1985
A tabagie-bar on the Royal Road
Rajoo Parasuraman builds a tabagie-bar from what he earns selling fish. It becomes a fixture for people living around Cap Malheureux.
Our story · Since 1985
Three generations,
one address
Amigo has stood on the Royal Road at Le Pavillon, Cap Malheureux, since 1985. It began as a tabagie-bar, became a seafood restaurant, and is run today by the three sons of the man who built its reputation.
The years
1992
Ambigah turns it into a restaurant
Rajoo's son Ambigah, who had taken the business on at sixteen, follows his own idea and converts the place into a small seafood restaurant.
1997
Upstairs
The restaurant moves to the first floor, larger and purpose-built. The ground floor becomes one of the first pool bars in the region, open some nights until dawn.
1999
Into the guides
Amigo is listed in the Michelin, Routard, Lonely Planet and Petit Futé guides, and its reputation moves beyond the island.
2000–2005
The years of the guest book
Ambigah welcomes Jacques Chirac, Chantal Goya, Emmanuelle Béart and Julien Lepers. The restaurant appears in Julie Andrieu's Julie autour du monde.
2005
Ambigah passes away at thirty-six
His widow Nalini takes the restaurant on. Kavinen is nine, Yovissen six, Kovishen one. The doors stay open.
2016
Rebuilt, and handed on
The thirty-two-year-old building is completely renovated. Kavinen, twenty, returns from Vatel and Le Royal Monceau in Paris and takes the business on alongside his mother.
Today
Three brothers
Ranked first in Cap Malheureux on Tripadvisor with 4.5 stars across 522 reviews. Amigo Bar & Bistro occupies the ground floor; the restaurant is upstairs, where it has been since 1997.
The second generation
The Amigo
Brothers
Kavinen, Yovissen and Kovishen Parasuraman. Kavinen trained at Vatel and in the kitchens of Le Royal Monceau in Paris before taking the restaurant on at twenty-one. Yovissen cooks, and posts as Yovicooks. Kovishen runs Amigo Bar & Bistro on the ground floor.
« Les clients viennent à l'Amigo pour manger de la langouste, mais pas que pour cela. »
Kavinen Parasuraman, Le Mauricien, 2017
The constant
Nalini
When Ambigah died suddenly in 2005 at thirty-six, his widow Nalini kept the restaurant open through years the family describes as very difficult. She raised three sons and held the business until the eldest was old enough to take it back.
« Ambigah n'est plus là mais nous continuons le travail qu'il a commencé. »
Nalini Parasuraman, 5-Plus Dimanche, 2017
Forty years, one dish
Whole langouste, flame-grilled, weighed at the table. Rs 350 per 100g.