Barbados Restaurants

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by Fred Mawer, The Daily Telegraph, October 24, 2016

Expert guide to Barbados

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  4. Restaurants
  5. Nightlife
  6. Beaches

An insider's guide to the best places to eat in Barbados, including no-expense-spared restaurants, places specialising in local cuisine, and no-frills grills. By Fred Mawer, Telegraph Travel's Barbados expert.

No other Caribbean country can match Barbados for the choice and quality of places to eat out. Not only does the island offer lots of excellent, upmarket - and admittedly expensive - restaurants, but it also has plenty of dining options where you can eat good, down-to-earth, local (ie Bajan) cuisine at affordable prices.

See more: Barbados itineraries

Most restaurants open early in the evening. Sitting down to eat a big meal at 7pm, or even earlier, is quite normal. In the peak winter months, ideally make reservations at smart restaurants long ahead, especially if you're after a prime table.

Many restaurants automatically add a 10 per cent service charge to the bill. Even so, credit card slips are often left open - don't end up tipping twice. The prices given in our restaurant recommendations include service charges.

£££

The Cliff 

Barbados' most famous restaurant is eye-wateringly expensive, but to celebrate a special occasion in style nowhere on the island can match it. The setting is theatrical, with torch lit decks (the restaurant is open only at night) perched above an idyllic cove where stingrays and tarpon swim in the floodlit water. The food is equally memorable, both for its intricate presentation and flavours. Desserts such as The Flaming Snowball – strawberries and ice-cream inside a meringue ball drenched in lit Grand Marnier – are great fun. The service is fantastic, with the legions of staff as attentive to mere mortals as the many celebs that visit. To get your money's worth, come early and have a drink and gawp in the upper-level bar. And book as far ahead as possible, particularly in the peak winter months and if you want to try to bag one of the better tables nearest the rail and overlooking the cove.

Nowhere on the island can match The Cliff for a special occasion

Address: Derricks, St James
Contact: 001 246 432 1922;  thecliffbarbados.com
Prices: two courses BD$291.50 (£114), three courses BD$341 (£134)
Opening times: dinner only, Mon-Sat year round, and also Sunday in high season
Reservations: essential
Payment type: credit cards accepted

The Cliff Beach Club

The Cliff's more casual and much more affordable (though still pricey) sister opened in the summer of 2015. Right next door to The Cliff, The Cliff Beach Club is a thrilling theatrical space. It's tiered amphitheatrically over four levels, and facing out to sea; the roof is formed by cream sails and hung with glitter balls. It's very much a place where you can pop in for a for a drink – there's a funky bar on the top floor, and live music some evenings and Sunday lunchtime. Though the head chef Jeremy Dupire is French, the food is wide-ranging – from Caesar salad or fish and chips at lunchtime, to gratinated oysters and truffle risotto at dinner. I had octopus carpaccio to start and seared tuna Nicoise salad as a main course: both were excellent, and artistically presented. If you come for lunch, T-shirt and shorts are fine. 

The Cliff's more casual and much more affordable (though still pricey) sister venue occupies a thrilling space, and has a funky bar on the top floor

Address: Derricks, St James
Contact: 001 246 432 0797; thecliffbeachclub.com
Prices: lunch - seared tuna Nicoise salad BDS$60.50 (£24); three-course dinner around BD$170 (£66)
Opening times: Mon-Sat 11.30am-11pm; Sun 11.30am-2.30pm
Reservations: usually not necessary for lunch, recommended for dinner
Payment type: credit cards accepted

Cin Cin By The Sea 

Cin Cin is one of Barbados' most fashionable restaurants. You dine either in a ferociously air-conditioned room with a view of the sea through a wall of giant glass windows, or on an open-air terrace over the ocean. Larry Rogers has had several other successful Barbados restaurants, and his dishes are inventive, with lots of interesting combinations on the plate. A starter might be fried gnocchi with strips of jerk pork in a sweet pea sauce, a main course battered king fish fillets with grilled asparagus, roasted peppers and a tomato and mushroom salad. Larry's wife Michelle really fusses over diners. The trendy bar does nibbles as well as drinks.

Cin Cin is one of Barbados' most fashionable restaurants

Address: Prospect, St James 
Contact: 001 246 424 4557;  cincinbarbados.com
Prices: lunch around BDS$110 (£43), dinner around BDS$150 (£59), for three courses, excluding drinks 
Opening times: lunch Mon-Fri 11.30am-3pm; dinner daily 6pm-11pm
Reservations: recommended - and essential if you want a good table
Payment type: credit cards accepted

The Tides 

Beautifully created seafood dishes with Asian touches and the freshest of ingredients are what this elegant, waterfront restaurant in Holetown does best. Recommended are the spiced shrimp and Thai scented crab cake as a starter, and the catch of the day, grilled, blackened, or pan-fried and served with a saffron risotto. Desserts such as white chocolate cheesecake are indulgent. The open-air, oceanfront setting, with trees growing through the roof of the building, is magical, particularly if you can secure a waterfront table when you book. Come early for a drink in the bar, which doubles as a gallery for excellent local art. Service is informed and engaged, and without the airs and graces of some other top Barbados establishments.

