Best Place to Eat on the Coral Coast

Our first (and second!) meal for the new year was at EcoCafe on the Coral Coast, just past Votua village.  We stayed at the Beachouse for New Years, so it was easy access for us to visit for lunch.

Eco Cafe is a family operation run by Degei and Fabianna. The couple has brilliantly blended his Fijian and her Italian traditions of food and beverage. The setup is an open-air building made from bamboo thatching and natural materials.

The cafe sits on a beautiful beach, so while waiting for our food, we walked down to the water and watched the kids take their surfboards out.

We love the fact that they do not offer or allow soft drinks in their restaurant; this is a rarity in Fiji. Instead, they make to order a variety of fresh fruit juices, coffee and teas. Our favorite was the ginger and lemongrass tea. We also really enjoyed the lemon juice and mixed fruit juice.

Their Italian menu includes wood fired pizzas and pastas, and their Fijian menu has a variety which includes  a vegetarian section. They require advance notice on all Fijian dishes, as all of their ingredients are fresh, including the coconut milk which takes a bit of time and work. We hope they continue to offer the Fijian menu as it's a big part of what makes this place so special.

We ordered the Steak Baignani (eggplant) in miti (coconut milk with onions, tomatoes and chili) and Ota (Fijian wild fern) in miti along with a variety of root crops including dalo, tivoli, and kumala. All of the food was beautifully presented and absolutely delicious.

The family lives on the property, and the restaurant is open from 11am-9pm everyday except Wednesdays. 

We have been driving between Nadi and Suva a bit lately, and we have found this to be a great place to stop in for tea or coffee and a beautiful beach view to break up our trip. This is such an inspiring place and we would love to see more like it in Fiji!