L'O a la Bouche

One of the top restaurants in all of French Polynesia, this charming bistro's sophisticated, muted ambience would make it at home in the wine countries of Napa or Baroosa -- except for the vintage labels pictured on the walls, which are all French. Although the chef offers several traditional French dishes, this is anything but a typical French restaurant. His talent soars with creations such as a moon fish steak under passion-fruit and ginger sauce (the ginger perfectly tempered the fruit's sweetness). I preceded that with a smoked salmon and shrimp salad with pamplemousse (local grapefruit), which was delightfully refreshing after a day of tramping around Papeete. Next time, I'm going with scallops marinated with red peppers, or perhaps scorched tuna with a light curry sauce. The list of French wines is short but excellent. The menu is in both French and English here.

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