Beautifully created seafood dishes with Asian touches and the freshest of ingredients are what The Tides does best

Address: Balmore House, Holetown, St James
Contact: 001 246 432 8356;  tidesbarbados.com
Prices: two-course set-price lunch BDS$80 (£31), three-course dinner around BDS$175 (£69) 
Opening times: lunch, Sun-Fri noon-2.30pm; dinner every evening from 6pm 
Reservations: essential for the best tables, and in high season
Payment type: credit cards accepted

Daphne's 

Long-established Daphne's is a mainstay of Barbados' upmarket eating scene. Set directly behind Paynes Bay beach, it is stylish and romantic, yet at the same time less self-consciously smart and trendy than some other top-end west-coast restaurants. The mostly Italian food is excellent. You won't go wrong if you order the generous antipasti platters of cured meats and the home-made pasta (the linguine with shredded spicy crab is recommended) – and do leave room for puddings such as panna cotta with guava. Ask for a table by the beach when you book, and arrive early to allow time for a drink in the cocktail bar. 

Long-established Daphne's is a mainstay of Barbados' upmarket eating scene

Address: Paynes Bay, St James
Contact: 001 246 432 2731;  daphnesbarbados.com
Prices: Around BDS$150 (£58) for three courses
Opening times: daily, restaurant 6.30pm-10pm, bar from 5pm
Reservations: essential
Payment type: credit cards accepted

The Fish Pot

This lovable, casual-chic restaurant is part of Little Good Harbour . It is in a gorgeous spot: its art-filled dining rooms occupy an old coral-stone fort directly above a beach on the sleepy north-west coast, and outdoor dining areas on covered decks run along behind the sands. As for the food, you can expect top-notch salads, beautifully-presented fish dishes and excellent curries. Prices are more reasonable than other top-flight restaurants on the west coast, and the atmosphere more laid back.  

This lovable, casual-chic restaurant occupies an old coral-stone fort directly above the beach, serving top-notch salads, beautifully-presented fish dishes and excellent curries

Address: Shermans, St Lucy
Contact: 001 246 439 3000; littlegoodharbourbarbados.com
Prices: lunch - salad from BD$30 (£$12), fish of the day BDS$50 (£20); dinner - three courses around BDS$125 (£49)
Opening times: daily, lunch noon-3pm, dinner 6pm-10pm
Reservations: recommended, especially for dinner and a beachfront table
Payment type: credit cards accepted

Champers 

Champers is one of the best restaurants on the south coast. Its oceanfront setting is spectacular, especially if the sea is a bit rough and the waves are thumping against the rocks below and spray is heading up towards the dining terrace. Expect plenty of fresh seafood, generous portions and striking flavours - for example in shrimp with mango as a starter. Allow time for a wander round the quality art gallery upstairs. Lunch attracts lots of businesspeople; dinner is more relaxed.

Champers' oceanfront setting is spectacular - and expect plenty of fresh seafood, generous portions and striking flavours

Address: Skeetes Hill, Christ Church
Contact: 001 246 434 3463;  champersbarbados.com
Prices: three-course lunch BDS$88 (£34), three-course dinner BDS$110 (£43)
Opening times: lunch Mon-Fri, Sun noon-3pm; dinner daily 6-10pm
Reservations: essential for a good table on the terrace
Payment type: credit cards accepted

The best hotels in Barbados££

Brown Sugar 

Brown Sugar is one of the best places on the island to try Bajan dishes, and the restaurant's fan-cooled, flower- and fern-filled patios are gorgeous surroundings to do so. Lunch is more popular than dinner, as it's a fantastic value all-you-can-eat buffet. As well as including a roast and fish, it includes local specialties such as cou-cou (cornmeal and okra), pepperpot stew, macaroni pie, and bread pudding with a potent rum sauce. Dress nicely if you want to fit in: the restaurant attracts quite a few businesspeople.

Brown Sugar is one of the best places on the island to try Bajan dishes; dress nicely if you want to fit in

Address: Aquatic Gap, Bay Street, St. Michael
Contact: 001 246 426 7684; brownsugarbarbados.net
Prices: lunch buffet BDS$59 (£23) on weekdays, BDS$69 (£27) on Sundays; à la carte dinner around BDS$100 (£39) for three courses
Opening times: lunch Sun-Fri noon-2.30pm, dinner daily 6pm-9.30pm 
Reservations: recommended
Payment type: credit cards accepted

Tapas 

Occupying a cracking spot right alongside the south coast's boardwalk, this buzzy, "in" restaurant and bar is as popular with locals as much as tourists. The substantial and delicious Asian/Mediterranean tapas - spicy Thai fish cakes, smoked marlin, meatballs, shark fritters - mostly cost around £7 each. Three tapas and a pudding would make a pretty substantial - and for Barbados - a decent-value meal. Opt for full dishes instead, and your bill will be much higher.

