Pantai is the signature beach restaurant at Banyan Tree Mauritius in Bel Ombre, a resort known for setting the bar on luxury in the island's unspoilt south. The word pantai means 'beach' in Malay, and the setting lives up to the name: open-sided pavilions on the white sand beach of the Blue Bay marine park region, ceiling fans overhead, the Indian Ocean directly in front. The menu draws principally on Thai and broader Pan-Asian cooking — because Banyan Tree's founding roots are in Phuket, and because the resort's kitchen team brings the tradition with it — but with Mauritian ingredients integrated thoughtfully. The green papaya salad uses local pawpaw; the sea bass is sourced from Mauritian waters; the chilli-lime dressing uses kaffir lime from the resort's kitchen garden. The Thai red curry, made with coconut cream and Mauritian prawns, is the most-ordered dish and justifiably so. The tasting menu (six courses, optional wine pairing) is the best way to experience the kitchen's range, and the selection of Thai-inspired cocktails — a lemongrass and rum mojito, a tamarind whisky sour — extends the theme intelligently. Pantai is open to non-resort guests for dinner; the beach walk to the table at sunset is part of the experience.