Arriving at Domaine Anna restaurant you would be forgiven for thinking you had arrived at the old Anna sugar mill, only refurbed to the highest standard. The dining areas are breathtaking with tons of places to explore, fish-filled ponds, beautiful walkways, tortoises, a well-appointed nursery and even a grotto with an Amazonian giant fish called an arapaima. This is destination dining at its best.
We weren’t sure if we were allowed to explore the place, so we started off quietly and jumped to the wrong conclusion that it was in fact the restored Anna sugar mill. We later found out that it was built from the ground up and guests are welcome to explore.
The entrance to the restaurant has a huge baobab tree nestled in one of the areas, near some fish tanks. The archways lead you through into the main dining area, still not sure of our situation, we carefully avoided people and filmed some of the dining areas over the lake.
The tables have views down to the water where you can see happy huge koi swimming around. I guess bits of food find their way down to their open mouths.
I found a huge wooden plow, well technically it is on display for all to see, but I did say wooden plow a lot. Slightly around the lake, you get the best views of the dining islands. It is simply spectacular and something that should be seen. Each dining table is set on its own island under a gazebo, creating a magical effect.
Then we found the grotto, with its beautiful arapaima, an Amazonian monster fish. We spent a long time marveling at this beauty. The ponds around him are clear, so the beautifully patterned koi are really easy to see, and there are some prize specimens.
We had a quick look at the events room with its balcony overlooking a huge reservoir, the perfect location for weddings, functions, or a great party.
Next to it was a small bar area, with gnarly wood furniture that looks like it was carved out of a tree, but they were surprisingly comfortable. The entrance is lined with stone arches and hides an old Creole house with more stunning wood tables and an old bed on wheels.
We found ourselves at Hide Out Garden, a nursery with every plant I could imagine. Valerie, the owner was our guide for the rest of the visit. She was super knowledgeable and helped us identify all the plants, and there were a lot of plants. She offered us a drink, something called noni juice. I was not a big fan, but Riki found it quite nice. Each to their own taste I guess, oh and it is super healthy.
We stopped off at the tortoises which enjoy the noni fruit, so we fed it to them and me. Again I’m not a big fan of the pure fruit either. While with Valerie we discovered that Domaine Anna has a huge farm-to-table fresh vegetable garden, fantastic.
Domaine Anna is one of the places in Mauritius that has to be visited. It would make the perfect day out, have a great lunch, walk it off exploring the gardens and then pick up some exotic, or normal plants.