Bliss Mahé Resort

Rockpool is the grill and bar at Bliss Hotel on Mahé's Vista Do Mar coast, set within reach of the beach and the granite-ringed tidal pool that gives the restaurant its name. The dining room and terrace face the water, and tables catch the same ocean views shared with the hotel's other outlets. The kitchen runs a wide menu built around seafood, alongside pasta, pizza and other local and international dishes, drawing on Mediterranean, Asian and Creole influences. It is a broad, crowd-pleasing card rather than a tasting menu. A full bar backs the food, pouring craft cocktails and a wine list to match. Service runs through the afternoon into the evening, from midday until last orders at 9:30pm, making it as suited to a late lunch as a full dinner. You can watch the light shift over the water as the day moves from lunch service to evening cocktails. The setting is unfussy: open-air, close to the sand, built for looking out rather than looking up. Rockpool sits alongside Barefoot and Coco-Loco as one of three dining venues at the hotel, each pitched at a different register of the day. Here, the register is relaxed and social, a spot for a long seafood lunch or a drink before dinner elsewhere on the property.