La Varangue occupies a beautifully restored colonial house in the upper town, its terrace overlooking a quiet garden a few minutes' walk from the Haute-Ville. The menu is franco-malgache — French technique applied to Malagasy ingredients — with zebu tenderloin, freshwater crayfish from the highlands, and vanilla-inflected desserts that make proper use of the country's most famous export. The wine list is short but thoughtful.
It is Antananarivo's most reliably elegant dining room: candlelit in the evenings, unhurried in pace, and staffed with genuine attentiveness. Prices are high by local standards but modest by European ones. Reservations are advised for dinner, particularly on weekends. It functions equally well as a long lunch or a special occasion dinner. The verandah seating is the place to be on a clear afternoon.