We initially avoided the Easter Island restaurant La Taverne du Pecheur because it seemed too … well … obvious.

It was in such a perfect spot—right by Caleta Hanga Roa, where the dive shops sent out their boats for scuba and snorkeling—that we figured they’d get a ton of walk-in traffic without a need to serve good food, and so would only have location on their side.

Besides, we preferred to find restaurants a little off the beaten track. (As if Easter Island wasn’t off the beaten track enough!) But then the Belgian family we befriended at Chez Maria Goretti told us we must go … so we went.

We sat on a second story patio outside beneath an umbrella (that may even be our table right above the restaurant’s sign), but soon the heavens opened, and the umbrella wasn’t enough to protect us. We moved to a table under an awning, but remained on the patio, so we could keep our view, which included moai who did not at all care that they were out in a storm. (more…)