Enjoy a very special light lunch at The Cliff Beach Club
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.
Having been bar-less for a while, imagine our growing excitement in recent months as we started to hear rumours of a new beach bar coming to Mullins, virtually next door to the old one – would it be any good? Could it live up to the original? Well, there was only one way to find out, so on Friday night my wife Cat and I headed out (with our toddler) for the opening night of Mullins’ newest beach bar named simply, ‘Sea Shed’.
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.
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.
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 Wednesday or Friday evening just before sunset and enjoy live music and a great atmosphere.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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