My Favorite Barbados Restaurants
Monday, October 2, 2006 at 07:03PM Where are my Favorite Barbados Restaurants/Bars?
Our agency site offers a listing of Barbados Restaurants and Restaurant Reviews, however most of the travelers ask for my personal choices. That's a hard question to answer since Barbados has so many great restaurants, and bars, but I'll give my own personal recommendations for where I have dined, and drank the night away:
Heading out of Bridgetown towards the West Coast - right before Holetown, you will find the Coach House. They serve Bajan style food, and have a great lunch buffet. Bomba's Beach Bar is located right on Paynes Bay beach, and is a good spot for inexpensive food.
In Holetown, Ragamuffins is the top choice for T-bone steak, and spicy jerk chicken salad, Tam's Wok for Chinese, Lunch at Indigo for fresh soups and salads, Angry Annie's for the best ribs, garlic potatoes, fresh vegetables and fish. Most of the popular restaurants in Holetown (1st Street) are not open for lunch, so check before you go.
John Moore's Bar in St. James serves up some of the best fish platters. Olive's Bar, located in an old historic building, and offers good Jamaican Jerk in the downstairs courtyard (inside dining also), and the bar is upstairs. And Nico's Bar serves a great stew, Caribbean lobster, Caesar salads and delicious soup. The Crocodile Den is a small laid back sports and music bar, and always has a lively atmosphere.
There are many West coast restaurants in St. James that offer more expensive dining, and I would recommend the Lone Star (pricey), The Mews, Daphnes (located at The House at Tamarind) and The Cliff. Sandy Lane is another option for very fine dining, but you will need plenty of room on the credit card to dine there.
Heading west in the parish of St Peter, is the Fish Pot, located at Little Good Harbour. I recommend the lobster chicken with teriyaki lemon grass. Mannie's Suga Suga on Mullins Bay is by far the best beach bar on the island - good food, service, inexpensive, and a GREAT beach. Or another good place is Mangos by the Sea where you can buy the catch of the day directly from the local fishing boats.
In Speightstown, good value and food can be found at the Fisherman's Pub which offers Creole dishes and fresh fish. Friday night at the Pub always has a lively crowd of locals and tourists.
One the East coast (Atlantic ocean side of the island), you must stop at the 50 year old Atlantis Hotel restaurant, which offers a wonderful Bajan buffet, or stop in the Roundhouse Restaurant where cliff side seats offer wonderful views of the Atlantic. The Cove is another good spot, and popular with locals on Sunday. The Bonito Bar & Grill is a popular tour stop, and they serve good, inexpensive food.
Heading up the Southeastern coast, stop at The Crane Hotel. Have lunch or drinks on the outside terrace, and enjoy the view of Crane Beach - make sure you have your camera on this trip. Sundays are particularly nice with a Gospel breakfast and traditional Bajan lunch buffet. Lots of good food and gospel music to start your day.
Heading to the South coast, you'll pass through Oistins. On Friday nights, this is absolutely the best, and least expensive place to get fresh fish. Oistins is a fishing village, and there are more than 30 vendor stalls to choose from. This is an open air fish fry, complete with music, and lots of tourists and locals. One of my favorite places is The Fish Net. Get to Oistins around 6 or 6:30 before the food lines get too long.
Moving on to my most favorite place, the South coast is a variety of about 20 restaurants to choose from - all within walking distance. Most of the restaurants are not open for lunch, but the St Lawrence Gap comes alive at night. 
Cafe Sol, is one of my personal favorites with the best, inexpensive Mexican Food, tasty Margarita's, several happy hours, and a great people watching spot if you get a seat on the outside bar or outside tables. 
The Ship Inn is open for lunch, and is also a popular night spot with life entertainment - cover charge on some nights.
For a romantic dinner on the South coast, I would suggest either Pisces, Josefs or Oceans. While not moderate in price, they all offer great food, and atmosphere. 
If you choose Pisces, (shown at right) make reservations for a table by the water. The Restaurant at Southsea has great reviews on our website, but I have not eaten there.
