Where to Eat in the British Virgin Islands - Visited 5/18-5/22 3.5 - 4.5 Forks

CocoMaya   Spanishtown,  Virgin Gorda                                                                               4 Forks

After our dinner debacle at our hotel, we decided we need to venture off the island for our next meal. We asked our lovely concierge where we should go and she said that the best restaurant in all of the BVI was on Virgin Gorda.  The only caveat is that due to the timing of the multiple ferries we had to take, we had to eat early (like 5 or 5:30pm) so that we could eat, relax and then catch the last ferry home.  So this meant, taking a 3:30pm ferry from Scrub Island to Tortola, and then catching the 4:30pm to Virgin Gorda, which would get us to Virgin Gorda around 5pm and then it's a 5 mins taxi ride to the restaurant.  The ferry ride from Tortola to Virgin Gorda is $30 RT, so technically you are spending an extra $30 to eat here but it's worth it.

Since we got there super early, we decided to sit at the bar and have a drink and relax first.  The restaurant is right on the beach and it's beautiful.  It reminded me a lot of Potato Head and the other beach side restaurants in Bali.  They've got a a few couches to lounge on right by the water and a fire pit as well as a swing by the bar.  We got there right at happy hour and the bartender was super nice and funny.  We nibbled on black bean dip and root chips at the bar which was addictive and very filling.  As the bar started to fill up, we decided to take a seat at our table but we could have easily sat at the bar all night.

The menu here is Asian Latin - which is something you definitely don't see in the Caribbean at all.  I was excited and skeptical to see sushi and other Asian food on the menu but it was worth a shot.  The waitress said that most things on the menu were tapas/share size with a few large plates being entree sized.  We were so excited to see so much variety that we totally over ordered.  We got the truffle fries ($8), vegetable empanadas ($9), fried rice w/out pork belly ($12), misa rasta sushi roll ($13), ceviche tacos ($16) and tuna sashimi ($18).  If the waitress hadn't stopped us, I would have tried to order the pad thai or korean rice cakes too.

The truffle fries were plentiful and very thick and crispy and not overpowering with the truffle oil. They were so filling and it felt like every time I ate a fry, they kept multiplying.  The waitress even commented how we didn't eat any of them, but I felt like we were constantly eating it!  The vegetable empanadas were ok - a bit bland and we probably wouldn't have ordered it again.  The fried rice was nice and albeit a smidge greasy (but when is fried rice not?!) and served with sriracha and a fried egg over it.  Yummy - flavor!! The ceviche tacos was 3 small hard shell tacos - one filled with salmon, one filled with snapper and another with tuna.  I forget that I really don't like hard shell tacos as I usually find them to be dry and overpower the rest of the dish.  It was the same thing here and the filling wasn't as much ceviche as it was raw fish with some guac and ponzu sauce.  But I would take that over a piece of boring grilled fish any day.  The tuna sashimi was pleasantly good - basic clean slices of tuna sashimi.  It felt so refreshing to eat healthy like this because resort food is so fried or greasy so this was a nice change of pace.   I didn't try the mista rasta roll which was basically a vegetarian roll with tofu, radish, cucumber, green onion and sesame seeds but it was nice that it was a viable option after the sad vegetarian experience from the other night.

While the concierge said that this was considered one of the best restaurants in the world, I wouldn't go as far as to say that but I will say that it was definitely a highlight to the trip.  It made me wish I was staying on Virgin Gorda so that I could hang out there longer, but alas we had to catch the 8pm ferry back to Tortola, but we did spent a good 2 1/2 hours there which was nice.  I would highly recommend this place no matter where you are staying in the BVIs for the atmosphere alone but the fact that it's Asian food makes it even better.  Total bill:  $71/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Cocomayarestaurant.com 

De Loose Mongoose   Trellis Bay, Tortola                                                                                3.5 Forks

Since the Scrub Island ferry lets you off at Trellis Bay, it's easy enough to hop into one of the nearby beach bars/restaurants for a bite to eat.  Apparently all the locals eat here so it was worth checking out.  Whereas Cocomaya was more bougie and catered to the rich British tourists, De Loose Mongoose was definitely more casual and laid back.  There was a good mix of locals and tourists which was nice.

