Hey everyone,

Can someone point me in the right direction for the best, unique, or local restaurants in Bangkok , Dubai , and Mauritius [Mahe]?

Should I stick to egullet?

cheers,
bhd87

Isn't Mahe in the Seychelles?

Since you're looking at egullet, this may not be what you're looking for, but all three have plentiful and great local restos and street food. I am assuming you meant Mauritius and not the Seychelles. I have not been to the Seychelles so I don't know what they have. I have also found that the people at egullet have good taste (no pun intended) and that I have rarely gone wrong with using some of the suggestions.

Ooops. Im getting all the Indian Ocean islands messed up! I meant Mauritius (Port Louis).

How was the food in Mauritius?

A lot of Indian, a lot of seafood. Good in general with some nice spices and interesting flavors. Keep in mind that there are no native Mauritians. The flavors come from the people who immigrated, which were primarily indian with a smattering of african, asian (chinese), and european (french dutch and english). Most hawker food will be from the first three, especially indian, while the nicer restaurants will have much more european influence. That was my experience, anyway.

Have a good trip. Three of my favorite destinations. If you speak french, even if broken, ask the mauritian locals where to go. They speak an odd phonetic French but a good number speak english as well. If you drink rum, they have dirt cheap rotgut and the rural locals imbibe quite liberally.

I live on the streets in Bangkok, so I won't be much help there.

Dubai as well has a huge indian influence, but arab food is obviously everywhere. To find the local places, look for the locals. Restos around bus terminals are a good place to start. If you smoke, have a shisha and tea late at night out in the middle of the sidewalk.

I have a fairly sophisticated palate and a waist to prove it, but many of my most memorable meals have been sitting on a sidewalk or tree stump watching the world walk by. The people in all three places are very friendly and can probably nudge you in the right direction if in a pinch.