Right around the Feb/March timeframe I was starting to go crazy in NYC. The weather was horrid and all I wanted was to sit on a white sand beach and look at gorgeous beautiful blue water. Enter Barbados. Aarti, Deanna and I planned a pseudo-impromptu girls trip to Barbados to just relax and unwind. But any part of a good trip for me always involves eating. Most of the Caribbean island vacations that I have been on have had sub-par food because they are so isolated that they have to ship in food. So that makes the food not only expensive but just not that fresh and great.
But the food in Barbados totally changed my perspective. I would say that in general the food that I had in Barbados was pretty damn good and very healthy and fresh. I will try to give the low down on most of the places I ate at:
Spartan
Who would have ever thought you could get great Greek food in Barbados? Not me! This place is literally right across the street from our hotel and it was a great, cheap option to the fine dining options on the island. The food there was really tasty and tasted just as good as any Greek place I've been to in recent memory. Granted, I just had the Greek Salad, which was just a bunch of lettuce, tomatoes, red onion and olives tossed with olive oil but the kicker is that it came with a GIANT piece of feta cheese on top. Isn't feta the whole reason why you get a greek salad to begin with anywyas? It was just what I wanted after getting off a stuffy plane ($6 with a bottle of water). Aarti and Deanna got the tofu pita and they raved about the softness of the pita (which came as white or wheat) and the tzatziki sauce. The fries were also really crispy and delicious. We later found out that it's owned by an actual Greek man who moved here from Greece...amazing and I can't blame him for the move.
Sand Dollar Cafe
Also in the picture is the Sand Dollar Cafe. It was nice to have two options so close to our hotel. This place is a local cafe and is a very basic, bare-bones operation. There is only 1 woman who works there and the menu is generally soups, sandwiches and coffee. I'm not a huge coffee drinker but Aarti and Deanna both swore by the coffee and said it was amazing. It came in these mugs that were the size of my head and they were brewed fresh individually, which I guess would lend to their tastiness. Twice I had the ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich on "brown" bread ($3.63). It really was just a sandwich I could have easily made at home. It was grocery-store like bread but toasted just right and the ham was ham that was cut off the bone, so it was thick and had a lot of meat to it (not like your sliced deli meat). The egg was fried and the cheese was freshly grated white cheddar. It also came with a cucumber inside which was actually a nice touch considering how freaking hot it is out there. It's nothing special, but it hit the spot in the morning and at that price I have nothing to complain about.
Cafe Sol
Yet again, we had a cuisine that was totally unexpected for the island. MEXICAN. Who the hell gets Mexican food in the Caribbean? Well, we did. The place is right at the entrance to The Gap (not the store) but this kind of touristy street that has a bunch of bars and restaurants. It was one of the most popular places as we had to wait 45 minutes for a table. When we were finally seated, the waitress told us immediately that it would be a wait for food. Grrrreat. But at least we had drinks (2 for 1 sangria) to keep us going. I got the shrimp burrito and I have to say it was pretty good. You could actually see and taste the shrimp and it was grilled with the right amount of seasoning and it was extremely filling. I was pleasantly surprised by my meal and so were Aarti and Deanna. Total bill was $93.
Tapas
This was probably one of the most beautiful restaurants I've been to, if not on the island, but anywhere. It's set at the end of the boardwalk on Accra Beach (my favorite beach there) and it's this gorgeous modern open air restaurant set with amazing views. That water in the picture is not photoshopped, it was really that blue. The food was definitely more upscale and not exactly Spanish or small plate style (as you would expect). It was more high-end pastas, soups, fish, and seafood in appetizer or entrees format. We all split the paprika potato wedges and I got the grilled fish of the day (Dolphin but not of the Flipper kind, more of the white fish kind) which came on a bed of mashed plantains and topped with pineapple salsa ($21). Aarti got the penne pasta and Deanna got the parmigiana (baked eggplant, tomato and cheese). Everything was beautifully presented and my fish was fresh and delicious. The plantain was a nice change from potatoes and it really fills you up very quickly. We all loved the potato wedges, they were good size wedges and so perfectly crisp and delicious with aoli mayo (it's every where!). Total bill was $65.