It located all the way at the end of the bay to the left of the ferries but it's only a 10 min walk.  I liked the rasta-like vibe they had here and I could see it being a nice place to chill out during the day with a few beers or rum punches.  The menu is a mix of resort food like burgers and fish sandwiches but they also had other dishes like ribs, rotisserie chicken, and best of all Caribbean roti.  I was tempted to get roti since it's a local dish but I opted for another local dish of pan seared cracked conch ($21) and Aarti got the vegetarian roti ($10).  Unfortunately, the place also has 2 cats running around and Aarti was having a particularly bad allergic reaction to them that night so that kind of put a damper on things.

We tried to get our food to go but it was taking a while.  By the time the food came out, she was feeling better so we decided to quickly eat our food so that we could catch the next ferry home.  If you haven't had conch before it's kind of like escargot in terms of consistency and texture - these were dripping in a garlic oil and served with mashed potatoes (they called it chef's potatoes which I actually thought was going to be potato salad).  I could have done without so much oil to the pan seared-ness of the conch but it was good local dish that you definitely can't get outside of the Caribbean.  I had a few bites of Aarti's roti which was pretty good because of the curry kick to it and the actual roti was soft and chewy.

As with most places in the Caribbean, the service was a bit slow but I had a direct view of the kitchen and it was literally one man in the back making everything so I had to cut him some slack.  Also, don't order the wine here.  As if you didn't need to be reminded of that in the Caribbean but definitely stick with beer or cocktails here because Aarti's white wine was undrinkable.  This was a nice low key dinner and given how close it is to the ferry, I could see this being a go-to option for those staying at Scrub Island who need to get out of the resort for either lunch or dinner.  It's nothing mind blowing but it's close, easy and local - what else could you ask for?  Total bill:  $35/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Bare Boats BVI

The Last Resort    Bellamy Cay, Trellis Bay                                                                            4.5 Forks

I really love this place.  It might be a bit hippie or cheesy but I loved that our trip ended here.  We had originally wanted to go on Saturday night but they were having a charity event and it was a $75 cover.  No thanks!  So we went on Sunday night instead and I'm so glad we made it - I would have been really sad if we missed out on this experience. 

First, it's on this tiny tiny island in between Scrub Island and Tortola.  We kept seeing it on our way back and forth the two island but couldn't figure out what it was.  Finally we were told it's like an eco-friendly island with its own bar,  restaurant, and "museum".  The fun part is that you have to take another small speed boat from Trellis Bay to this island - when you get to the ferry docks, you call them on this funky walkie talkie at the docks and then they come get you in a speed boat.  But our ferry captain was so nice and called ahead for us, so that by the time we got to the docks, the guy was already waiting for us with the boat. Stepping off into the island, it reminded me a bit of Ruschmeyer's in the Hamptons but in a totally non-douchy way.  It had this large open air restaurant with a backyard/garden that has a giant life sized Connect 4 and Jenga to play with.  Plus it's got swings, couches and corn hole - all surrounded by the beautiful waters of the BVI.  

Unfortunately when we got there it was already dark, so we couldn't really play around in the garden but we did have some really nice fancy cocktails while we walked around.  The staff there are all adorable Brits who seemed to have quite the hippie life - they live on this tiny island where there isn't any tap water (they purify their own water) and the guy who picked us up on the speed boat was telling us how he works there in the summer and then travels around the world surfing during the other times of the year.  Seriously, what am I doing wrong with my life?!?  What's also nice about this place is that they have a live music section and normally I hate that shit but this was kind of nice to enjoy some music while sipping a cocktail in an outdoor restaurant - it was a cute 20-something kid playing the guitar, so it wasn't some loud crazy bar music but really chill and mellow.  I heard they have a no Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffet policy which I love and respect. 

