Rip-Off

Funky Little Roadster For Rent ...

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... but extremely pricey, and really not worth it for putting around such a tiny little island.

Big Ass Hermit Crab ...

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... This one was the size of a small orange.

Another Roulotte ...

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... these really are the places for a cheap meal in these islands - had we known how large they were, we would've just split one. Awesome lamb merguez, and a surprisingly good tuna sandwich, bursting with veg - lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers.

Roulotte! ...

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... Eating with our feet in the sand, with chickens clucking away nearby, completed the ambiance.

Best Roasted Chicken Ever ...

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... at La Paillote - the half chicken with fries was more than enough to feed two people, and the chicken jus served with it, well, you could drink it with a straw! So flavourful ... and cheap!

Island Salad at the Sofitel ...

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... local prawns, raw tuna, crab meat, snow peas, avocado, pineapple, coconut, ginger, coriander, pina colada emulsion - a pretty fantastic salad, with all manner of seafood and fruits and vegetables. The prawns and crab were the highlights.

Seafood Degustation ...

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... tuna sashimi, poisson cru, tuna tartare, sweet potatoes, and smoked fish salad. The sashimi and tartare were fantastic, featuring some truly top-notch fish.

Pineapple Ravioli ...

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... With pina colada emulsion, coconut sherbet, and homemade Bounty. We were a bit surprised, actually expecting a pineapple-stuffed ravioli of sorts, but not thin slices of pineapple stuffed with a coconut mixture! Coconut seems to lend itself more to an ice cream than a sherbet, and a creamy ice cream might have paired better with the dessert. The Bounty was good, but not significantly different from the candy bar version.

Perfect Profiteroles ...

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... Almost always disappointing, but not today - a rather simple, but excellent dessert.

Soup Ingredients ...

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... think we could make a soup out of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and salt and pepper? It's the only way we can save some money on food in French Polynesia!

Steamed Fish, Scallops, Shrimp w/ Sesame Oil ...

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... A bit plain, but it's hard to fault such high-quality and perfectly-cooked seafood. While not the fanciest hotel, our choice of the Hotel Hibiscus was an excellent one, due to its close proximity to good restaurants like Mayflower.

Lobster Ravioli ...

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... in a cream sauce. The pasta dough was a bit undercooked, but still delicious.

Salad With All Things Duck ...

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... Gizzard, foie gras, and smoked duck. Excellent, the gizzards surprisingly so, and the apples helped cut through the richness of the duck, and livened up an otherwise bland and simple selection of veggies.

Best Lagoon Excursion Lunch of the Whole Trip ...

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... The lagoon excursion is a must for any visitor here, and can be done on every island, but the lunches ... most were mediocre, except on Hiro's Tour. The quality of the food more than made up for the crowded tour. Pasta salad, poisson cru (the Tahitian version of ceviche), rice, super sweet pineapple, pomelo, and the best barbecued chicken and tuna, continually basted while it cooked with a sweet, teriyaki-like sauce.

If They Only Knew ...

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... Those poor chickens. Did they know that their brethren were being slowly barbecued, right before their eyes? The chefs did assure us that all their chicken was frozen, and shipped in from the US, not freshly-slaughtered.