Where to eat in St Lucia, from fabulous settings to tip-top Caribbean cooking
For some of St Lucia's top restaurants, it's their spectacular or romantic location that is their single most memorable feature, though that is not to say that their food isn't pretty good, too. In Rodney Bay, you can dine on Thai, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian and French fare. If you're looking for something more local, across the island there are also lots of places to sample Creole and Caribbean food, try the plethora of locally grown fruit and vegetables, and eat fish caught that same day.
Most (though not all) restaurants quote prices on menus that exclude a 10 per cent service charge and the 10 per cent VAT, so the final bill can be quite a lot more than you might have reckoned. Don't end up unintentionally tipping twice.
The Cliff at Cap
Many non-residents dine at The Cliff at Cap, the restaurant at Cap Maison, a smart hacienda-style hotel near St Lucia's northern tip. The open-air restaurant's clifftop location is sensational – frigate birds swoop over the ocean, and the panoramic views extend to Martinique on the horizon. Arrive for sundowners while it's still light: the bar has an impressive selection of rums and wines, and drinks can be taken on a wooden deck on a rocky outcrop at the base of the cliffs. The French/Caribbean cuisine is imaginative and sophisticated, with dishes such as roast jerk pork belly with caramelized plantain.
Contact:00 1 758 457 8681; thecliffatcap.com
Prices: ￡￡￡
Reservations: Recommended
Best tables: By the cliff edge – first come, first served
? The best things to do in St Lucia
The Naked Fisherman
Another offering from Cap Maison, this one a simple, casual-chic affair, with tables under white canvas umbrellas on a wooden deck down behind pretty little Smugglers Cove beach. The food is easily the best of any beach bar/restaurant on St Lucia. Recommended choices include the crab claws in a ginger and chili sauce, and whatever the catch of the day is, with sweet potato fries and curried pumpkin. Or you could have chicken roti, jerk pork or kobe burger. Everything is stylishly presented on wooden platters. Note that there's a flight of 92 steps down to the restaurant and beach.
Contact: 00 1 758 457 8694; nakedfishermanstlucia.com
Prices: ￡￡
Reservations: Recommended
? The best nightlife in St Lucia
Flavours of the Grill
This modest and colourful little restaurant – the wooden house is painted blue, pink and lime green - is one of the best places on St Lucia to sample authentic, inexpensive Caribbean cooking. It's just off the main drag of the fishing village of Gros Islet, scene of a very lively street party every Friday evening. Chef/owner O'Nell Daly's repertoire of tasty dishes include fried strips of blue marlin, shrimp in a Creole sauce, curried goat, and banana rum pudding. Portions are substantial and the food nicely presented. At lunchtime there's an inexpensive buffet, and on Friday evenings a barbecue.
Address: Marie Therese Street, Gros Islet
Contact: 00 1 758 284 7906
Prices: ￡
Opening times: Mon-Thu, 12pm-10pm; Fri, 12pm-1am; Sat, 12pm-10pm
Reservations: Recommended
Café Olé
In Rodney Bay Marina you'll find several side-by-side cafés with seating on wooden decking overlooking the smart yachts, that do good, inexpensive lunches and light dinners. One of these is Café Olé. It offers excellent smoothies (the banana and coconut is recommended), proper Italian coffees, and a big choice of quickly served, made-to-order baguettes, wraps, paninis and salads. It's also good for breakfasts (pancakes, omelettes), and its boardwalk bar serves drinks till late. For great Italian ice creams, pop next door to Elena's.
Contact: 00 1 758 452 8726; cafeolestlucia.com
Prices: ￡
Reservations: Not possible
Big Chef Steakhouse
This classy, indoor, air-conditioned restaurant is arguably the most reliable bet for a really good dinner in Rodney Bay Village. The steaks, though not cheap, are outstandingly tender, and the sweet potato fries are delicious. Leave room for the rich puddings: the cranberry vanilla crème br?lée is memorable. Chef Rosie Joinville is exceptionally welcoming, finding time to chat to tourists as well as her many regulars. You could start the evening next door at sister establishment Tapas on the Bay, a civilised and rather elegant tapas bar serving Caribbean and Spanish dishes.
Contact:00 1 758 450 0210; bigchefsteakhouse.com
Prices: ￡￡￡
Reservations: Recommended
? The best beaches in St Lucia
The Coal Pot
This elegant restaurant, set alongside a sleepy marina across the bay from Castries, has been around for nearly 50 years. Blackboard menus include a wide choice of French and Creole dishes. Main course fish dishes – often dorado, barracuda, kingfish, snapper - come with a choice of sauces (the ginger is recommended), and are beautifully served on fish-shaped platters. The callaloo or pumpkin soups are brilliant too. Lunch is good value, and with many diners being businesspeople from Castries it tends to be busier than dinner. Dress quite smartly if you want to fit in.