For vegetarians, The Harlequin Restaurant has the best offering with at least nine entrees on the menu, and they also have fish dishes. And The Steak House offers the best American breakfast I've had on the island - they also have great steaks, and pizza too, but I don't do pizza in Barbados.
One of my favorite Bajan restaurants in The Gap is the Just Stop Cafe. Christine opens for lunch only, and serves up some of the best local food, and you will definitely get your money's worth - with enough left over for dinner. One of our friends Leroy runs a food cart located in front of Divi Southwinds, and he'll fill your plate with LOTS of good food at moderate prices. In fact, speaking of food carts, you can find reasonably priced meals at many food cart on the island - the one by Sandy Lane is also a very good choice.
Popular nightspots in The Gap are The Raggae Lounge and After Dark. The Raggae Lounge is an open air nightclub where the action doesn't start til late. The same goes for After Dark, where you can find live entertainment - many of the local bands play there, and there are two dance floors, outdoor and indoor. Both nightclubs offer a variety of music.
Stop in any of the Rum Shops all over the island - they are a great place to really get the flavor of Barbados. At the entrance of the gap is a Rum Shop, which offers very good, reasonably priced food. The Rum Shops are sponsored by Malibu and Banks Beer, and carry their painted logo on the side. You'll usually find a game of dominos, talk about politics, sports or other interesting topics. The locals are quite friendly, so join in the conversation, and you'll learn a lot more about Barbados, and the Bajan people in general.
Right off The Gap on Sandy Beach is the Carib Beach Bar. Very lively atmosphere right on the beach. They serve sandwiches and the best coconut pie - if you can get it - they always run out.
If you're into sports, visit Bubba's Sports Bar with 12 TV's and a couple large screen TV's. Bubba's offers a nice menu at reasonable prices. Don't go on Sundays unless you want to meet up with lots of kids and Disney movies.
Another inexpensive meal in Barbados can be found at any of the Roti Shop's. Roti's are an Indian-Caribbean dish consisting of spiced meat,or vegetables rolled in a chapati Indian bread wrap. Chefette Restaurants also serve Roti's and is the most popular Barbados fast food restaurant. And try the "Conkies" - (a mixture of cornmeal, coconut, pumpkin, raisins, sweet potatoes and spices steamed in banana leaves). I'm getting hungry!
Heading towards Bridgetown, the capital, the Shak Shak in Hastings is the choice for fresh Caribbean vegetables. Shells, also in Hastings, is another good spot known for good quality food and inexpensive prices.
No trip to Barbados is complete with a visit to Brown Sugar. This popular restaurant burned down, but is open again and located in St Michael's Aquatic Gap. Brown Sugar serves Bajan cuisine, and has always been known as a tropical dining oasis with lush greenery.
In Bridgetown good spots for lunch are the Waterfront Cafe, and the Rusty Pelican - both offer good food, and nice views of the Careenage. Harbour Lights is a popular nightspot - it's an open air beach front nightclub, and the best time to go is on Wednesday and Friday - pay a cover charge, and drinks are free. Another popular nightspot is The Boatyard for live entertainment, and drinks are free with cover charge.
Right off from the main part of town is Baxter's Row. The action doesn't get started there til around midnight, and goes until the wee hours of the morning. This part of town isn't on the tourist books, and some might call it seedy, but Baxter's Row offers some of the best fried chicken, and fried flying fish in Barbados. Is it safe is the question most asked about this area. All I can say is that I have never had a problem. You do see some interesting characters, but the food is the BEST and cheap!
Most restaurants have their menus on the street, so you can see what they offer, along with prices. Don't let the prices scare you, all prices listed on restaurant menus are in BDS dollars, and the island currency is tied to the U.S. dollar. If a price is $30 BDS, that equals to $15 U.S. Unlike here in the States, your bill is usually presented only when you ask for it. And remember, you are on Caribbean time, so relax.
My recommendations don't begin to cover dining in Barbados, and I've probably forgotten some in this posting. If I've left out your favorite place, drop me a line along with a review, I'll post it here, and on our agency site.
Reader Comments (3)
We are going back next christmas as the restaurants and night life was brill!
There are really lots of options for the people who want to enjoy the best dining experience!