Vanuatu: Port Vila Market

Port Vila Market is a rather wonderful place. Located smack-bang in the centre of town, it sells an eye-popping array of local fruit and vegetables, flowers, delicious meals, laplap and other Ni-Vanuatu dishes. Business starts at 7am on Monday mornings, then continues around-the-clock until midday on Saturday. Yes peoples, that means it is a 24-hour market! Prices are clearly marked, there is no haggling, and no-one hassles you to buy anything. It is awesome.





And now for some close-ups of the produce...

Flowers, Stove Charcoal stoves

Coconuts; Eggplants and Capsicums
Papayas; Ginger
Guavas; Local Nuts
Woven baskets of yams; Taro and banana chips (oh yeah!)

Only 200VT for a whole punnet? Yes please!!!

These wild raspberries were gorgeous! I read that the season ends at the start of November, so we were lucky to find them. They were a little tart, the drupes were a lot finer than regular raspberries (it's a real word, look it up here), and they were also a lot firmer. (Most of them survived the day in a plastic bag in my backpack, without a proper container).
Lettuce and other veggies; some sort of root vegetable
Bananas; Pomelos with the prices written in marker pen


The LapLap Stands


Laplap, as I will have told you before, is the national dish of Vanuatu - a doughy paste of different root vegetables, wrapped in local cabbage and banana leaves and cooked in an underground oven. They will usually be cooked with coconut milk, and possibly a small piece of meat. A lot of work if you were doing it yourself, but luckily for us they can also be purchased for 200VT at the market. There is a whole row of tables selling various types of laplap, lined with banana leaves, and staffed by ladies wearing the traditional Mother Hubbard dresses and hairnets.

Laplap with chicken wing

Mixed root veggies with one chicken wing

CORN!

Laplap with island cabbage and chicken wing - that's the one I chose!

I was very keen to try one, but also a bit nervous about eating them in front of the locals. What if I didn't like it? Or couldn't finish it? Or just made a douche of myself eating it the wrong way? In the end I took mine down to the nearby park to eat in relative privacy.

Here is the lady wrapping up my laplap:


And here it is!

I opened it up on my lap, and tore small pieces of it with my fingers to eat. This left my hands terribly sticky, and I later realised that you're supposed to wrap the banana leaf around the dough, like a pocket, and take bites off the side, like a sandwich or a souvlaki. D'oh! The dough had a slightly grainy texture, which reminded me of one of the kuih my mum makes with grated taro in it. It also had coconut milk soaked into it - delicious!

The dough, as you can imagine, was very dense. I could only get through about half of it before I admitted defeat. I have come to the conclusion that the Ni-Vans can do serious carbs.


The Food Stalls

Towards the back of the market are several hot food stands, with long benches and communal tables. We weren't quite sure at first how it all worked, as there are no signs or menus. We discreetly asked some Aussie tourists what to do. Each stall sells something different, just ask what's on offer and sit down! It was usually meat or fish, with gravy and rice, 350VT for a plate. (And if anyone is wondering, yes, this is the same price that the locals are charged - I looked!)


Please, please don't be like the snobby old couple we met on a kayaking tour. When we asked them, rather enthusiastically, "Have you eaten at the market yet?", the lady scrunched up her face in disgust and said, "Oh goodness, no!"

I don't get why you would go on holiday just to eat restaurant meals at your five-star resort. I mean, I know we don't all have iron stomachs like me (heheh), and it's important to be careful, but seriously, live a little! Or at least don't look so disgusted at what the locals eat. Sheesh. That lady does not know what she is missing.

On our first lunch-time visit, we went to this guy's stall, for veal chops.
I know, how good does that look! One plate was more than enough for 2 of us to share, and had meltingly soft veal chops, onions, deeply flavoured gravy and a starchy vegetable. (Possibly white sweet potato?) It was extremely tasty and comforting.

I loved his giant pot of stew, and thought it looked so cool! I was overcome with a sudden desire to wave a 1000VT note in his face and scream "ME ME ME!!!!", but I restrained myself, haha!! Anyway, he was super friendly, and letting us know that if we wanted any more rice or gravy, all we had to do was ask.

We noticed that the locals' plates looked a bit different from ours - for locals, he just plonked the rice and stew on the plate, but for us he made it all pretty, with the rice in an upended bowl shape and the stew arranged around it. How sweet!

Next time, we tried the food at this lovely lady's stall.


Her name is Malena, and we discovered that she makes the BEST steak. During our trip, we came back twice more!

She also has some pretty kick-ass chilli...

The top picture is Malena's chicken, with veggies and rice. She said she didn't have enough chicken to make up a full plate, so added some beef. (I'm not sure what part of the beef it was, I'm thinking it was something like knuckle - heaps of gelatinous bits and soft, soft meat). Below is her steak - one large thin piece of beef, with a delicious savoury sauce. Malena also served pickled veggies with her meals, which were delicious.

Like our first guy, Malena was really nice, offering us extra rice and gravy if we wanted it. She also made our plates pretty too, and sat down and had a chat with us. I've been to some countries where you get treated pretty shabbily if you're a tourist or foreigner, and I thought it was just lovely that these guys at the market were so friendly.

Another thing we tried was peanut butter bread. Odd, I know, but seeing those stalls just really reminded me of Penang and I had to try some. For 100VT you get 2 massive slices of bread with margarine and peanut butter (or jam), and a stein of (instant) coffee. Very simple, yes, but it made my heart sing.