The menu here was also surprisingly eclectic.  The website calls it West Indian, North Africa, Spain, South Pacific, and South America focused food.  Ok - I can see that.  Everything here sounded great and I ended up getting the Swordfish and Aarti got a hodgepodge of veggie side dishes from sweet potato mash, curried coconut polenta, and Mexican corn (see Caravela - you can have decent veggie side dishes and not have it be a plate of steamed vegetables).  Our waiter could not have been any nicer and sweeter and gave us the low down on the history and background of this place while we waited for our food.  

The swordfish was delicious and lovely - it came with Mexican street corn made into a risotto like consistency, pickled red onion, tomato salad, and Spanish red pepper romesco sauce.  Swordfish is a tricky fish to cook since it's thicker and firmer than most fishes but it was cooked just right here and with the romesco and corn mixture it wasn't dried out at all.  It was really satisfying dish.  Since it was our last night here, we wanted to go all out and saw another table with a fat piece of chocolate cake and ice cream.  The waiter was like "umm, the ice cream is for special occasions" - which I'm assuming he meant engagements or honeymoons but he relented and brought out a huge piece of cake with a big scoop of ice cream on top of it.  He kind of made it sound like he stole the ice cream out of their own personal food stash -which is possible since it sounds like everyone here lives in a hippie/commune like place.  The only bummer was that he charged us for 2 desserts here at $10 each! If I had known that, I would have nixed the ice cream. 

Luckily the night we were there is was super quiet and chill but I could see it getting rowdy during the day with some of the yachting crowd.  But it was a great way to end our vacation and I was sad that we hadn't discovered it earlier so that we could hang out in the garden some more.  It's definitely a unique place and I hope that it sticks around some more even with all these new luxury resorts popping up and stealing its thunder.  Total bill:  $68/pp with tax and ti

Photo Credit:  Lastresortbvi.com 

Where to Eat on Scrub Island - Visited 5/18-5/22 2 -3 Forks

Tierra Tierra Scrub Island Resort, Spa and Marina                                                                 3 Forks

I had been wanting check out Scrub Island in the British Virgin Islands for awhile because Marriott often has some really good travel agent discounts - so when I saw some openings in mid-May for $125/night I snapped up the opportunity.

Scrub Island is a private island that's a 10 minute ferry ride from Tortola and there is literally nothing on this island besides the hotel.  So it can be a bit boring and limiting but once you get of get used to taking the ferry to the bigger islands, it's not that big of a deal and the views there are stunning.  I have to chuckle a bit at the title of this entry as the only places to eat on Scrub Island are the two restaurants they have on property:   the fine dining establishment Caravela and the more casual Tierra Tierra!

After enduring a 6AM flight out of JFK, Aarti and I landed at Scrub Island around 1pm exhausted and starving.  The only real lunch option here is Tierra Tierra (although you can order pizza from the deli which we did one day and I would highly recommend it if you are being lazy AF), which over looks the pool and marina. It's your typical resort beach bar and restaurant that you'd find in the Caribbean - the menu consists of salads, sandwiches and a variety of burgers, sandwiches and wraps.  ince we were in the Caribbean, I opted for the Scrub Island Fish Sandwich ($18) and Aarti got the veggie burger ($16).  The fish sandwich was blacked grouper on fluffy Jamaican coco bread with sofrito sauce, slaw and a side of fries.  The sandwich was as expected from a resort restaurant - the fish was grilled fine but the bread was a bit too much and I had to tear pieces off of it otherwise I felt like I would be eating a week's worth of carbs.  The fries were overcooked and very bland but I was so hungry that it got the job done when I covered it with enough ketchup.  I didn't try Aarti's veggie burger, but it also looked like standard fare.

As with most places in the Caribbean (except for Barbados and maybe Jamaica), food is not the star attraction on this vacation.  I knew the food would be standard, at best, and expensive.  I will say that our lunch wasn't nearly as expensive as I expected it to be and we did eat there again on our spa day where we both got salads.  Obviously there isn't a whole lot of vegetation on these islands so the types of greens and vegetables used in any salad here is super limiting - the garden fresh salad I got that day was just a bed of mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion with balsamic vinaigrette ($14) - so it was definitely no Sweet Green type of bougie salad.  Overall, it's what you'd expect at a casual resort restaurant, so I don't have any real complaints, I just wished that maybe they could change the menu up every now and then to give it some variety, especially when there are no other options on the island.

