatballs ($3) and the yellow pea fritters ($3), as well as the tropical salad ($4.75). The meatballs were small and spicy, and they came with a sweet vinegar dipping sauce not unlike what you might get with a plate of spring rolls. Dry on the outside and tender within, our only complaint was that we could have used a couple more. The little dark-brown, doughnut-shaped fritters tasted a whole lot like Indian pakoras, and indeed came with a dish of raita for dipping.

Most impressive, though, was the tropical salad. A large, round plate full of sliced fruit and vegetables, the salad's made up of pineapple, mango, radish, mandarin orange and cucumber, drizzled in a light mint vinaigrette. It was fresh and delightfully bright in taste, and somehow made (as one of my buddies commented) the cucumbers and the radish taste like they belonged to the fruit family.

We split three main courses between us, ordering the sweet-and-sour fish ($16.95), sausages rougaille ($12.95), and the Creole-style grilled chicken ($18). Liberally smothered in julienned carrots and cucumbers, as well as a thick plum sauce, the fish was lightly breaded and tender. It was an unusual taste sensation - when they say sweet-and-sour here, they mean it, as both flavours were strong and equally present in the mix. The Creole chicken was covered in a thick, peppery, tomato-based sauce and accompanied by rice and a super-savoury roasted tomato. Spicy and rich, the sauce made the thing, even if the chicken was a little dry.

The rougaille was really the capper though. Made with puréed tomatoes, garlic, coriander and a host of other spices, the rougaille sauce blended in with the little chunks of sausage magnificently. Definitely something to order on another visit, though next time I'd ask for the hotter version (we had chosen "medium" spiciness).

Our only real complaint about La Ravane was the time it took our food to arrive; our waitress had warned us that the Creole chicken might take as long as half an hour to arrive, but it was more like 45 minutes to an hour before we saw our food. There seemed to be only one cook on duty, which is something they really ought to change; otherwise, it's worth checking out this unusual spot.

La Ravane
ADDRESS: 3991 St-Laurent (just south of Duluth)
PHONE: 514 842-5995
HOURS: Tue-Sat 11:30AM–2:30PM,
6PM–10:30PM; Sun 6PM–10:30PM
BEST FEATURES: The international variety of spicy foods, especially the rougailles
ALCOHOL: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
NO-SMOKING SECTION: Yes
PRICE: $7–$12 per person for lunch, $10–25 per person for dinner, before tax and tip
RATING: **1/2 out of ****