Two massive pieces of bread after slicing.

The stein - you can see the stall in the background.


Coconuts

Coconuts are everywhere in Vanuatu, and super-duper cheap at the market! Depending on the size, they range from 20VT to approx 60VT.

These ones below are drinking coconuts. They're a bit older than the green "fresh coconut" we get in Penang, and you can't scoop out the insides with a spoon. They are, however, full of delicious coconut water!


If you ask, they will cut a hole in the top so you can drink it straight away.

This young dude, below, didn't cut our coconut, but I just had to share this picture with you. He was preparing coconuts. See that massive knife he's wielding? I was absolutely petrified that he'd cut his fingers, but of course, no such thing occurred. I'm in awe of his skill!

We couldn't finish the whole coconut at once, so we took it back to our resort, and Steve the barman very kindly cut it open for us. He split it in half along the middle, and cut the flesh into a big spiral shape. I wish I had that kind of dexterity!

Of course, we poured the rest of the coconut water into a glass first.

We took the coconut back to our room and ate it on the porch, watching the waves come in.
Very juicy, sweet coconut.

No thick brown skin on the flesh!

I miss the market now that I'm home!

Port Vila Market is a rather wonderful place. Located smack-bang in the centre of town, it sells an eye-popping array of local fruit and vegetables, flowers, delicious meals, laplap and other Ni-Vanuatu dishes. Business starts at 7am on Monday mornings, then continues around-the-clock until midday on Saturday. Yes peoples, that means it is a 24-hour market! Prices are clearly marked, there is no haggling, and no-one hassles you to buy anything. It is awesome.





And now for some close-ups of the produce...

Flowers, Stove Charcoal stoves

Coconuts; Eggplants and Capsicums
Papayas; Ginger
Guavas; Local Nuts
Woven baskets of yams; Taro and banana chips (oh yeah!)

Only 200VT for a whole punnet? Yes please!!!

These wild raspberries were gorgeous! I read that the season ends at the start of November, so we were lucky to find them. They were a little tart, the drupes were a lot finer than regular raspberries (it's a real word, look it up here), and they were also a lot firmer. (Most of them survived the day in a plastic bag in my backpack, without a proper container).
Lettuce and other veggies; some sort of root vegetable
Bananas; Pomelos with the prices written in marker pen


The LapLap Stands


Laplap, as I will have told you before, is the national dish of Vanuatu - a doughy paste of different root vegetables, wrapped in local cabbage and banana leaves and cooked in an underground oven. They will usually be cooked with coconut milk, and possibly a small piece of meat. A lot of work if you were doing it yourself, but luckily for us they can also be purchased for 200VT at the market. There is a whole row of tables selling various types of laplap, lined with banana leaves, and staffed by ladies wearing the traditional Mother Hubbard dresses and hairnets.

Laplap with chicken wing

Mixed root veggies with one chicken wing

CORN!

Laplap with island cabbage and chicken wing - that's the one I chose!

I was very keen to try one, but also a bit nervous about eating them in front of the locals. What if I didn't like it? Or couldn't finish it? Or just made a douche of myself eating it the wrong way? In the end I took mine down to the nearby park to eat in relative privacy.

Here is the lady wrapping up my laplap:


And here it is!

I opened it up on my lap, and tore small pieces of it with my fingers to eat. This left my hands terribly sticky, and I later realised that you're supposed to wrap the banana leaf around the dough, like a pocket, and take bites off the side, like a sandwich or a souvlaki. D'oh! The dough had a slightly grainy texture, which reminded me of one of the kuih my mum makes with grated taro in it. It also had coconut milk soaked into it - delicious!

The dough, as you can imagine, was very dense. I could only get through about half of it before I admitted defeat. I have come to the conclusion that the Ni-Vans can do serious carbs.


The Food Stalls

Towards the back of the market are several hot food stands, with long benches and communal tables. We weren't quite sure at first how it all worked, as there are no signs or menus. We discreetly asked some Aussie tourists what to do. Each stall sells something different, just ask what's on offer and sit down! It was usually meat or fish, with gravy and rice, 350VT for a plate. (And if anyone is wondering, yes, this is the same price that the locals are charged - I looked!)


Please, please don't be like the snobby old couple we met on a kayaking tour. When we asked them, rather enthusiastically, "Have you eaten at the market yet?", the lady scrunched up her face in disgust and said, "Oh goodness, no!"

I don't get why you would go on holiday just to eat restaurant meals at your five-star resort. I mean, I know we don't all have iron stomachs like me (heheh), and it's important to be careful, but seriously, live a little! Or at least don't look so disgusted at what the locals eat. Sheesh. That lady does not know what she is missing.

On our first lunch-time visit, we went to this guy's stall, for veal chops.
I know, how good does that look! One plate was more than enough for 2 of us to share, and had meltingly soft veal chops, onions, deeply flavoured gravy and a starchy vegetable. (Possibly white sweet potato?) It was extremely tasty and comforting.

I loved his giant pot of stew, and thought it looked so cool! I was overcome with a sudden desire to wave a 1000VT note in his face and scream "ME ME ME!!!!", but I restrained myself, haha!! Anyway, he was super friendly, and letting us know that if we wanted any more rice or gravy, all we had to do was ask.

