Revive body, mind and soul in Seychelles

Revive your body, mind and soul in a 5-star natural offering the real island breakaway at Constance Ephelia in Seychelles, on two of the most beautiful beaches on the island of Mahé, overlooking the marine national park of Port Launay. Constance Ephelia is part of the international Constance Hotels & Resorts group. Explore another dreamy seaside destination here.

The ultimate island paradise

Ultimate tranquility awaits

Pool views

Dining

There is no need to leave the resort as five restaurants and bars, each with its own design, décor, and the menu offers from casual dining to fine dining, including an extensive and rare wine list. Sommeliers are at hand to recommend the best wine suited to your taste and meal.

It is at the fine dining restaurant, Cyann, situated on the beach of Port Launay, that guests can indulge in spectacular meals with some of the finest wines from all over the world.

For lunch, guests can enjoy casual meals, a wide sushi selection and some delightful classic & light dishes. At dinner, the restaurant turns into an elegant and refined venue and proposes a selection of signature dishes that combine the precision of French culinary techniques with the lightness and flavors of all around the world influences.

Lunch can be enjoyed on the deck overlooking the pool

You can also dine alfresco under the stars

A breakfast buffet fit for royalty

Wine

The resort boasts one of the largest wine selections in the Indian Ocean. For Constance Hotels and Resorts, wine is a culture, philosophy and art, says Hiru Daryanani, hotel manager, which is being showcased spontaneously by their diverse team of sommeliers.

The award-winning wine list features more than 1 000 references across the globe from wine by the glass, Coravin by the glass, Salon champagne to half bottles and Magnums/Jeroboam.

Coravin allows guests to order very special or rare wines, because, unlike other wine preservers that simply delay wine oxidation, a Coravin system allows the sommelier to pour wine without removing the cork. The lost wine is replaced with pure argon gas to prevent oxygen from filling that space preserving the wines to age or keep for years.

Wines from 11 countries and a wide Saki selection is on offer. Shop wines from across the globe here.

Sommeliers will show you the temperature-controlled wine cellar in Cyann Restaurant and the sommelier team will be glad to guide you and create a memorable vinous experience. The cellar has received the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence certificate from 2015 to 2020.

Pre-ordering wines when booking a table is not only recommended but also highly encouraged.

If you feel up to an adventure, book for a blind tasting; a New World Wines tasting; or a Greatest Wines of the World. The latter two has a cheese selection too. Guests can also tour the cellar, choose a premium wine with a sommelier and the chef will build a menu to pair with the wine.

Explore wines from 11 different countries at Constance Ephelia

The list of premium South African wines is vast and includes wineries such as A.A. Badenhorst Family, Alheit, Creation, De Trafford, Duncan Savage, Bouchard Finlayson, David & Nadia Sadie, La Vierge, Momento, Mullineux, Raats, and  The Sadie Family. Shop more South African wines here.

Duck legs and roasted pineapple smoked bacon

Duck legs and roasted pineapple smoked bacon

Ingredients for the meat (serves 4)

8 duck legs

1 onion

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

3 cloves

2 cloves garlic

5 gr honey

50 ml soy sauce

1 litre duck stock

1 long pepper

Method

Prepare, trim and season the duck legs with salt and pepper. Brown them in a cast iron pan with a little oil, adding the garlic, cinnamon stick, long pepper, chopped onion and cloves. Let it all sweat for 5 minutes.

Take the grease off and add the honey, deglazing with the soy sauce and moistening with the duck stock. Boil it and skim off the impurities. Put the lid on and put it in the oven at 160°C for about an hour and a half. Remove the meat reduce the braising liquid to three-quarters for a syrupy sauce.

Put the duck legs in the sauce and keep them hot. Boil the smoked bacon/lard for an hour. Drain it and set it aside. Peel and cut the pineapple into quarters and trim the ends. Put the trimmings in a juicer to obtain some fresh juice.

Heat the Muscovado sugar in a pan, caramelize the quarters and deglaze them with pineapple juice. Then glaze them once more with some good juice. Store them. Cut the onions into quarters, caramelize them in a pan, salt them and  moisten  them  with  the  chicken  stock and  put  them  in  the  oven at 160°C for about 25 minutes. Store it all. Fry the parsley sprigs and set them aside.

Ingredients for the garnish

2 Victoria pineapples

Dark muscovado sugar

200 gr smoked bacon/lard

4 medium onions

100 ml chicken stock

Five Pepper Mixture: as required

Flat leaf parsley

Method

Boil the smoked bacon/lard for an hour. Drain it and set it aside. Peel and cut the pineapple into quarters and trim the ends. Put the trimmings in a juicer to obtain some fresh juice. Heat the Muscovado sugar in a pan, caramelize the quarters and deglaze them with pineapple juice. Then glaze them once more with some good juice. Store them.

Cut the onions into quarters, caramelize it in a pan, salt it and moisten it with the chicken stock and put in the oven at 160°C for about 25 minutes.

Store it all. Fry the parsley sprigs and set them aside.

Serve

Put two duck legs on each plate. Add two pineapple wedges, two pieces of smoked bacon and the reduced braising liquid and finish off with the mixture of five peppers and fried parsley.

Cheers

Your luxury island holiday awaits

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BY Maryke Roberts | May 6, 2022

Maryke is an award-winning, Cape Winelands based journalist who has been writing about local and international wine and travel for over three decades. When she's home, her days are almost exclusively concluded with a walk on the beach and a glass of South African fine wine or spirits.