Tapas is a buzzy, "in" restaurant and bar is as popular with locals as much as tourists

Address: Hastings Main Road, Hastings, Christ Church 
Contact: 001 246 228 0704;  tapasbarbados.com 
Prices: three tapas and a dessert around BDS$80 (£31); full three-course dinner around BDS$125 (£49)
Opening times: Mon-Fri 11.30am-10.30pm; weekends 11.30am-midnight
Reservations: recommended, especially for a table by the boardwalk
Payment type: credit cards accepted

Surfer's Cafe 

This casual-chic hangout is in the fishing village of Oistins, by the beach across the road from the supermarket. Hard to categorise, the place functions as a daytime café (locals pop in for coffees), a nighttime bar (Wednesday and Sunday evenings, when there's live music, are liveliest), and a restaurant. The food - cooked breakfasts, salads, grilled catch of the day from Oistins fish market, steak and chips, home-made chocolate brownies, and bread pudding with custard - is straightforward but very satisfying. The most desirable tables are on a decked area right above the beach.

This casual-chic hangout functions as a daytime café (locals pop in for coffees), a lively nighttime bar and a restaurant

Address: Maxwell Road, Oistins
Contact: 001 246 420 9283;  surferscafebarbados.com
Prices: lunchtime flying fish sandwich BDS$26 (£10); main courses BDS$30-52 (£12-20)
Opening times: Wednesday 7.30am-midnight; Thursday, Friday 7.30am-3pm; Saturday, Sunday 7.30am-10pm
Reservations: not necessary unless you want a table on the deck in the evening
Payment type: credit cards accepted

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Just Grillin' 

The two few-frills, open-sided Just Grillin' eateries - one on the south coast in the middle of a car park in Rockley, the other on the west coast near the Chattel Village shops in Holetown - are an understandable big hit with locals. You place your order at a window, wait to be called, then dine at a bare wooden table (which you may need to share). Options include steak, ribs, chicken and freshly caught fish, served with a choice of veg, salad, rice and potatoes, and they also do sandwiches. Service is quick; the food is tasty; portions are huge; alcohol is served.

A photo posted by Just Grillin' (@justgrillinbds) on Sep 8, 2016 at 4:50pm PDT

Address: Quayside Centre, Rockley and Sunset Crest, Holetown
Contact: 001 246 435 6469 (Rockley), 432 5410 (Holetown);  justgrillinbarbados.com
Prices: grilled catch of the day sandwich BDS$18 (£7); full grilled platter BDS$33-40 (£13-16)
Opening times: Mon-Sat 11.30am-10pm; Sun 5.30pm-10pm
Reservations: not possible 
Payment type: credit cards accepted

Waterfront Café 

Easily the best place for a lunch stop in Bridgetown, this café/bistro is set apart from the bustle of the town with its dining terrace overlooking the deep-sea sports fishing boats moored along the Careenage. (It's also a good place to pop in for a drink - inside the former warehouse there's a cool bar, with local art on display). Salads and sandwiches - the pan-fried flying fish one is very popular - are substantial, and there are various Bajan/Caribbean dishes, such as fish cakes and jerk chicken. Expect extremely solicitous service from the ladies who run the place. There's live music most evenings that the café is open.

Waterfront Café may be the best place to stop for lunch in Bridgetown

Address: The Careenage, Bridgetown
Contact: 001 246 427 0093;  waterfrontcafe.com.bb
Prices: flying fish sandwich BD$33 (£13); main courses from BDS$53 (£20)
Opening times: Mon-Wed 9am-5pm, Thu-Sat 9am-10pm
Reservations: not necessary daytime; recommended in the evenings
Payment type: credit cards accepted

Cutters 

This jolly café/deli on the road behind Crane Beach does great, substantial made-to-order sandwiches (cutter means sandwich in Bajan dialect). The flying fish and roast beef cutters are recommended, with a portion of macaroni pie on the side. Also on offer are home-made pizzas, and interesting juices such as mauby (made from the bark of a tree), salads, ice creams, beers and rum punches. You can eat in, take away, and have your order delivered to you on Crane Beach. 

Address: Crane Beach, St Philip
Contact: 001 246 423 0611;  cutters.bb
Prices: flying fish sandwich  BDS$26 (£10), pizza from BDS$33 (£13)
Opening times: mid-November to mid-May 9am-6.30pm; mid-May to mid-November, 9am-5pm
Reservations: not possible
Payment type: credit cards accepted

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This article was written by Fred Mawer from The Daily Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.