Contact: 00 1 758 452 5566; thecoalpotrestaurant.com
Prices: ￡￡￡
Reservations: Recommended (and essential if you want a waterfront table at lunchtime)
Best tables: On the long verandah right next to the water
? The best things to do in St Kitts
Masala Bay
You might not naturally gravitate towards an Indian restaurant when in the Caribbean, but you really should make an exception when in picturesque Marigot Bay. The creative and distinctive food at Masala Bay is in fact Indo Chinese 'Hakka' cuisine from north-eastern India, with local ingredients thrown into the mix – for example in a goat curry, or a prawn curry with coconut and tamarind. One recommended speciality is chicken 'lollipops': chicken wings in a sticky oyster sauce. The restaurant is decorated in a fresh and colourful modern style, and ideally placed on the upper floor of the marina buildings, overlooking the yacht-speckled water. The chef/proprietor has a second well-regarded restaurant, Spice of India, in Rodney Bay Village.
Contact: 00 1 758 451 4500; Facebook page
Prices: ￡￡
Opening times: Daily, 12pm-3.30pm, 5.30pm-10pm
Reservations: Recommended
Best tables: On the terrace
? The best restaurants in Grenada
Orlando's
This smart but homely restaurant on the northern edge of Soufrière is by some margin the best place to eat in town, and it gives the hotel restaurants in the surrounding area a good run for their money too. It's named after its charismatic British-born chef/proprietor Orlando Satchell, a leading light in St Lucia's foodie scene and passionate champion of Caribbean food. Lunches are affordable: order the sensationally good fish and chips – maybe grilled trigger fish, plantain chips and a light salsa dip – then perhaps the baked banana filled with guava and ice cream for a delicious pudding. Dinners are relatively expensive set-price, five-course affairs, and include a 'Mango Madness' themed menu when the fruit is in season.
Contact: 00 1 758 459 5955; Facebook page
Prices: ￡￡
Reservations: Recommended
Best tables: Out on the upstairs terrace
Rabot Hotel
The restaurant of Rabot Hotel by Hotel Chocolat offers some of the most imaginative food on St Lucia. Most dishes, savoury and sweet, have cocoa in them, either in the form of cocoa nibs or pulp, or as chocolate. A chocolate-infused vinaigrette to dip bread into, a citrus salad with a white chocolate dressing, fillet of pork with a cocoa and herb crust – all are subtly flavoured and delicious. As you might guess, desserts are memorable: go for the nine-stage Chocolate Genesis tasting plate. You dine in a dramatic and trendy open-plan space, through which bats surreptitiously flit at nighttime.
Contact: 00 1 758 459 7966; thehotelchocolat.com
Prices: ￡￡￡
Reservations: Recommended
Contact: 00 1 758 450 0210; bigchefsteakhouse.com
Prices: ￡￡￡
Reservations: Recommended
? An insider guide to St Lucia
Dasheene
Ladera is a classy hotel ranged along a high ridge, with breathtaking views of the Pitons, the forested slopes of the south-west of the island and the sea. This panorama is laid out before diners on the terraces of Dasheene, the hotel's restaurant. The food, a mix of international and Creole dishes – perhaps sautéed shrimp with peppers, sweet potato and breadfruit chips – with many ingredients from nearby plantations, is pretty good too. Lunch is the best time to enjoy the view; light lunchtime dishes such as a catch of the day salad are expertly done. If coming for dinner, arrive while it's light and have a drink in the bar, which also takes in the view.
Contact: 00 1 758 459 6623; ladera.com
Prices: ￡￡￡
Reservations: Recommended
Best tables: Those with unimpeded views by the restaurant's outer edge – first come, first served
? The best restaurants in Antigua
Martha's Tables
This modest little lunchtime restaurant by the road to Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort, is one of the best spots for a meal in the Soufrière area. Martha – who once worked as a cook and a seamstress at nearby hotels – uses the terrace of her home as a dining area. Her homemade creole cooking is delicious, and the portions are vast. A main course such as the grilled chicken breast, served with plantains, rice and beans, macaroni cheese and a potato salad, will more than satisfy most appetites. Other options include shrimp, fish cakes or fish, with a spicy creole sauce to accompany.
Address: Martha's Table, Belle Vue, Soufriere, St Lucia
Contact: 00 1 758 459 7270
Prices: ￡
Opening times: Mon-Fri, lunch only (11.30am-3pm)
Reservations: Recommended