Caravela      2 Forks

Caravela is the resort's "fine dining" establishment and they insist that you make a reservation even though the resort was practically empty.  The woman who checked us in at the front desk said that there was no dress code and even the concierge was saying how the BVI in general is super causal. We didn't wear beach wear but I rolled in with white jeans and a grey top and Aarti was wearing flow-y pants and a regular t-shirt.

When we got to the front the hostess looked us and up and down and refused to seat us because we weren't dressed appropriately.  WTF?!  We looked around at the half empty restaurant and there were people there literally wearing shorts and a t-shirt.  But since there was no where else to go unless we went back to Tierra Tierra, we begrudgingly obliged and changed into "nicer" clothes.  It was totally ridiculous.

The menu here is pretty much seafood focused except for a few small salad appetizers.  I felt bad for Aarti but she's usually good about rolling with the punches and when we had asked the hostess if they could make something vegetarian, she said it wouldn't be an issue.  What we didn't know was that the veggie plate they said they would make was literally a plate of steamed carrots, broccoli and zucchini with nothing else.  It was right out of a movie or something where you just had to laugh.  Some of the other meat or seafood dishes had other more appealing veggie friendly side dishes like roasted potatoes, broccoli with garlic herb butter, mashed potatoes or jasmine rice - so they clearly would have jazzed up her plate instead of sending out a sad looking steam veggie plate.  I guess the only good news was that they were steamed well and were crispy? Aarti ended up asking for a side of mashed potatoes but it was just crazy to think that they wouldn't have at least offered that up as a vegetarian option when we asked.  The most offensive part of all of this was that they charged us $28 for that plate of vegetables.

As for me, I wanted to get the crab stuffed salmon but apparently at 8pm they had already run out. Seriously?! So I went with the blackened mahi mahi ($33) which came with a mango and black bean salsa, jasmine rice and my own medley of steamed vegetables.  It was a totally fine fish dish - very typical of the islands and nothing to write home about at all.

Obviously, we were both still hungry so we got the chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream ($12) - this was clearly the best part of dinner.  It hit the spot and we joked that if we had to come back here for dinner (which we wouldn't), we would just get dessert and wine and call it a day.

Mediocre food aside, the whole experience was tainted by the uppity rude hostess and then our server was also painfully slow.  We had ordered a glass of wine each to start and it didn't come out until after our entrees were served.  I know it's the island and everything is slower but this was just ridiculous. Since we were staying at the resort, we had to try this place at least once but thank god there were other more fun and better restaurants a 10 min ferry ride away, otherwise this experience would have most definitely ruined my vacation.

The Continental Miami Visited 11/17/2015 4.5 Forks

The Continental Miami   2360 Collins Ave, Miami, FL 33139

I have a love/hate relationship with Stephen Starr restaurants.  He's definitely a prolific restaurateur with awesome places like Upland but then he's got terrible places like El Vez and painful trendy places like Buddakan.  But I was curious as to what he had going on in the Miami scene, so I decided to check out The Continental while in town.  The Continental has a very retro 70's upscale diner feel to it.  It's kind of kitschy with a tikki cocktail menu but then the food is weirdly Asian and slightly Caribbean.

I went with Laura and one of her trade association colleagues.  We sat outside which is one of the best things about Miami - you can always sit outside and enjoy a good meal.  Our waiter was super friendly and nice and recommended a bunch of things for us to share.  We started with a basic organic green salad ($10) which was nice since Laura and I had been eating a lot of hotel conference food all week.  Based on the rec of our waiter, we got the lettuce wrap ($29), Jamaican Jerk Chicken ($24) and the Pastrami Fried Rice ($16).   The salad was very standard - basic fresh mixed greens with a lemon vinaigrette.  Next came the fried rice which the waiter raved about - he said it was super unique and different because of the pastrami element and heavy black cracked pepper on it.  In all honesty, I've totally had some similar to this somewhere else and I just don't get the trend of using pastrami.  But the actual fried rice part was quite tasty in that salty fried rice way.  Next we had the lettuce wraps and this was an amazing dish.  Incredibly tender and juicy Korean marinated skirt steak with kimchi, pickles and a spicy (sambal?) garnish with very large and fresh pieces of Bibb lettuce. It was fantastic and jam packed with lots of flavor and heat.   The other main dish of jerk chicken was equally as tasty (see what I mean about a totally random menu?).  The chicken was super moist and tender and served with traditional rice and peas.  Awesome dish even if it was kind of a random item. The waiter definitely steered us in the right direction.  