We noticed that the locals' plates looked a bit different from ours - for locals, he just plonked the rice and stew on the plate, but for us he made it all pretty, with the rice in an upended bowl shape and the stew arranged around it. How sweet!

Next time, we tried the food at this lovely lady's stall.


Her name is Malena, and we discovered that she makes the BEST steak. During our trip, we came back twice more!

She also has some pretty kick-ass chilli...

The top picture is Malena's chicken, with veggies and rice. She said she didn't have enough chicken to make up a full plate, so added some beef. (I'm not sure what part of the beef it was, I'm thinking it was something like knuckle - heaps of gelatinous bits and soft, soft meat). Below is her steak - one large thin piece of beef, with a delicious savoury sauce. Malena also served pickled veggies with her meals, which were delicious.

Like our first guy, Malena was really nice, offering us extra rice and gravy if we wanted it. She also made our plates pretty too, and sat down and had a chat with us. I've been to some countries where you get treated pretty shabbily if you're a tourist or foreigner, and I thought it was just lovely that these guys at the market were so friendly.

Another thing we tried was peanut butter bread. Odd, I know, but seeing those stalls just really reminded me of Penang and I had to try some. For 100VT you get 2 massive slices of bread with margarine and peanut butter (or jam), and a stein of (instant) coffee. Very simple, yes, but it made my heart sing.


Two massive pieces of bread after slicing.

The stein - you can see the stall in the background.


Coconuts

Coconuts are everywhere in Vanuatu, and super-duper cheap at the market! Depending on the size, they range from 20VT to approx 60VT.

These ones below are drinking coconuts. They're a bit older than the green "fresh coconut" we get in Penang, and you can't scoop out the insides with a spoon. They are, however, full of delicious coconut water!


If you ask, they will cut a hole in the top so you can drink it straight away.

This young dude, below, didn't cut our coconut, but I just had to share this picture with you. He was preparing coconuts. See that massive knife he's wielding? I was absolutely petrified that he'd cut his fingers, but of course, no such thing occurred. I'm in awe of his skill!

We couldn't finish the whole coconut at once, so we took it back to our resort, and Steve the barman very kindly cut it open for us. He split it in half along the middle, and cut the flesh into a big spiral shape. I wish I had that kind of dexterity!

Of course, we poured the rest of the coconut water into a glass first.

We took the coconut back to our room and ate it on the porch, watching the waves come in.
Very juicy, sweet coconut.

No thick brown skin on the flesh!

I miss the market now that I'm home!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Vanuatu: Breakas

Yes, that is where we ate breakfast, one fine Vanuatu morning. I'll pause so you can appreciate the gorgeousness of that setting...

Breakas Beach Resort & Villas
Pango Road
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Ph: +678 23670
Website



Breakas is a gorgeous little resort about 5 minutes out of town, located on a strip of lovely beach with a coral reef and surfable waves. There is a wide range of accommodation in Port Vila, from the big hotels and resorts, small apartments, motels and more. We chose Breakas partly on the recommendation of our travel-agent friend who stayed there once (Hi Danny!!!), but mainly after seeing the amazing photo of its infinity pool on the website. I know, WOW. The fact that it had a swim-up bar and a no-kid policy sealed the deal. When we got there, the pool bar was closed for renovations, but everything else was just as wonderful as we hoped it would be.


The Rooms

The bulk of the rooms are these cute little individual bungalow-huts. They also have larger, self-sufficient villas with 2 levels, their own pools and more amenities, if that's your kind of thing. Our little bungalow was beach front, which meant beautiful views!

Beautiful flower/water box thing for washing sand off your feet before you enter your bungalow.

The huts were beautiful and simple - just 2 rooms. There was a fan but no air-con, but luckily it never was that hot at night anyway.
A mosquito net counts as very exotic for me.

Funky semi-outdoor bathroom!
The coral walls made it feel appealingly 'village', and you could see the sky from the shower! Lovely when its sunny, apparently not that good when it's raining. We were lucky not to encounter any great rain on our trip. I found the hot water supply to be a little erratic sometimes, but it wasn't a huge problem. The open ceiling, however, does mean you can occasionally get little 'friends' coming in. I found a small crab in our sink one morning, which, I'm not too embarrassed to admit, sent me screaming out of the hut. One of the lovely staff members got rid of it for us. (And I'm pretty sure laughed at me - the crab was less than 10cm across, haha).


The Food

The resort's restaurant, right next to the pool, is in the centre of the resort. It is where breakfast is served, and where you can purchase bar meals or dinner. (We never got around to doing the bar meal thing, as there were too many great options in town. The only time we could try a bar meal, they were doing a buffet lunch instead. Oh well!)

Breakfasts (included in our deal) were a small but satisfying buffet of fresh fruits, juices, toast, cereals, muffins, some pastries, tea and coffee.


Hot breakfasts were available, but you had to order and pay for them separately. You could purchase espresso coffee too, but I don't see why you'd do that when there's perfectly good, reliable, consistent filter coffee available. (Espresso coffees, on the other hand, are notoriously difficult to get right). We tried the hot breakfasts in the morning before a rather active kayak trip, for extra sustenance.


Eggs Benedict with roasted tomatoes, toast and "pancetta" - 950VT

Eggs Benedict in the South Pacific - could it get any more James Bond than this?

Banana Crepes - 750VT

I really liked the crepes - why does the fruit in Vanuatu taste so much sweeter?


