Just before you leave Speightstown at its north end, on a sandy roadside lot near the sea, there is a boat. Not in the water, where you might reasonably expect a boat to be, but up on the sand: an old wooden Bajan fishing boat, hand-painted green, yellow and blue, with an oval sign hanging above it showing an orange reef fish and one word – Caboose.
Ask around for the best fish cutter in Barbados and you will keep being pointed back to this boat – and I will gladly point you there too.
We dropped in on a Sunday afternoon this May, a late lunch after a fun morning walking the beaches of Barbados, which is exactly the sort of occasion Caboose is made for. It sits at the North End on Sand Street, a few minutes' walk from the north end of Speightstown – close enough to wander to, far enough out that the first time you go you will wonder if you have the right spot. You have; look not for a building, but for the painted fishing boat on the sand.
The boat itself makes up the kitchen where the cutters are made fresh, and make their way out to hungry customers from the galley. A 'caboose' after all is the little kitchen on a ship, and the story goes that owner Wayne Francois's wife, Fiona, chose the name on that basis. Along the green hull, fish species are stencilled in white – Red Snapper, Mahi Mahi, Barracuda, just a few of the potential local species which could be today's catch of the day.
To call this place a restaurant feels like overselling it into a formality it would never claim. It is an honest food boat-shack that has become unreasonably popular and now, by customer headcount alone, looks rather like one. The setting is all wine-barrel tables, cable drum seats, and folding beach chairs scattered under big shade trees, with red Banks umbrellas, the sea glimpsed through the leaves.
Parked cars run all the way up the road. A hand-painted shark-jaw board, teeth and all, reads "COME GET A BITE", which tells you most of what you need to know about the place's sense of humour. When we arrived every table was full, there was live music going, and the whole place had the lively, slightly festival air it tends to have at weekends. Caboose opened in May 2022, and what was once a spot only locals and its Instagram followers knew about now pulls a crowd the early regulars would barely recognise.
The menu is gloriously simple. The thing you came for is the fish cutter: a freshly grilled fillet of the day's catch – not battered, properly grilled – in a round bun. A 'regular' cutter comes with tomato and lettuce; but the 'loaded' cutter adds egg and cheese. Go loaded. That is the whole of our advice. And ask for the Bajan pepper sauce, though if you are new to it, go lightly, because Bajan pepper sauce does not take prisoners.
For the longest time, that was the extent of the menu, but there is now a third option, served as a fish salad without the bun – celiac friends rejoice! For those opting for the traditional bread cutter, yours comes wrapped in greaseproof paper, closed with a round green Caboose sticker.
One thing to know going in: you do not choose your fish. It is the catch of the day, whatever was landed that morning – mahi mahi and tuna are common, and you might also get kingfish, red snapper, swordfish, or (increasingly rarely) flying fish – and they post it on their Instagram every day. I will be honest and say the fish does not vary dramatically from one visit to the next, at least not to my fairly unrefined palate; it always seems to arrive beautifully cooked, regardless of the catch, and that is what matters.
Prices, refreshingly, are written plainly on a yellow-framed chalkboard rather than left a mystery. At the time of our visit the regular cutter was BDS$20 and the loaded one BDS$25 – roughly US$12.50, or about £10, since the Barbados dollar is pegged at two to the US dollar. The fish salads were BDS$25 and BDS$30. These things move, so treat them as a guide. Drinks are kept simple: most people sit with a Banks, or a Deputy for around BDS$7, and a rum punch is always a good choice.
Everything here is made to order, and it can take a while – close to forty-five minutes for us this time, and just five minutes on other occasions so it does vary greatly. In fact, there's a permanent painted sign at the counter that reads: "We do not do fast food, we do fresh food as fast as possible." This is island time captured perfectly.
Service at the counter is friendly, and because your food is never quite ready when you order, the team will bring it out to you at your table, locating you by the fish-shaped number cut from brightly painted scrap wood, handed to you after you pay. Come early or off-peak, settle in with a drink, and treat the wait as part of the afternoon.
