Eating in Tahiti: a street food guide

Tahiti has a truly bad reputation, at least food-wise. The honeymoon paradise on earth is thought to be expensive, even wildly expensive, and disappointing in fine dining terms. This is far from the truth.

This metropolitan legend has been spread by those who have only ventured as far as five star hotel dining rooms and elusive gourmet menus, only to complain later of astronomic bills and mini-portions. The best tables in French Polynesia serve gargantuan portions at fair prices, but they are the ones with plastic tablecloths, a roof of stars and a kitchen that is so on view that it stands in the middle of the street. We can prove it.

Polynesian cuisine today

Today’s Tahitian cuisine is fruit of local traditions and ingredients, mingled with the cultural influences of those who have come to these islands in the last three centuries. Tropical fruit, coconut, taro, breadfruit, fish and the odd chicken: this was the zero km diet prior to the arrival of the first white man in the late 1700s. Consisting of islands which are either mountainous and rainy or arid and parched by the tropical sun, not a lot of crops grow here
and the variety of species at 6000 km from the nearest mainland has always been somewhat limited.

Even today, however, it is not possible to farm much in this climate and most of what you find in the supermarkets (including dairy produce, cereals, meat, fruit and vegetables) comes by ship from New Zealand – with consequentially high transport costs. French Polynesia has been a French overseas collectivity for a couple of centuries and
French cuisine has had a strong influence on local eating habits, mainly evidenced by the use of cream, butter and baguettes.

Neither is there a lack of other influences, those of the Chinese in particular, who came here to work bringing their noodles, rice, cabbage and soy sauce. The current diet therefore comprises the inevitable fish, bread buns, steak and
chips, and bowls of steaming chow mein. Less popular than it used to be, a truly typical “local speciality” is a Spam-type tinned meat called Punu Pua 'atoro. Probably the only thing even the most enthusiastic foodies might pass on…

This is not a food truck

Here, food trucks are called roulottes, even though they are not really caravans at all and are devoid of wheels, having been standing on the same spot for years. They are the most popular and busy eateries for an evening meal, with no more than a pavement or, at the best, a deserted car park for a dining room. The other term worth knowing is snack, meaning diners which essentially all serve the same things (the menus look like photocopies), but they operate from a kitchen set up in a proper “building”, and mainly open only for lunch.

Roulottes have become a national attraction in the downtown Place Vai'ete di Papeete in Tahiti. Here locals and tourists mingle amongst the roulottes serving crêpes bretonnes, pizza, raw fish in its many variants but, above all, Chinese food and steak & fries - a real obsession. Our favourites are La Roule Rouge creperie, try the generously filled savoury version (there is nothing French about it once meat, eggs and vegetables have been
added), the Roulotte for poisson cru and steaks, Chez Mamie for a Sino-Tahitian cuisine experience.

Roulottes are not only to be found in the city centre. On the contrary, the locals prefer alternative spots and various other street food agglomerates have formed along the main road which skirts the coast all around the island. Close to the airport of Faaa, stands the renowned Chez Aro, whose speciality is grilled food, and another roulotte park is located near the little leisure port of Orohiti, at Puna'auia, on the west coast. To seek them out, all you have to do is wait for dusk and take a walk along the main street outside the hotel. They have no websites or Facebook pages, but some are shown on Google Maps.