We had dinner at the restaurant twice.

Looks a bit different at night, eh?

Champagne always equals celebration and good times.

Garlic bread - 500VT

Malekula Oysters with watercress - 1500VT

The oysters were very fresh tasty, but I wasn't a fan of the species - they were very thin and flat, and very difficult to get out of the shells.

Grilled whole poulet fish served with roast potatoes - 2400VT

This poulet fish was, unbelievably, not ordered by me, but by "she who does not eat fish or seafood". I know!! It wasn't filleted or deep-fried or anything! She even finished most of it. Very proud of you, Sandra! Before our trip, we'd read about Vanuatu's native poulet fish, so called because it apparently tastes like chicken, and Sandra really wanted to try it. (I ate it many times over the holiday, as it is served everywhere). I wouldn't say it tastes exactly like chicken, but it was very mild in taste, and meaty in texture.

Scotch fillet with prawn sauce, served with fries and salad - 2900VT

Yes, yes yes. Amazing steak, fresh prawns and creamy chive sauce. The beef in Vanuatu is amazing! It's so tender, and has the most wonderful taste, even when cooked well done. (Don't gasp, I always have my steak rare!) Vanuatu has happy organic Carolais and Limousin cows grazing in its gorgeous islands. *Sigh* I love that all the food we ate was locally grown and sourced.

Lobster - 3200VT

You can see how delicious that lobster was. Enough said.

Eaten but not photographed was a "Penang chicken curry" for 2000VT. It didn't taste like anything I've eaten back home in Penang, but it still tasted good!

Crème brûlée - 1200VT

The caramel atop the custard was a little too thick for my liking, but the custard itself had a wonderful deep vanilla flavour.


The Melanesian Feast

Every Wednesday night Breakas does a Melanesian feast. Lots of resorts, restaurants and tour operators offer similar feasts, but we got a free feast included in our accommodation package so we tried the one at Breakas. From memory it was 3500VT to pay for it separately.

The Melanesian feast commences with Kava tasting...


Kava is a drink made from the root of an island plant, which is drunk for its sedative and relaxing effect. Traditionally the liquid was extracted by getting virgin boys to chew the pulp and spit it out, but Jonathan, the customer relations manager, assured us that ours was ground by machine, hehe. It looks like dirty dish water, and doesn't taste much better. This is why you can see the plate of papaya chasers in the above photo. If freshly cut fruit aren't available, Sprite is a good substitute.

Kava bars are very popular on Efate island, designated with a red light outside the building. Lots of the local guys we met drink it almost every night. Traditionally women aren't allowed to drink it, but you shouldn't have a problem finding it in Port Vila. We even bought powdered to bring home, and my bro seems to like it a lot. He loves reggae too, what an Island boy!

There was a cultural band too. I loved the Foival piano and big box bass. These guys represent Vanuatu in cultural exhibitions around the world!


Now, the food.
Top: Baked fish
Bottom: Beef skewers, Chicken wings

Top: Amazing beef curry, Baked cassava stuffed with mince
Bottom: Baked banana laplap, Baked root vegetables

Snake beans stuffed with mince, Island cabbage stuffed with banana

Also on offer were a creamy pumpkin soup, Tahitian fish salad, potato salad, coleslaw, green bean salad and rice. Dessert was a simple mixed fruit salad.

The food was delicious, and I thought that the Melanesian feast was a great way for us tourists to introduce ourselves to 'exotic' Vanuatu food. Baked cassava, island cabbage and the national dish of laplap - a doughy mix of root vegetables cooked in banana leaves on charcoal - are all wonderful, but can definitely be an acquired taste for Western palates.


The Bar

Breakas has a bar with a small yet well-rounded cocktail list and selection of spirits. When we were there, the new F&B manager Ross was in the middle of revising and expanding the list, so if any of you guys end up going, I hope you will enjoy it!


Tusker is, of course, on the menu (550VT), and all the cocktails are pretty and island-themed - little umbrellas, fruit wedges and flowers galore!

Can't remember what this cocktail was called - Island Dream or something like that.

I'm pretty sure they can do all the standards too (Long Island Ice Teas, Toblerones etc). If the lovely barman Steve is there, ask for one of his special off-the-menu creations - delicious.


The Views and the Water

The 2-storey villas, on the other side of the restaurant/pool/reception from our hut. Check out the clear clear water.

And at night...

The infinity pool, with ocean on the right, and the (under-construction) pool bar. Breakfast/dinner tables on the left.

And at night...

The infinity pool falling into the Pacific Ocean...

Breakas is right in front of a coral reef, so it's a great spot for snorkelling, especially during high tide. We could borrow gear for free and went a couple of times, spotting lots of blue starfish and heaps of other fish. It's possible to surf further out, but I think you need to bring your own gear, as I vaguely recall reading somewhere that there are no places to hire surfing gear on Port Vila.


The Conclusion

I absolutely loved Breakas. We did visit a couple of other resorts during our holiday, to have dinner and drinks, but I am so glad we chose Breakas to stay. It's a little smaller than the big resorts (Iririki, Le Lagon etc), but I loved its friendly, intimate vibe. The staff were so nice and friendly! For example, one time we were standing outside the resort waiting for a bus at night, and the owner spotted us on his way out, and gave us a lift into town! How nice! I can't imagine a manager at a Westin/Hyatt/Shangri-La doing that; it's just a totally different style. We had a chat with him in the car, and he said he purposely keeps the resort small to maintain the atmosphere. (Technically it's 3 stars, but it feels so much more luxurious).

