This Samoa restaurant guide will tell you all you need to know about the food and cuisine in Samoa. After spending the day soaking up the sun on one of our Samoan tours, or hunting for a bargain whilst shopping, take a seat and relax in one of our recommended Samoan restaurants.

Food & Cuisine in Samoa

Throughout Apia, Upolu and Savai'i you will come across many restaurants, and most Samoa resorts and hotels have their own restaurants. Smaller hotels and fales would mostly house a friendly cafe.

Samoan food is not heavily spiced, and is characterised by the use of coconut milk and cream. Staple foods are taro, breadfruit, bananas, coconut, fish and shellfish, chicken and pork. Samoan Umu, a traditional above the ground stone oven heated by glowing hot lava rocks is used to cook food. The food can be placed directly on the rocks, wrapped in banana leaves or plaited in coconut fronds for cooking.

Umus are usually used on Sundays as a special treat or in the event of large functions and other special celebrations. Those who wake up early on Sunday mornings are in for a very special treat - the smoke of thousands of umu ovens virtually shrouds the island of Upolu like a blanket.

Food plays a very important role in the cultural life of the Samoans. Almost all the important cultural events centre around meals and feasts. A Fia Fia is an event that you must experience when you vacation in Samoa. During the event, fire dancers, other dancers, songs and traditional food all come together to create a remarkable and memorable evening.

Breadfruit, chicken, fish, fresh fruits, pork and taro are traditional foods here, with kava being the traditional drink. Kava is served during special events only. The umu or earth oven is the traditional mode of cooking.

Samoa offers a lot of options for eating and drinking. Samoa is home to people from many countries. Germans, Italians, Chinese, Japanese and other Europeans have settled here and this diversity is reflected in the restaurants. The larger towns and resorts are great places to find the best cafés.

Apia is the only city on the island and it offers the widest range of dining options. From international cuisine to McDonald’s, Apia’s restaurants have them all. Most of Samoa’s bars and clubs are also located in Apia.

Beyond Apia and the other big towns, the best dining options are at the hotels and resorts located all over Samoa. You could dine at restaurants located next to beautiful blue lagoons or at family run properties called fales, such as the FaoFao beach fales.

Drinks

Visitors are advised to be careful about drinking water here; it is best to drink only bottled or boiled water.

The traditional drink of Samoa is kava. Other than that, the bars have large stocks of liquor. Bars can be found in almost all hotels and restaurants. There are many other nightspots and small bars to choose from too. Liquor is usually expensive in stores and besides, their stock is never very big.

Considered to be one of the best beers in the Pacific region, Vailima Beer is brewed in Samoa. Even beer connoisseurs like the Germans call it an excellent beer, although that could be because a German established the brewery! Vailima beer is inexpensive and easily available here.