Restaurant Rêve’s Frozen Ready-Meals

Hi Foodies! How is it going? For those in Mauritius, how has the lockdown been for you? 

Right now, because of the lockdown, we can’t go out to enjoy a fancy dinner in a nice setting. Restaurant Rêve,  has come up with a nice alternative for that. Since the team cannot welcome you to its restaurant due to the lockdown, Restaurant Rêve is now bringing its delicious meals to you.

For those who are not familiar with Restaurant Rêve, here’s some info about the restaurant. Located in Petit Raffray, Restaurant Rêve was founded in 2010 and is known for its variety of seafood dishes. Restaurant Rêve is part of the highly reputed Bella Amigo Group, a wholesaler and retailer of fresh and frozen seafood which has been operating since 1972.

Restaurant Rêve received an Excellence Award from Trip Advisor and also won the 1st prize in the Wine Route Competition by Oxenham.

I am really thrilled to be collaborating with Restaurant Rêve to try their latest range of frozen ready-meals. As a food blogger, I am always keen on trying new products and I’m very much looking forward to this new range of meals.

Restaurant Rêve launched its frozen meals in October 2020 using a sous-vide cooking style, a technique that is used by many chefs across the world such as Joël Robuchon.

My Experience

Having received a menu with various dishes to choose from, it took me a while to pick 2 dishes. Eventually I opted for meals which I rarely have at home; ‘Gratin de Fruits de Mer’ (seafood gratin) and a ‘Curry Poulpe et Papaye’ (octopus and papaya curry).

You’re probably wondering why I selected these 2 dishes. Well, first, I wanted to sample and review 2 very different dishes. The curry is very Mauritian and the gratin is French dish. 

Restaurant Rêve had the courtesy to deliver at my place this morning and as I opened the big bag, I found 2 sealed trays. Each tray gives you a little description of the dish, along with a photo. There are clear instructions on how to heat up the meals. First you have to defrost them in the microwave for the given set of minutes and then heat it for another few minutes. The preparation date and the expiry dates are clearly printed on the trays. I kept the 2 trays in the freezer and they do not take much space. 

Curry Poulpe et Papaye

I picked this because I haven’t had a good Mauritian octopus curry for a long time. It’s very traditional to add papaya when making this curry.

This meal is stored in a sealed microwavable container. It doesn’t take too much space in the freezer either. All the necessary information regarding the dish, the price, date prepared and expiration date are printed on the package. The instructions to reheat the dish are printed on the side and are very clear. 

I started by poking little holes on the cover with a skewer and then proceeded to defrost the dish in the microwave according to the instructions. Once defrosted I reheated it for 4 minutes. Within less than 10 minutes, I had a warm curry waiting for me. 

To be honest, I was a bit sceptical about frozen meals and there are just one or two of them which I liked so far. However, when I removed the curry from the microwave, I was pleasantly surprised by the aroma. I was quite impatient to taste it. After carefully removing the cover (it was hot!), I tried it and was impressed. It did not feel like a dish that I have just heated in the microwave. Instead, I felt that I was having a proper, fragrant and delicious Mauritian octopus curry from a decent restaurant within the comfort of my home. And all of that in less than 10 minutes!

The papaya was melting in my mouth and the octopus was surprisingly soft. I was worried about it being chewy, especially because of the microwave. 

I had mine with a roti and some leftover eggplant vindaye from yesterday. I think that the portion was reasonable for the price (Rs 200) and I actually shared it with my mom and we both really enjoyed it.