The accommodation package we bought was pretty good, and had lots of inclusions, like a free bottle of champagne, village tour, breakfasts, massages, the Melanesian feast and more. I assume these deals change frequently, so probably best to contact the resort or your travel agent if you're interested.

And don't forget that view...

Yes, that is where we ate breakfast, one fine Vanuatu morning. I'll pause so you can appreciate the gorgeousness of that setting...

Breakas Beach Resort & Villas
Pango Road
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Ph: +678 23670
Website



Breakas is a gorgeous little resort about 5 minutes out of town, located on a strip of lovely beach with a coral reef and surfable waves. There is a wide range of accommodation in Port Vila, from the big hotels and resorts, small apartments, motels and more. We chose Breakas partly on the recommendation of our travel-agent friend who stayed there once (Hi Danny!!!), but mainly after seeing the amazing photo of its infinity pool on the website. I know, WOW. The fact that it had a swim-up bar and a no-kid policy sealed the deal. When we got there, the pool bar was closed for renovations, but everything else was just as wonderful as we hoped it would be.


The Rooms

The bulk of the rooms are these cute little individual bungalow-huts. They also have larger, self-sufficient villas with 2 levels, their own pools and more amenities, if that's your kind of thing. Our little bungalow was beach front, which meant beautiful views!

Beautiful flower/water box thing for washing sand off your feet before you enter your bungalow.

The huts were beautiful and simple - just 2 rooms. There was a fan but no air-con, but luckily it never was that hot at night anyway.
A mosquito net counts as very exotic for me.

Funky semi-outdoor bathroom!
The coral walls made it feel appealingly 'village', and you could see the sky from the shower! Lovely when its sunny, apparently not that good when it's raining. We were lucky not to encounter any great rain on our trip. I found the hot water supply to be a little erratic sometimes, but it wasn't a huge problem. The open ceiling, however, does mean you can occasionally get little 'friends' coming in. I found a small crab in our sink one morning, which, I'm not too embarrassed to admit, sent me screaming out of the hut. One of the lovely staff members got rid of it for us. (And I'm pretty sure laughed at me - the crab was less than 10cm across, haha).


The Food

The resort's restaurant, right next to the pool, is in the centre of the resort. It is where breakfast is served, and where you can purchase bar meals or dinner. (We never got around to doing the bar meal thing, as there were too many great options in town. The only time we could try a bar meal, they were doing a buffet lunch instead. Oh well!)

Breakfasts (included in our deal) were a small but satisfying buffet of fresh fruits, juices, toast, cereals, muffins, some pastries, tea and coffee.


Hot breakfasts were available, but you had to order and pay for them separately. You could purchase espresso coffee too, but I don't see why you'd do that when there's perfectly good, reliable, consistent filter coffee available. (Espresso coffees, on the other hand, are notoriously difficult to get right). We tried the hot breakfasts in the morning before a rather active kayak trip, for extra sustenance.


Eggs Benedict with roasted tomatoes, toast and "pancetta" - 950VT

Eggs Benedict in the South Pacific - could it get any more James Bond than this?

Banana Crepes - 750VT

I really liked the crepes - why does the fruit in Vanuatu taste so much sweeter?


We had dinner at the restaurant twice.

Looks a bit different at night, eh?

Champagne always equals celebration and good times.

Garlic bread - 500VT

Malekula Oysters with watercress - 1500VT

The oysters were very fresh tasty, but I wasn't a fan of the species - they were very thin and flat, and very difficult to get out of the shells.

Grilled whole poulet fish served with roast potatoes - 2400VT

This poulet fish was, unbelievably, not ordered by me, but by "she who does not eat fish or seafood". I know!! It wasn't filleted or deep-fried or anything! She even finished most of it. Very proud of you, Sandra! Before our trip, we'd read about Vanuatu's native poulet fish, so called because it apparently tastes like chicken, and Sandra really wanted to try it. (I ate it many times over the holiday, as it is served everywhere). I wouldn't say it tastes exactly like chicken, but it was very mild in taste, and meaty in texture.

Scotch fillet with prawn sauce, served with fries and salad - 2900VT

Yes, yes yes. Amazing steak, fresh prawns and creamy chive sauce. The beef in Vanuatu is amazing! It's so tender, and has the most wonderful taste, even when cooked well done. (Don't gasp, I always have my steak rare!) Vanuatu has happy organic Carolais and Limousin cows grazing in its gorgeous islands. *Sigh* I love that all the food we ate was locally grown and sourced.

Lobster - 3200VT

You can see how delicious that lobster was. Enough said.

Eaten but not photographed was a "Penang chicken curry" for 2000VT. It didn't taste like anything I've eaten back home in Penang, but it still tasted good!

Crème brûlée - 1200VT

The caramel atop the custard was a little too thick for my liking, but the custard itself had a wonderful deep vanilla flavour.


The Melanesian Feast

Every Wednesday night Breakas does a Melanesian feast. Lots of resorts, restaurants and tour operators offer similar feasts, but we got a free feast included in our accommodation package so we tried the one at Breakas. From memory it was 3500VT to pay for it separately.

The Melanesian feast commences with Kava tasting...