Of course, we had to get dessert and got the millionaire's chocolate cake ($11) because any dessert with that name is just begging for you to order it, even if you don't like chocolate.  To offset it, we also got the Strawberry Shortcake ($11) because that's one of my favorite desserts.  As expected, I loved the shortcake much more.  It was the perfect blend of shortcake, creme fraiche and sweet sugar soaked strawberries.  This is totally my kind of dessert - still sweet but not rot your tooth sweet.  You can find that kind of sweetness with the chocolate cake - it was waaay too much for me.  I took one bite and while I fully appreciated it for what it was, I couldn't eat more than 1 bite. 

While I didn't love this place as much as I did Upland, it was a very solid Stephen Starr representation.  Even though the decor is kind of cheesy and the menu may not make a lot of sense, you'll have a great time and leave with a happy and full stomach.  Total bill:  $250 for 3 people 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Miss Lily's Visited 10/5/2015 3.5 Forks

Miss Lily's  132 W Houston St., New York, NY 10012

One of the reason's I was excited to go to Miss Lily's was because it's by the same people who own The Rockhouse Hotel in Negril, Jamaica - a place I went to years ago and loved.  I loved it because it was not just a beautiful hotel but because the food, especially the jerk chicken, was amazing.   Despite being open for a few years now, I had read that this place was still hoppin and where the "cool" kids go.  When you walk in, it's quite dark and loud but in this funky way - you feel like you're kind of in a reggae hall in Jamaica with all the upbeat music and colorful decor (the tables are in the shape and design of records). 

Our waitress was gorgeous and was wearing this crazy skimpy outfit that somehow still looked really cool.  The menu is obviously Jamaican/Caribbean influenced with plantains, jerk chicken, jerk pork, jerk salmon, oxtail, and curried goat.  We started with the artichoke and callaloo dip ($14) - callaloo is a Caribbean dish that's mainly a green leafy vegetable.  The dish was a good start although I did find the cheese part a bit coagulated by the time it reached out table.  As for my main, what else would I get besides jerk chicken ($21)?  It was 2 fairly large pieces of chicken on the bone with a cucumber salad, and rice and peas.   The chicken was pretty moist and the marinate was sweet and spicy - I actually wanted it to be a bit spicy because I remember the ones I had in Jamaica being peel your face off spicy.  I could see the cucumber salad being a nice cooling agent for the spice but I didn't really need it.  We also had a side of plantains ($5) that were sweet and done right.  While the food overall wasn't an exact replica of the food I had at The Rockhouse, it's probably the closest to authentic Caribbean food in NYC outside of being in Brooklyn around the Crown Heights/Prospect Heights area. 

The most fun part was when we told them it was our friend Richelle's birthday and they cranked up the music, brought out sparklers and some weird shots.  It was like a stripped down version of when you're at one of those ridiculous places like Lavo and they bring out the bottle service.  The one bummer about this place if you're coming here for a birthday is that they don't have a liquor license - only beer, wine and soju, but it's still a pretty fun and affordable way to feel like you're miles away.  Total bill:  $82/pp with tax, tip and, drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Cuz's Fish Shack Visited 1/17/2015 4.5 Forks

Cuz's Fish Shack Needham's Point, Bridgetown, Barbados

Allison and I were in Barbados for just a quick layover before and after our sailing trip to St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent but it was long enough for us to eat at Cuz's three times in our less than 48 hour stay.  It is everything that I love about food - local, fresh, authentic and affordable.  

