Basics - Rough Guide to Fiji - page 42

October Mango, pineapple, kavika , jackfruit.
November Mango, pineapple, jackfruit, vi (Tahitian apple), breadfruit, vutu .
December Watermelon, pineapple, vi (Tahitian apple), breadfruit, avocado, vutu .
Breakfast and lunch
Breakfast at resorts inevitably includes fresh fruit and a continental-style buffet with freshly
baked breads and cereals. In the Fijian home it's often a much heartier affair, with a large
plate of boiled rice or cassava, fish if caught the night before, heavy pancakes, sweet tea and
plain biscuits.
Lunch is the most commonly overlooked meal in Fiji, and many tourists often find it too
hot to consider eating anything substantial, with salads and quick snacks most popular.
Dinner and eating out
Dinner is usually taken early, and you'll find all restaurants open by 6pm and often winding
down by 9pm, or perhaps 10pm on busy nights. At independent restaurants mains start from
F$9 and seldom rise above F$40 even in Nadi and Suva.
Dinner at resort restaurants is always more expensive, and at most island resorts it's your
only option, with mains starting around F$15 and often reaching F$50 or more. Buffet din-
ners are popular at the large resorts, particularly the weekly Fijian lovo night (costing from
F$50-80 a person), when a suckling pig and root crops are cooked in an underground oven
and usually preceded by a traditional dance.
Drinks
Fijians have a reputation for enjoying a drink , always in company and often to excess, be it
the national drink, yaqona (known as kava in Polynesian countries), beer or local dark rum.
Drinking sessions are invariably all-male affairs with a single glass or cup passed around in
rotation and the contents swallowed in one gulp - a sure way of ending up drunk quickly. If
out at a bar or nightclub, closing time is usually 1am, although on Saturday everything must
close by midnight to avoid being open on a Sunday.