Kava is a drink made from the root of an island plant, which is drunk for its sedative and relaxing effect. Traditionally the liquid was extracted by getting virgin boys to chew the pulp and spit it out, but Jonathan, the customer relations manager, assured us that ours was ground by machine, hehe. It looks like dirty dish water, and doesn't taste much better. This is why you can see the plate of papaya chasers in the above photo. If freshly cut fruit aren't available, Sprite is a good substitute.

Kava bars are very popular on Efate island, designated with a red light outside the building. Lots of the local guys we met drink it almost every night. Traditionally women aren't allowed to drink it, but you shouldn't have a problem finding it in Port Vila. We even bought powdered to bring home, and my bro seems to like it a lot. He loves reggae too, what an Island boy!

There was a cultural band too. I loved the Foival piano and big box bass. These guys represent Vanuatu in cultural exhibitions around the world!


Now, the food.
Top: Baked fish
Bottom: Beef skewers, Chicken wings

Top: Amazing beef curry, Baked cassava stuffed with mince
Bottom: Baked banana laplap, Baked root vegetables

Snake beans stuffed with mince, Island cabbage stuffed with banana

Also on offer were a creamy pumpkin soup, Tahitian fish salad, potato salad, coleslaw, green bean salad and rice. Dessert was a simple mixed fruit salad.

The food was delicious, and I thought that the Melanesian feast was a great way for us tourists to introduce ourselves to 'exotic' Vanuatu food. Baked cassava, island cabbage and the national dish of laplap - a doughy mix of root vegetables cooked in banana leaves on charcoal - are all wonderful, but can definitely be an acquired taste for Western palates.


The Bar

Breakas has a bar with a small yet well-rounded cocktail list and selection of spirits. When we were there, the new F&B manager Ross was in the middle of revising and expanding the list, so if any of you guys end up going, I hope you will enjoy it!


Tusker is, of course, on the menu (550VT), and all the cocktails are pretty and island-themed - little umbrellas, fruit wedges and flowers galore!

Can't remember what this cocktail was called - Island Dream or something like that.

I'm pretty sure they can do all the standards too (Long Island Ice Teas, Toblerones etc). If the lovely barman Steve is there, ask for one of his special off-the-menu creations - delicious.


The Views and the Water

The 2-storey villas, on the other side of the restaurant/pool/reception from our hut. Check out the clear clear water.

And at night...

The infinity pool, with ocean on the right, and the (under-construction) pool bar. Breakfast/dinner tables on the left.

And at night...

The infinity pool falling into the Pacific Ocean...

Breakas is right in front of a coral reef, so it's a great spot for snorkelling, especially during high tide. We could borrow gear for free and went a couple of times, spotting lots of blue starfish and heaps of other fish. It's possible to surf further out, but I think you need to bring your own gear, as I vaguely recall reading somewhere that there are no places to hire surfing gear on Port Vila.


The Conclusion

I absolutely loved Breakas. We did visit a couple of other resorts during our holiday, to have dinner and drinks, but I am so glad we chose Breakas to stay. It's a little smaller than the big resorts (Iririki, Le Lagon etc), but I loved its friendly, intimate vibe. The staff were so nice and friendly! For example, one time we were standing outside the resort waiting for a bus at night, and the owner spotted us on his way out, and gave us a lift into town! How nice! I can't imagine a manager at a Westin/Hyatt/Shangri-La doing that; it's just a totally different style. We had a chat with him in the car, and he said he purposely keeps the resort small to maintain the atmosphere. (Technically it's 3 stars, but it feels so much more luxurious).

The accommodation package we bought was pretty good, and had lots of inclusions, like a free bottle of champagne, village tour, breakfasts, massages, the Melanesian feast and more. I assume these deals change frequently, so probably best to contact the resort or your travel agent if you're interested.

And don't forget that view...

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Vanuatu

Port Vila - amazingly sparkly clear blue water, even in Vanuatu's busiest city.

Hi everybody! We just got back from a wonderful 10-day holiday in gorgeous Vanuatu. The weather was great, the people were so friendly and the kids were super-duper cute! I am suffering a bit from the post-holiday blues, but I shan't let that get in the way of blogging! There was lots of sun, lots of swimming, and of course, a lot of good food! We ended up taking 9GB of pics (come on, don't act surprised!), so this is going to be spread out over a few posts. First up, an introduction to the lovely country of Vanuatu, and its capital, Port Vila.

Before I went, I knew very very little about Vanuatu - in fact, I chose this holiday destination quite impulsively, after seeing a Vanuatu tourism ad on the back of a bus which featured a gorgeous beach. I have always wanted to visit the south Pacific, and with flights being so cheap right now and the Aussie dollar being so high (wahoo for eBay!!!), it was the perfect time to go. Because I wanted to have a totally relaxing holiday, we spent the whole time in the capital city of Port Vila on the island of Efate, rather than travelling around the islands. We stayed in a wonderful resort 5 minutes out of town - blogpost to come!

Streets of Port Vila. The Fung Kwan Chee shop reminded me a lot of Penang, and proves my theory that no matter where you go, there will always be a little shop run by a Chinese dude.

Port Vila was a lot smaller than I expected, the main part of town being situated on a 1 kilometre long stretch of Lini Highway. The rest of the island that we saw was mainly jungle, hills, villages and bumpy bumpy roads.

