Food & Cuisine in Manaus
Food info sections | Eating locally | Other dining options| Local suppliers and markets
The restaurants in Manaus serve special regional cuisine prepared from the fresh local ingredients. The stews made using local fish, like tambaqui or tucunare, are favourites with the natives of Manaus.
Restaurants in Manaus offer special Brazilian and international cuisine. Fish is the main ingredient of Amazonian cooking, along with others like flour made from manioc, tasty fruits, peppers and herbs giving a unique flavour and taste to the healthy regional cuisine.
Our Manaus Restaurant Guide below gives information on the local food and cuisine, as well as listing some recommended Manaus restaurants. Many are ideally placed to allow some well earned rest and relaxation after a long day of touring or shopping in Manaus. You can aso find more information on Brazilian food and cuisine in our Brazil restaurant guide.
Food & Cuisine in Manaus
Restaurants and stalls offer a rich variety of local cuisine in Manaus. Tapioquinha, a pancake of buttered manioc starch filled with tucuma palm fruit and farmer's cheese, is worth trying. Try the local Amazonian soup called tacaca is an excellent combination of yellow manioc root juice and a hot and spicy dried shrimp sauce. This soup is mixed and served in cuias (type of callabach), which are traditional gourd bowls sold by the tacacazeiras in the late afternoon.
The other delicacies in Manaus worth trying are the pamonha, which is made of coconut milk and green corn boiled in corn husks, and the delicious macaxeira cake made from manioc. Do not forget to try the sugarcane juice, a favourite drink among the locals.
International cuisine in Manaus
Manaus is rich in this aspect with many opitions available such: Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Arabian, American and various regional Brazilian cuisines.
Fruits
Brazil's unique and delicious varieties of fruits are its greatest treasure. Several varieties of tropical fruit don't need cultivation as they grow freely in the upland and wetland areas. Some of these fruits are palm fruits. Many of these are so exotic, they are known only in the region where they grow. Tourists find these unusual and new types of fruit in Manaus irresistible.
You can enjoy exotic fruits like the acai (which is rich in iron), the creamy white cupuacu and the graviola, which can either be eaten as is or transformed into sweets and ice creams. Cupuacu is added to flans, tortes made with caramel (doce de leite), and cakes. The other popular juices are Guarana, which is used in other places as syrup or as a powder added to energy shakes, and the refreshing tapereba or rusty orange juice, which is commonly known as yellow mombin juice.
Many of the exotic fruits found everywhere in Manaus can not be found anywhere else. The acai, pronounced ah-sah-EE, is actually the berry of a local palm species nd has recently acquired a global reputation for its rich antioxidants and energy boosting qualities.
Seafood
Manaus is a paradise for fish lovers, who will find delicious freshly, simply prepared fish dishes everywhere. The different types of species, with their native names, are a real treat. You can choose from jaraqui, tambaqui, pacu, tucunare or enormous pirarucu, which are available fresh or dried and salted like codfish. Restaurants in Manaus have menus featuring all kinds of fish and specially prepared fish dishes. The fish, prepared with salt, spices, lemon and herbs are fried and served in a sauce, or are simply grilled. Try the traditional caldeirada which is a fish soup flavored with pepper sauce, vegetables and tucupi garnished with manioc flour porridge, made using herbs and eggs.
Supermarkets
You can buy food and groceries at the supermarket near the market on Rocha dos Santos St. and other supermarkets at the corner of Sete de Setembro Ave. and Joaquim Nabuco Ave.