Brown Sugar
Ahh, Brown Sugar. How can you not love that name? We had to go because first, it got good reviews, second, we wanted to try local Bajan cuisine and third, IT'S CALLED BROWN SUGAR! The decor is a cute open air plantation style house. It's in a pretty quiet part of town (totally opposite from The Gap), so it was a nice change of pace. The national dish there is the Flying Fish, so of course I had to try it. Aarti got the lentil chili (very spicy!) and Denana got the pesto pasta. Flying Fish is really just fried fish (so think fish and chips but not with cod fish). It was kind of a skinny fillet that was lightly seasoned and fried. It was ok, the fish was a bit too thin for me. It came with these sad looking boil vegetables and more potato wedges. We also got paw-paw (papaya cake), which was fine. It tasted just like warm apple pie to me (complete with vanilla ice cream on the side) and it had a lot more crust-y than I like my desserts. Total bill was $95
Roti Den
The Roti Den was this tiny shack that was tucked away on this dirt road and attached to this pool hall. We had originally wanted to go to this other Roti place that was "home to the 1 pound Roti" but it was closed. So we tried this place instead and it was just fine. I got the chicken and potato ($6.35). If you've never had roti before it's this bread-like product similar to naan and it's usually filled with potato. The one issue I had with my meal was that it was served on thin paper. At one point I discovered I was missing a bunch of paper at the bottom and that's when I realized that I probably had cut it up and eaten it with my food. Oh well. I'm still alive.
Oistin Fish Fry
Apparently this is THE place to be on a Friday night...so of course we end up there on a Monday night. The locals actually told us it was better to go on Monday because it's less touristy and crowded. When we got there, I could see what they mean. It's a huge open air market with lots of different stalls. They all pretty much sell the same stuff and they can be pretty aggressive trying to get you to try their stall. I can just see how packed it could be and how annoying that would be. We picked the one that had the most people and outdoor seating (Pat's). I got the grilled swordfish and all the sides (because I am a pig!) which included macaroni pie (mac and cheese basically), yuca, plantains, a green salad and cole slaw all on one plate for $12! There were 3 huge pieces of swordfish and they were so freakin good. You can see them grilling them right next to you, so you know it's made to order and even all the sides just tasted homemade and really hit the spot. It was probably one of my favorite meals of the trip.
Tamarind
While Tamarind was a great meal, we kind of ended up there out of sheer hunger and desperation. We took a 45 min bus ride to Sandy Lane Beach which turned out to be not that great of a beach at all. But we had spent so much time getting there that we kind of forgot to eat lunch. So by the time 4pm rolled around I was a horrible grouchy monster. Luckily Tamarind saved the day. It's this beautiful fancy hotel by the beach with a great outdoor bar/restaurant. I got the club sandwich which came with thick cut fries. While it was a bit smaller than how I usually like my sandwiches, I loved that fact that they had the crust cut off for me and all the ingredients tasted healthy and fresh. Aarti got a cheese pizza that was kind of heavy on the cheese and a bit too doughy, but at that point we were all so hungry that we devoured everything. The ambiance was so relaxing with these giant cushy lounge chairs right by the beach. It's totally what I want my outdoor seating area to look like if I ever own a house (probably in 2050). While I liked our hotel and it totally suited our needs, this made me think about what it would be like if we had splurged and stayed somewhere really nice. Total $26/pp.
Harlequin
For our last meal in Barbados we headed back to The Gap area since it was within walking distance from our hotel. Harlequin's outdoor deck is decorated with a bunch of x-mas lights and I am such a sucker for those things. We split the Mediterranean salad (who knew Greek/Mediterranean food was so popular there?) and it was light and refreshing. Their homemade vinaigrette totally made me want to go home and try to make my own (which I have still yet to do). I wanted to get the red snapper but they were out of it so I got the barracuda instead with mashed potatoes (I've never had so many starch-y products in one trip) and more sad looking boiled veggies. I don't think they know how to cook veggies very well on the island as most of the time if it wasn't in a salad, they were boiled and tasteless. While I asked for my fish to be grilled and to have the garlic butter on the side, it still tasted a bit oily to me. The fish wasn't as flavorful or tender as the swordfish from the other night. So I guess I know now not to order barracuda anymore. Sadly the mashed potatoes were lacking in some flavor. It definitely could have used more salt as well as butter and it could have been whipped more. But all in all, the meal wasn't terrible, just not the best I've had on the island. Total bill was $35/pp
Chefette
I just had to throw this in here. It's their local fast food chain and they were everywhere. They sell fried chicken, pizza, ice cream, roti, bbq chicken...it's just a mis-mosh of everything. I just couldn't get over their logo and the fact that their cashiers wear bright purple pants and yellow tops a la the Joker in Batman. Love Chefette!
Over all, I was really impressed with the food in Barbados and it wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought. Ok, the nice places are still expensive and you can't really go out to dinner without dropping at least $30-$50 but you can definitely find good deals and local cheap eats if you're willing to look for them. The waitstaff at all the places were so wonderful. I really have to give a shout out to all of them because despite having to deal with annoying tourists (and mostly European at that), they are still super friendly and warm. I can't wait to go back!
1 comment:
Good food, good times!
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