During my pre-travel research and whilst on holiday, I quickly learnt that Vanuatu is made up of 83 different islands, with only 2 main cities - Port Vila on Efate, and Luganville on Espiritu Santo. The majority of the population still live in villages, and there is a lot of beautiful and contrasting countryside that can be explored - waterfalls, beaches, rivers, volcanoes and more.

Above: Post office. Below: Street.

Between Vanuatu's 83 islands the different villages speak over 115 separate languages (not dialects), making Vanuatu one of the most culturally diverse countries on earth. This doesn't include the English and French languages brought by the colonisers. Understandably, this makes communication difficult, and over the years, the official language of Bislama was developed so that everyone can communicate with each other. It is a form of pidgin English, and to English speakers it can look quite funny. For example...

Sign up to Digicel and get your Fri Tok!

Whilst Bislama is the official language, pretty much everyone we met also spoke English (and sometimes French) - the Ni-Vanuatu learn both at school - so there was no problem for us Aussies getting around. (And pretty much ALL the tourists there are Aussie!) Because I love languages though, I did buy a book about Bislama - "Evry samting yu wantem save long Bislama be yu fraet tumas blong askem".

Apart from languages, another thing I love is beer! Tusker is the local brew and it was deliciously refreshing and available everywhere. 550VT at our resort, 450VT at most cafes, 200VT at the supermarkets. (You can google what the exact exchange rate is, but when we were there, 550VT was approximately $6 Aussie dollars).

Tusker blong yumi! Me wantem Tusker!

I'm not quite sure why I've got my elbows pointed out so far - either to get more sun, or because I was about to try and lift that giant beer, haha. Does anybody know where I can get Tusker in Australia?

Getting around town was really easy, as the bus system in Port Vila is awesome. The buses are just minivans with a "B" at the start of the licence plate, and they are everywhere.

Just hail one down and tell them where you want to go. There is no fixed route, and they just drop passengers off at their chosen destinations. It may take a while with a few diversions, but you'll get there in the end. Most rides cost 150VT, although it'll cost more if you want to go somewhere far out of town. If you're worried about getting charged too much (very, very unlikely - all the bus drivers we met, and the Ni-Van people in general, are super-nice!), just check how much the ride will be before you get on the bus. It's not like you'd have to wait long for the next one!

Some buses look new and sparkly!
Don't forget: Pem nomo ol seken we yu toktok!

But most buses are quite run down, some without any perceivable suspension, and with alarming (but still usable) doors without interior panel...


We never had a problem getting a bus even late at night, and our drivers were friendly and knew the city really well. Most played reggae or island-ified pop songs as they drove.

Speaking of reggae, this Lucky Dube guy was everywhere! (Well, not literally, he passed away a few years ago). I'd never heard of him, but he was really popular and there were posters of him everywhere. In the shops there were more of his CD's than Bob Marley! I bought one of his albums for my bro, who is a bit of a reggae fan.


Although we ate mainly at restaurants and did our food shopping at the breathtakingly wonderful Port Vila market (so wonderful it gets its own post), we did visit the Au Bon Marché supermarket, right next to the market. I can't go overseas without visiting a local supermarket - I find them so fascinating.

There were heaps of expensive imported goods - the top right picture looks like any Australian supermarket shelf. I couldn't resist buying the Hansel biscuits. They are soo hot right now.

One of our favourite finds was the Olympic Take Away, on Lini Highway, right behind El Gecko restaurant. This locally-run joint was one of the few places open on Sunday, and makes the best cheeseburger ever. Whoda thunk it?

Above: Wahoo with chips, 750VT. Below: Cheeseburger, 550VT. (Chips cost extra, approx 200VT).

I wasn't enthused about going to a takeaway joint for lunch, but most places were closed and we were hungry. However, this place was great and we were sooo impressed! The wahoo fish was super-fresh, the chips were hand cut, and the cheeseburger was dee-licious. (We were soon to find out that *all* the beef and seafood in Vanuatu is super-fresh and local). Juicy patty, finely grated proper cheese, crusty bun. Wow. We came back twice.

Between Lini highway and the water is a nice strip of parkland, where many locals (and some tourists) sit and chillaxify.


I totally want to borrow this little guy's boat-bike thing.

Local guys playing ball game (balls, bocce?)

In this area is the very cool Nambawan Cafe and marketplace. The cafe is popular with tourists, having a good range of pizzas, juices and smoothies, and free wireless!



It also has a great view.


The little marketplace next to the cafe sells the usual touristy stuff - sarongs, wooden souvenirs, hair braiding and so on. But please, don't get your hair braided if you don't have proper Islander hair - you'll just look like a douche.


More Vanuatu posts to come!

Port Vila - amazingly sparkly clear blue water, even in Vanuatu's busiest city.

Hi everybody! We just got back from a wonderful 10-day holiday in gorgeous Vanuatu. The weather was great, the people were so friendly and the kids were super-duper cute! I am suffering a bit from the post-holiday blues, but I shan't let that get in the way of blogging! There was lots of sun, lots of swimming, and of course, a lot of good food! We ended up taking 9GB of pics (come on, don't act surprised!), so this is going to be spread out over a few posts. First up, an introduction to the lovely country of Vanuatu, and its capital, Port Vila.

