Best restaurants in Western Madagascar

The ‘crazy zebu’ is the most incongruous find in dusty Belo, possibly in all Madagascar. Dishes seem to come straight out of a Michelin-starred restaurant (the chef trained in prestigious kitchens in Madagascar...

Small, intimate and oh-so-delicious, Chez Madame Chabaud is a Majunga institution. Christiane (the original Madame Chabaud’s daughter) prepares a divine fusion cuisine mixing Malagasy, Creole and European...

Winning the prize for the best beach views of any restaurant in Morondava, this breezy place serves everything from tagliatelle to zebu brochettes, grilled fish and a mean smoked-fish salad. Step down the stairs...

At Chez Maggies’s thatch-roof restaurant, you can’t fault the service, or the food. House specialities revolve around the grill: be it steak, jumbo shrimp or the catch of the day, everything comes out cooked to...

This cheerful cafe-restaurant serves simple but well-prepared meals, including salads you can tuck into without hesitation and rotating plats du jour such as ravitoto (pork stew with manioc greens) or zebu stew....

Run by an Italian-Malagasy couple, this place serves consistently yummy Italian food – think lots of pastas and different sauces, and pizzas straight out of the wood-fired oven. Other good choices include crab...

If for reasons we can't quite fathom you can't eat at Mad Zebu, this place, run by the same people, is a good fall-back option and worth a mention in its own right. Zebu steak or brochette, tagliatelle with...

This friendly joint with street seating churns out excellent – and absolutely huge – pizzas with a variety of meat, fish and vegetarian toppings. It’s a couple of kilometres from the centre, but every taxi knows...

One of the best places in town for Malagasy cuisine, this place draws more locals than tourists – always a good sign. The menu runs into pages, with international dishes and fresh seafood alongside excellent...

This place is simplicity itself, with prim tablecloths, a view of the sea out the door and tasty local specialities for knock-down prices. Dishes change with market availability, but usually include fish, zebu...

There's a small, unnamed supermarket next to the Select Hotel along the main road into town. It's the best in town, and sells drinks and other basic supplies.

Assured cooking served on a pleasant deck overlooking the mangroves – Baobab is a good choice for its zebu steak, grilled prawns, spaghetti and all manner of seafood.

This hotel-restaurant is well known for its exquisite seafood, such as calamari and prawns in combava (wild lemon) sauce or grilled swordfish.

This bright, French-owned place has a good mix of dishes, from sandwiches to grilled fish, spaghetti with prawns, or zebu hamburger.

The Bougainvilliers has made a name for itself by serving Malagasy dishes and therefore attracting travellers as well as locals. You’ll find traditional dishes such as ravitoto (pork stew with manioc greens),...