It's a tiny blue stand located in the parking lot between the Radisson and Hilton hotels right off the beach. You can't miss it because there is always a huge line for it and you will have to wait no matter what time you get there - although if you get there after 12pm, you will be sure to wait at least 30-45 minutes. Why the wait? It's because this place is run by 1 adorable old lady who cooks everything made to order right in the shack.  There's no menu - just order the fish sandwich.  I would recommend that you order it with a fried egg and cheese.   Yes, that's right, I said fish with egg and cheese. Believe me, you can't go wrong.  She also sometimes has a roti available and if she does, jump on that one as well.  

On our 1st time there, we got the standard fish, egg and cheese ($11 Barbados dollars, which is roughly $5.50 USD).  The flying fish cutter (as it's known) is enormous, so be ready to eat. It's a huge piece of flying fish that is battered and fried up with some local spices, then she puts a delicious fried egg and a thick slice of a sharp white cheddar like cheese, topped with fresh lettuce and tomato and sandwiched between 2 pieces of salt bread.  The gooey-ness of the egg and cheese is fantastic and it just somehow really works with the fish.  The bread is soft and holds in all the juices and flavor of the fish and cheese.  The 2nd time we went there, I overheard a customer ordering a chicken roti and we just had to get it.  These actually were pre-made and she microwaves it to get it warm but none the less, it was an amazing chicken and potato roti.  The roti itself was paper thin but held in tremendous amount of curry flavored potato and chicken.  It reminded me of an Indian style burrito.  Alas when I wanted to get another one the 3rd time we went there, she ran out!  In total, Allison and I had the fish sandwich 3 times and each time they were delicious but different at the same time.  The 2nd one was almost twice at large with 2 fish fillets in there and then 3rd time, the fish didn't seem battered or fried, but more on the grilled side.  Regardless, they were all amazing each time and it really makes you appreciate how individualized each one is made - they are definitely not being churned out of a machine.  She also has a variety of local hot sauces to put on your sandwich, so if you like it spicy, don't miss out on the bottles in front of the ledge. 

The only reason I am not giving it 5 forks is because the wait can be painfully long and especially in the hot sun, so I can see why many people just give up and leave.  Plus the menu is really limited to just 1 item.   But it's still a must go in Barbados, especially if you're looking for affordable authentic food. 

Battery Harris Visited 6/23/2014 3 Forks

Battery Harris 64 Frost St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

So I'll keep this review rather short since Battery Harris is really more of a bar than a restaurant.  Note, I'm also going to use the work "jerk" about 100 times in this review.  Paige and I had wanted to go there to watch the US vs. Portugal game on Sunday but all the tables were reserved and the only available space was near a tiny TV, so we left.   But I had put it on my mental list of places to come back to because of it's fantastic outdoor space. 

This place used to be the Brooklyn outpost of Lorely until it closed recently.  The new space was left relatively untouched from the previous tenants which was great since the outdoor beer garden was really perfect the way it was.  The food and drinks at Battery Harris have a Jamaican/Caribbean vibe to it, which is not something you really see much of in Williamsburg.  The menu has a lot of jerked food such as jerk wings, jerk pork buns, jerk calamari and jerk chicken and other interesting dishes like pulled oxtail hoagie and coconut curry mussels.  The night I was there they actually had a crawfish boil going on that night.  I opted for the jerk chicken sandwich ($14) which came with jerk dusted fries.  The sandwich is quite hefty - it was served with a lot of corriander slaw as well as slices of sweet plantains inside (which was a nice treat).  I usually expected jerk chicken to be more shredded with tons of sauce on it but this one was more like sliced chicken and it didn't have a lot of sauce on it.  I've been to Jamaica before and had amazing jerked chicken chock full of flavor and this one was not quite the same but not too bad for a casual night out.  The fries tasted like it had a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar on it, so it had a sweet angle to it vs. being a savory side dish.  

While my sandwich wasn't mind blowing, I liked the vibe and space of this place enough to definitely be up for coming back for drinks and obviously whenever there are drinks, there is always food involved.   I might even get the oxtail hoagie next time.  Total bill:  $32/pp with tax, tip and several beers

Photo Credit:  Yelp