Feb 25, 2016

Our Favourite Restaurants in Barbados – from Fast Food to Fine Fare

Most people booking a villa holiday will look forward to choosing from an array of different restaurants and bars to eat out several times during their stay.

This article is written by Jan Lewis, our Barbados Operations Manager. Having lived in Barbados for 18 years, she is more than qualified to write an article on her favourite restaurants on the island! So if you are planning a visit this should help you choose some great dining options during your stay. Enjoy! 

I am fortunate enough to live, with my husband Paul, in Barbados and am happy to share our knowledge of the many choices of places on this beautiful island where we get to enjoy great food, atmosphere and service. Living on the south coast of Barbados means that most of our choices of restaurants would be in that area but that is not say that we don’t make the journey to the west or east coast. A restaurant that is situated right on the sea is probably everyone’s first choice of venue and Barbados has many of these…Champers, Tapas, Primo and Castaways being our favourites on the south coast. The Cliff, Cin Cin, Tides, The Beach House, Lone Star, The Fish Pot on the west with L’Azure at The Crane Resort and Atlantis in Bathsheba representing the best of the east coast. Each of these restaurants is highly recommended for fine-dining and is well frequented by residents and tourists both for lunch and dinner.

There are all sorts of choices of international cuisine on island and we appreciate that we can treat our taste buds to exceptional Italian, Eastern, Brazilian as well as local Caribbean food.

We love to enjoy the casual atmosphere at many of the coastal beach bars, such as Tiki Bar at Accra Beach, Coast Bar at Worthing, Cococabanas on Bay Street Bridgetown and Surfside in Holetown …lunches and cocktail sundowners are really popular with me; a cold Banks beer (or 2 or 3?) for Paul especially after work on Fridays! Often there will be local entertainment too. Paul is a sportsman… rugby, football, golf and cricket being his main interests. He will meet up with supporters in one of the sports bars…Bubba’s, Bert’s Bar, Lucky Horseshoe … to enjoy the camaraderie, good food and of course…a few beers! No need for you to miss an important match whilst on holiday!

Fast food too has its place in our life…the local company Chefette has many diners all over Barbados offering consistently good choices for take-away and sit-in. And for a real local flavor we would head to a rum shop (plenty of those around!) maybe Lemon Arbour in St. John, Chicken Rita’s at Silver Sands or Six Men’s Bay in St. Peter…have to be adventurous and taste local cooking but beware the rum punches!

Most people have their standby familiar restaurant and Harlequin in St. Lawrence Gap has for a long time been ours. The friendly atmosphere, great signature dishes and excellent service has made it our “can’t go wrong” restaurant. Stream at Worthing is also in that category.

Oistins Fish Fry is not to be missed…fish cannot be any fresher!… caught that day, grilled or fried in front of you and served with your selection of local salads, breadfruit, macaroni pie etc. and washed down with some local rum…Friday is the very popular night but a lot of the stalls open every day and keep cooking till the fish runs out!

Sometimes I have a yearning to get more dressed up…by that I mean put on more clothes than I normally would in the constant high temperatures! Then we would make reservations at an air-conditioned restaurant, popular too for tourists who struggle with the heat. Buzo in Hastings is a fab place for this… Italian dining at its best. Many of the hotels have air-conditioned dining-rooms too…Accra Hotel and the Hilton to name but two. If a hotel is not all-inclusive then we check it out for its restaurant…some of the best on island are in hotels including the famous Sandy Lane Hotel.

A popular place for Sunday lunch is Lancaster Great House, St. James, which serves a wonderful buffet each week. Upon arrival we are greeted, seated in the garden and offered a choice of exceptional cocktails. This is followed by our invitation to at least four courses of amazing Caribbean cuisine. Sunbury Plantation House in St. Philip is always on my list whenever I take visitors around the island, a historic tour of the house and outbuildings followed by lunch or afternoon tea. Another place to combine history with eating out is at George Washington House at The Garrison Savannah…the café there is really excellent, everything is made fresh to order and it has become so popular that breakfast and lunch reservations are now advisable. If I am in town then I always eat at The Waterfront Café…what can be more scenic than to be seated opposite Bridgetown’s famous square with its Parliament Buildings, along the water’s edge with its yachts and fishing boats?

I hope my blog has helped to make you aware of the fantastic eating-out choices there are here in Barbados…really we are spoilt for choice. There are many more places that I have not mentioned but are equally as good for food and service. I hope that all your culinary experiences are memorable for the right reasons…exceptional food and drink; impeccable service with attention to detail; and wonderful welcoming atmosphere!

Happy eating…..Jan.