Stephane is a French Chef, and a talented one. Stephane is passionate about cooking and he managed to create a unique cuisine that mixes African ingredients with French knowledge.
Everything was good, the starters, the main dishes and the desert. There is always the perfect sauce and side dishes that blow your papillae, and also, the service and presentation of the plate are amazing.
We had 6 dinners and 2 lunches at Panela Africana and every time it was outstanding. We tried other places in Ibo but the conclusion was simple: why paying more for less quality (and the gap is huge).

Stephane runs a great little hotel, but the piece de resistance is his restaurant and his great cooking - it is very rare that you adventure into such a remote location and find cuisine that you would expect from a fashionable city restaurant. Stephane is also a former dive instructor who can give you advice on where to dive in the islands and having lived on Ibo for many years he is a wealth of information on what to do on and around the islands.

Panela Africana is a little jewel of a restaurant. When we finally arrived after fumbling our way through the dusty Ibo streets, our jaws literally dropped when we saw Stephan, the chef, dressed in an immaculate white uniform as if he had just been transported to Ibo from some hip Parisian restaurant. The seating is all in the open air in a very pleasant patio. The food, brought to us by Stephan himself, was really scrumptious. My partner had "garopa" (local fish) and I had duck confit. My desert was a delicious chocolate coulant. The price was extremely reasonable. I would recommend Panela Africana to anyone seeking a satisfying culinary experience.

What can I say? Stefan is simply a genius.
My friend and I ate the on the 1st of May (workers' day and a national holiday in Mozambique) and Stefan was working alone without his wife or any of the staff. We let him know in the afternoon we'd be passing by for dinner and he was apologetic that his menu wasn't as extensive as usual. We settled on two different types of fish and at the last moment he told us he could rustle up some crab croquettes.
When we returned he had dinner with us in under twenty minutes and everything from the presentation, to the fish, to the different sauces were utterly delicious.
Ibo was my first port of call in Mozambique and my friend, who had been here before, told me this would be the best food I'd eat while in the country. I've been here for two weeks now and no one has come even close.
If you are in Ibo there's really no other place to go and eat.