Restaurant Of The Week: Manjar Dos Deuses, Maputo

Popular with both locals and tourists alike – and a personal favourite – Manjar dos Deuses is a strong contender for Maputo’s best restaurant, with excellent service, a stylish, contemporary feel and excellent gourmet food with top-quality ingredients.

Translated as “food of the gods,” Manjar dos Deuses’ dishes certainly wouldn’t disappoint heavenly beings. The compact Mozambican-Italian menu focuses on fish, seafood and meat, with an emphasis on high-quality ingredients and a touch of creative flair. Choose from a flavorful Mozambican prawn curry, fragrant with coriander and coconut a hint of chilli, laden with fat, juicy prawns (locals rate Manjar dos Deuses’ prawns as the best in the city) or an indulgent mushroom risotto with cooked-to-perfection fillet steak.

manjar dos deuses food

Caril De Camarao (Courtesy of Foodspotting.com)

The restaurant’s signature dishes are the beef fillet and prawns grilled on a charcoal barbecue at your outdoor table (called “carvoada”) – giving you the choice of how exactly you’d like your meat or shellfish to be cooked.

Desserts are simple but delicious. The caramel fondant, a cake that oozes warm caramel filling, is the most popular, while the unusual pumpkin fondant, mango mousse and frozen hot chocolate tart also draw rave reviews.

To complement the meal, choose from a few South African wines or Portuguese varietals, or opt instead for a delicious caipirinha cocktail or jug of sangria – which go down better than red wine in the heat and humidity of Mozambique.

Refreshingly understated and low key in comparison to some of the city’s more flashier establishments, Manjar dos Deuses has an outdoor terrace on Julius Nyerere Street, and an intimate indoor space decorated with minimalist furniture and abstract wall art. Service is professional and polished, but also unstuffy and friendly – a rare combination in Maputo.

Want to discover the finer side of Africa? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.


Leave a Comment