One practical note while you wait: Caboose now takes both cash and card, including contactless – I paid with Apple Pay – which is a real convenience if you have wandered up from the beach travelling light. In the early days it was cash only but Caboose continues to move with the times.
So, the verdict. A fishing boat up on the sand, the fully loaded catch chalked plainly at twenty-five Bajan dollars, grilled to order while you wait under the trees – this is the un-gentrified Barbados we would all like to see more of after years of over polishing along the west coast I would gladly send a first-timer or a returning guest here without a second thought. The one caveat, plainly and kindly: it is a fish-only menu, cutters and fish salads and no more, so it is not the spot for a vegetarian or vegan diner; indeed on an earlier trip with a vegan friend, she ate elsewhere first, and then sat and watched the rest of us demolish our fish cutters.
And come back you will want to. They sell homemade Caboose T-shirts, which sell out almost as fast as they print them – there was a girl there, crestfallen that they had none left in her size, already plotting her return. That is the trick to Barbados: keep a series of small excuses to come back. We certainly try to collect as many as we can.
If you fancy more of the same honest energy, Cici, our local food van heroine and the Friday fish fry at Oistins are cut from the same cloth. And to round out a day in Speightstown, Island Plates, another honest Speightstown lunch we love, and Little Bristol Bar, a local favourite a short walk away, are both within easy reach.
Caboose, Speightstown: your questions answered
Where is Caboose?
Aim for the north end of Speightstown, out towards Heywoods, and look to the seaward side. Caboose sits on a sandy lot on Sand Street in St Peter, one of our favourite casual lunches in Speightstown. What you are hunting for is a painted wooden fishing boat on the sand, not a building.
What days and hours is Caboose open?
Plan your visit for Wednesday to Sunday, as Caboose is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The galley fires up around 11am and winds down towards 6pm – though it shuts the moment the day's fish is gone. Since that can happen early on a busy day it's best to get there early.
Can you choose your fish at Caboose?
Check their Instagram, @caboosebarbados, the morning you go and you will see what is on, because there is no menu of fish to pick from – you eat whatever the boats landed. The usual suspects are usually Mahi Mahi or Tuna, followed by Kingfish, Red Snapper, Swordfish, or Flying Fish on other days
Does Caboose take credit cards?
Turn up with nothing but your phone and you will still be fine. Caboose ran on cash alone in its early years but now takes both cash and cards, contactless, and Apple Pay included, so a wallet left back at the villa is no longer a problem when the fish cutters are ready.
Is Caboose good for vegetarians or vegans?
Sadly not. The kitchen does one thing – fish – across its cutters and fish salads, with nothing for someone who doesn't eat it. Anyone who loves seafood will be very happy here, but if your group includes a vegetarian or vegan, feed them before you arrive or pick somewhere else for that particular lunch.
How much is a fish cutter at Caboose?
BDS$20 for a regular cutter, BDS$25 for the loaded one – call it US$12.50, or roughly £10, with the Barbados dollar running two to one against the US dollar. The no-bun fish salads were BDS$25 and BDS$30. Prices drift over time, so treat ours as a guide rather than a promise.
Please note: prices are shown in Barbados dollars (BDS$), pegged at roughly two to one to the US dollar, and were correct at the time of writing. Opening hours, the menu and the daily catch can all change – and Caboose closes when it sells out – so please check their Instagram, @caboosebarbados, before you go.
We can arrange everything for you!
Planning a West Coast stay within strolling distance of honest local spots like Caboose? We have lovely villas and apartments right by Speightstown – from Schooner Bay apartments in Speightstown and St Peter's Bay, between Speightstown and Mullins, to the wider choice of villas across St Peter and Mullins Beach villas a short hop south – our concierge team are on hand to help you choose and to sort the rest of your trip.
