Chez Tino — Restaurant in Isle Mauritius

There is parking space for at least 4 cars in the garage below. We went upstairs but the lights were not on and we had to go find someone at the back of the restaurant to ask if it was open! We were the first customers of the night and got to pick our seats. We ordered 2 mocktails, which were quite good. For starters, we got the Poulet Miel et Sésame, which was divine! It was probably the best one I have ever had. For mains, we ordered the Seafood Thai Fried Rice, which we were told was spicy. Unfortunately, it was not! It was quite bland and the only positive from it was the fresh pineapple and prawn in it. The fish bits were quite dry and dense, which made us think it was probably not fresh. We also ordered the Camarons à la sauce Moricienne, which is a Creole-style sauce. I was amazed at the portion size, but immediately the smell did not entice me, neither did the taste afterwards. The Camarons themselves did not taste fresh either, and you could see a colour change in the tails of a few of them, which made me think they were not fresh. This was confirmed later on by the rash that my friend developed, as he only gets this with frozen seafood, and not fresh ones. This echoes some of the reviews on here, whereby customers were not served fresh seafood as advertised throughout the restaurant. An experience which started really well, but unfortunately did not end well, up to...

We've been there on Jan 2nd (public holiday) with family. We were 20 so a big group. |We were expecting to wait a while because of the number of people at our table. We waited 1 hour for the food but that's ok. We weren't in a rush and we were 20... but ...|The food came and 2 people got (wait for it) a piece of glass in their rice. Not 1. 2 people. When one of them told that to the waitress and said that they could have killed someone. The waitress with an attitude replied "I didn't kill anyone, the kitchen could have". |Then the chef came out and apologised and he was the only one that had an Ok attitude (even of he was at (big) fault). |I ordered a thai shrimp with coconut milk. See on the photo. Not sure what's thai on there or where the coconut milk is. So I said to the waiter (photo) that I don't want any free meal or whatever but that my dosh wasn't what I ordered. He rolled his eyes and just left. |We were really shocked by the attitude and bad service today. This restaurant is well known since years but I guess either they changed owner or he hired the wrong people. Worse... with covid they can't welcome tourists so they should be happy and welcoming to locals. But no. It seemed like they didn't wanna work today. Next time stay closed on a 2nd of Jan if your staff doesn't...

We drove many miles specifically to eat Chez Tino due to 2 years ago, my brother and his wife had eaten there and wanted to share the wonderful experience of delicious food. Disappointingly, not this time. The papaya salad was good as was the smoked marlin with palm heart. The real let down were the main courses, the sizzling octopus sizzled in disguised. Far too chewy to digest hiding in a bed of chinese mushrooms, the paella consisted of dried up bits of fish, rubbery prawns and a crab claw with no tools to crack, appearing simply as an ornament. The rice was cold and the lentil was awful, very muddy. The paella cold, as well as tasted old, looked days old, possibly frozen and reheated. The owner passed the buck to his staff and hid. Customer care totally lacking and we should have refused to pay for the abominable main courses. The view was excellent. Apparently, the chef has changed from 2 years ago. We will not be...