Before I went, I knew very very little about Vanuatu - in fact, I chose this holiday destination quite impulsively, after seeing a Vanuatu tourism ad on the back of a bus which featured a gorgeous beach. I have always wanted to visit the south Pacific, and with flights being so cheap right now and the Aussie dollar being so high (wahoo for eBay!!!), it was the perfect time to go. Because I wanted to have a totally relaxing holiday, we spent the whole time in the capital city of Port Vila on the island of Efate, rather than travelling around the islands. We stayed in a wonderful resort 5 minutes out of town - blogpost to come!

Streets of Port Vila. The Fung Kwan Chee shop reminded me a lot of Penang, and proves my theory that no matter where you go, there will always be a little shop run by a Chinese dude.

Port Vila was a lot smaller than I expected, the main part of town being situated on a 1 kilometre long stretch of Lini Highway. The rest of the island that we saw was mainly jungle, hills, villages and bumpy bumpy roads.

During my pre-travel research and whilst on holiday, I quickly learnt that Vanuatu is made up of 83 different islands, with only 2 main cities - Port Vila on Efate, and Luganville on Espiritu Santo. The majority of the population still live in villages, and there is a lot of beautiful and contrasting countryside that can be explored - waterfalls, beaches, rivers, volcanoes and more.

Above: Post office. Below: Street.

Between Vanuatu's 83 islands the different villages speak over 115 separate languages (not dialects), making Vanuatu one of the most culturally diverse countries on earth. This doesn't include the English and French languages brought by the colonisers. Understandably, this makes communication difficult, and over the years, the official language of Bislama was developed so that everyone can communicate with each other. It is a form of pidgin English, and to English speakers it can look quite funny. For example...

Sign up to Digicel and get your Fri Tok!

Whilst Bislama is the official language, pretty much everyone we met also spoke English (and sometimes French) - the Ni-Vanuatu learn both at school - so there was no problem for us Aussies getting around. (And pretty much ALL the tourists there are Aussie!) Because I love languages though, I did buy a book about Bislama - "Evry samting yu wantem save long Bislama be yu fraet tumas blong askem".

Apart from languages, another thing I love is beer! Tusker is the local brew and it was deliciously refreshing and available everywhere. 550VT at our resort, 450VT at most cafes, 200VT at the supermarkets. (You can google what the exact exchange rate is, but when we were there, 550VT was approximately $6 Aussie dollars).

Tusker blong yumi! Me wantem Tusker!

I'm not quite sure why I've got my elbows pointed out so far - either to get more sun, or because I was about to try and lift that giant beer, haha. Does anybody know where I can get Tusker in Australia?

Getting around town was really easy, as the bus system in Port Vila is awesome. The buses are just minivans with a "B" at the start of the licence plate, and they are everywhere.

Just hail one down and tell them where you want to go. There is no fixed route, and they just drop passengers off at their chosen destinations. It may take a while with a few diversions, but you'll get there in the end. Most rides cost 150VT, although it'll cost more if you want to go somewhere far out of town. If you're worried about getting charged too much (very, very unlikely - all the bus drivers we met, and the Ni-Van people in general, are super-nice!), just check how much the ride will be before you get on the bus. It's not like you'd have to wait long for the next one!

Some buses look new and sparkly!
Don't forget: Pem nomo ol seken we yu toktok!

But most buses are quite run down, some without any perceivable suspension, and with alarming (but still usable) doors without interior panel...


We never had a problem getting a bus even late at night, and our drivers were friendly and knew the city really well. Most played reggae or island-ified pop songs as they drove.

Speaking of reggae, this Lucky Dube guy was everywhere! (Well, not literally, he passed away a few years ago). I'd never heard of him, but he was really popular and there were posters of him everywhere. In the shops there were more of his CD's than Bob Marley! I bought one of his albums for my bro, who is a bit of a reggae fan.


Although we ate mainly at restaurants and did our food shopping at the breathtakingly wonderful Port Vila market (so wonderful it gets its own post), we did visit the Au Bon Marché supermarket, right next to the market. I can't go overseas without visiting a local supermarket - I find them so fascinating.

There were heaps of expensive imported goods - the top right picture looks like any Australian supermarket shelf. I couldn't resist buying the Hansel biscuits. They are soo hot right now.

One of our favourite finds was the Olympic Take Away, on Lini Highway, right behind El Gecko restaurant. This locally-run joint was one of the few places open on Sunday, and makes the best cheeseburger ever. Whoda thunk it?

Above: Wahoo with chips, 750VT. Below: Cheeseburger, 550VT. (Chips cost extra, approx 200VT).

I wasn't enthused about going to a takeaway joint for lunch, but most places were closed and we were hungry. However, this place was great and we were sooo impressed! The wahoo fish was super-fresh, the chips were hand cut, and the cheeseburger was dee-licious. (We were soon to find out that *all* the beef and seafood in Vanuatu is super-fresh and local). Juicy patty, finely grated proper cheese, crusty bun. Wow. We came back twice.

Between Lini highway and the water is a nice strip of parkland, where many locals (and some tourists) sit and chillaxify.


I totally want to borrow this little guy's boat-bike thing.

Local guys playing ball game (balls, bocce?)

In this area is the very cool Nambawan Cafe and marketplace. The cafe is popular with tourists, having a good range of pizzas, juices and smoothies, and free wireless!



It also has a great view.


The little marketplace next to the cafe sells the usual touristy stuff - sarongs, wooden souvenirs, hair braiding and so on. But please, don't get your hair braided if you don't have proper Islander hair - you'll just look like a douche.


More Vanuatu posts to come!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad