Discover Barbados: Food and Drink – Hammerton Barbados

Enjoy a very special light lunch at The Cliff Beach Club

Fine dining, street food, rum shops and beach bars

We love the diversity of the food and drink in Barbados. The island is home to some of the best restaurants in the world, offering exceptional cuisine in exceptional settings but local street food is also wonderfully tasty and beach bars welcoming. Expect full flavours and even fuller smiles.

24 Jan 2019

Sunday Lunch at Lancaster Great House, Barbados

by Mark Hammerton

The choice of Sunday lunch venues is wide and there are many popular beachfront options which are rightly popular. Lunch at the Lone Star or The Cliff Beach Club is certainly special with wonderful views to accompany your roast pork or fresh catch of the day. But there is another Sunday lunch option which we thoroughly recommend for a completely different dining experience with wide selection of splendid food and an even larger helping of old Barbados on the side: Sunday lunch at Lancaster Great House.

10 Nov 2018

Lunch with John Chandler at Limegrove

by Mark Hammerton

Limegrove shopping centre in Holetown may not be an obvious first choice for lunch when you could be overlooking the sea at one of the island's many beachfront restaurants and bars but lunch at John Chandler's Cafe (and Antiques) is a whole new experience and it is a particular favourite with locals rather than tourists.

15 Aug 2018

Bajan fish cakes – become a legend with this simple recipe

by Mark Hammerton

Bajan fish cakes are an island staple. You’ll find them for sale at the side of the road or as an appetiser in bars and restaurants across the island of Barbados. Of course, not all fish cakes are made equal – at least so would most who sell them have you believe. Follow this simple recipe and make your own fishcakes whilst staying in your villa in Barbados or once you get home.

13 Mar 2018

Mullins Beach Bar - end of an era

by Mark Hammerton

Little did we know, this would be the last time we would be visiting Mullins Bar. Over the next couple of days, we watched most unusual sea swells develop which didn’t subside for many days. By Thursday morning the structure of the bar had been undermined by the waves as at least 2 metres of sand had been washed away from Mullins beach. The bar started to collapse and for a while it was thought it might be lost to the sea.

17 Aug 2017

Bars and Rum Shacks

Little Bristol Bar, Speightstown - Fridays were made for this

by Mark Hammerton

Little Bristol Beach Bar is hidden away in the centre of Speightstown – it is easy to miss if you aren’t looking out for it and very unassuming from the street side but it has a lovely deck overlooking the sea and a wonderful laid-back vibe. Visit on a Friday evening just before sunset as Jae Johansen sets the perfect tone for the start of the weekend.

7 Nov 2016

Bars and Rum Shacks

The true spirit of Barbados at local rum shops

by Mark Hammerton

The Rum Shop is to Barbados as the pub is to Great Britain. For over 300 years, the rum shop has been at the centre of local community life – a place to meet and put the world to rights as well as a place to drink, eat and often buy local groceries!

2 Oct 2016

Visit Mullins Bar & Grill – it’s our local

by Lisa Hammerton

Mullins Beach Bar & Grill is a wonderfully relaxed but busy bar, run by the former managers of the famous Lone Star restaurant and as you might expect, they have everything spot on – from excellent food through to efficient but very friendly service.

22 Apr 2016

Fish on Fridays at Oistins Barbados

by Mark Hammerton

Oistins is a small Barbadian fishing community in Christ Church parish on the south coast of the island (fairly close to the airport). Over the years it has become known for its Friday Fish Fry, a go-to spot in Barbados for brilliant food, loud music and smiling faces.

1 Apr 2016

Fine dining in Barbados – Our 5 top restaurant recommendations

by Mark Hammerton

Whether you are a Barbados ‘regular’ or someone who has just read some of the many words written about the island, you will already know that there are some top restaurants in Barbados. Our choice of the 'top 5' are based on our own experience and our own tastes.

14 Jan 2016

Bars and Rum Shacks

5 cocktail lounges on the west coast of Barbados

by Mark Hammerton

We wouldn’t really describe Barbados as a party island and the west coast is even more laid back than the south coast but when night falls, there are a number of bars and lounges that come to life and are well worth a visit. Here are some of our favourites:

4 Jan 2016

Se-Se is our local food van heroine

by Lisa Hammerton

Barbados is a foodie’s paradise with many fine-dining restaurants dotted up and down the coast. But true Bajan cuisine has deep roots and is more likely to be found out on the street where hundreds of makeshift serveries regularly appear each evening and where food vans take up position at the roadside each lunchtime.

4 Jan 2016

An evening at The Tides in Holetown

by Mark Hammerton

If you push me to name my favourite restaurant in Barbados, I would give it just a few moments consideration and then reaffirm my loyalty to The Tides in Holetown. The Tides was one of the first fine dining restaurants we visited on the island and over the years, as other restaurants have gone in and out of favour, The Tides has remained consistently brilliant.

25 Sep 2015

Island Plates, Speightstown – one of the best lunches in Barbados

by Mark Hammerton

Speightstown was once the busiest port in Barbados and the town gained its other name ‘Little Bristol’ as a result of the trade in sugar and other goods between here and its larger namesake in England. Tucked away at the back of the small car park in the centre of town you’ll find Island Plates.

23 Sep 2015

Fish and chips with a Bajan twist – a simple flying fish recipe

by Mark Hammerton

Barbados is often known as the land of the flying fish and it is even depicted on the island’s one dollar coin. You will usually find fresh, filleted flying fish for sale at your local fish market in Barbados or, if the catch isn’t yet in, packets of frozen fish are also available at the local supermarket. It's easy to prepare yourself, fried with plenty of seasoning.

22 Sep 2015

The Bajan roti – a delicious island favourite

by Mark Hammerton

Originating from the Indian Subcontinent, the roti is a simple unleavened flatbread, traditionally eaten as an accompaniment to cooked vegetables or curries. In the mid 1940s, the first roti shop appeared in Trinidad with the curry already enveloped in the roti – just like a modern-day wrap and easy to take away and eat on the go.

22 Sep 2015

Banks vs. 10 Saints – ice-cold beers to refresh in Barbados

by Mark Hammerton

There is an alternative to Banks that you might like to try when sitting at a Barbados beach bar or relaxing by the pool at your villa: 10 Saints. This local micro-brewed beer is uniquely aged for around 90 days in Mount Gay rum oak casks and it has a rather more complex flavour than Banks.

16 Sep 2015

Sunday lunch Barbados style – our top 5 buffet lunch recommendations

by Mark Hammerton

Forget the image of a table by a roaring fire at the local pub, Sunday lunch Bajan style usually takes the form of a marvellous buffet with a wide choice of local dishes, all eaten al fresco and often accompanied by live steel pan music. Here is our selection of some of the best places to enjoy a Sunday lunch with a difference on your Barbados holiday.

Mark and Lisa Hammerton

We are Mark and Lisa Hammerton and we are lucky enough to spend our time organising villa and apartment holidays to the wonderful Caribbean island of Barbados.

We have been involved with the travel industry for most of our working lives but fell in love with Barbados after many visits and ended up buying a second home there.

We would love to talk to you about the island and our selection of wonderful properties and, as our priority is matching the right property to your requirements, we will always be open and honest in what we have to say.

Mark & Lisa

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