Take a Tour of Réunion Island Cooking at This Rare Bushwick Restaurant

You can be forgiven for not being able to immediately point to Réunion Island on the globe. This destination for beachgoers and mountain climbers lies 420 miles off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, has a population of nearly 900,000, and, no longer a colony, is a full-fledged department of France. The economy remains agricultural, with sugarcane and vanilla as the main crops. The population includes those of Indian, Chinese, East African, and French descent, and several languages are spoken, among them French, Tamil, and a Réunion Creole distinctive to the island.

And now New York City has its first Réunion restaurant that I know of, Maloya, at 983 Flushing Avenue, at Central Avenue, in Bushwick, with food that reflects the island’s gumbo of influences. Take, for example, camarons coco vanille ($23). A generous fistful of pink crustaceans splash in a pool of coconut milk that smacks of vanilla and lime — an unusual flavor combination, but one you’ll fall in love with.

Maloya is the work of Samuel Lebreton, whose family comes from Réunion and whose mother’s recipes provide inspiration for the menu; he is joined by his partner Tara Gruszkiewicz, a chef from Connecticut. The combination dining room and bar is decorated with giant murals of tropical fruit, including the South African pineapples known as anana Victoria, and red lychee nuts in a thicket of foliage.

The menu is brief, limited to five appetizers, six main courses, and a handful of unusual sides. Indeed, Maloya seems more like a bar than a restaurant.

Most of the starters are fried. Priced at $9 or $10, there are salt cod fritters also common to Caribbean islands — briny, gloriously starchy, and delicious when dipped in pink mayo. Fritters of smooshed lima beans might be mistaken for falafel; chicken-wing morsels served in a tub are forgettable; but best of all are tiny triangular pies called samoussas. Four varieties are offered, of which a friend and I picked aligot, a French combo of cheese and mashed potatoes, but the one filled with tuna sounded good, too.

The entrees ($20 to $24), which come with rice and beans and constitute full meals, lean Indian or French. Do I need to tell you which direction to lean in? The boeuf bourguignon creole is dull, though containing generous chunks of dry and fibrous meat, while the cabri massale (French for masala) are nothing short of brilliant. The goat is presented off the bone with a lovely dark sauce that really does taste like a mash-up of Indian and French flavors, making a dish unique in the city.

Sure, there’s a fulsome cocktail list ($14 to $16) that features rums made in Réunion, including a dirty martini flavored with thyme and olive brine that turns its back on both gin and vodka, and further drinks laced with French bitters and coconut milk. But perhaps more remarkable is the all-French wine list at merciful prices ($12 to $20 per glass) that includes four sparklers; two roses; and an orange pet nat which is another great choice. I went for a Breton apple cider that was bubbly, dry as a sheet of typing paper, and ultra-refreshing.

Our meal ended agreeably with a dessert called Gateau Ti’son, which turned out to be a bundt-shaped yellow corncake napped with a mango and passion fruit syrup, topped with whipped cream and sided with ginger ice cream — sweetly summing up flavors that dance around the Indian Ocean but have come to roost at Réunion.