alanb

We will be staying at Bougainvillea. What places would you recommend for dinners (six nights to plan) ? We are big on fish and Italian (we don't eat meat). Thanks.

bajangirl

Champers is great for lunch or dinner and they always have several seafood and fish dishes (I love the blackened caesar) plus vegetarian. They are about 10 mins by car from Bougainvillea. You may want to eat there more than once!
Luigis is a very well established Italian restaurant that is about 5 mins from Bougainvillea. I haven't eaten there for a while but reputation is still good and they have just expanded the deck area. Dinner only.
For fish one night you must go to the Oistins Fish Fry. Friday is the big party night when it gets really busy but is a fun place to hang out. Go to George at Fish Net for the best and freshest grilled fish with salad and grilled potato at amazing prices. Unfortunately he always has the longest line too - a sign of how good the food is! 10 mins max from Bougainvillea.
For a quick, very casual and cheap fresh grilled fish, there is Just Grillin'. They have a location on the south coast and another in Holetown. You can takeaway from there too.
Coast Restaurant at the entrance to St Lawrence Gap also has excellent food. I had the veg risotto and is was outstanding, haven't tried any seafood ..... yet. They do lunch and dinner. Great view looking out over the busy and entertaining street and Little Bay. They have a dedicated car park across the street with a marked crossing - don't be put off by that as it's really good food.
Across the street from Coast at Little Bay Hotel is an Italian restaurant. Tasty "normal" Italian food at decent prices and you can take away any leftovers. They do dinners only, nice view over the bay, kind of Mediterranean feel to the restaurant.
Another fab restaurant that is not too far from Bougainvillea is La Luna at the Little Arches Hotel. Patio dining on the roof looking out to sea - spectacular and very romantic setting. Reservations required for dinner. I have only had their Japanese food but have heard that their regular menu is excellent and I look forward to trying it. They are a bit more expensive.
The Restaurant at South Sea in St Lawrence Gap is also very good but a little more pricey - definitely worth it for a special evening - celebrated by 50th there. Excellent food - do not be put off by the menu with all sorts of odd things like aligator and ostrich. They do fish and veg also and it is very good - or did I mention that already. They have valet parking, dress nicely, reservations a good idea.
If you are venturing into Bridgetown and need lunch or dinner, The Waterfront Cafe is worth a visit. They are closed on Sundays. Great location next to the yachts in the Carenage with Bridgetown itself on the other side - nice to just sit with a cold drink but the food is pretty good too. They do buffets some days and have live music (jazz) most nights. Have not tried the buffet so cannot comment.
For a casual Italian dining experience, there is Mama Mia in Hastings - about 15 mins drive from Bougainvillea. They do lunch and dinner - no closing in between. The BEST pizza on island - gourmet stuff, oh, and the tiramisu - mmmmmm. The pasta is also very good and there's usually lots of leftovers to take home. Everything is imported from Italy and the owners are Italian. They also have an antipasto bar.
West coast restaurants are more expensive by their location alone. Luciano Pavarotti said that Il Tempio was the best Italian on the island and he ate there often, but I have no personal experience. They do lunch and dinner and are right on the beach.
I had an excellent veg meal at Calabaza a couple years ago. Fab location on the water on the west coast. A bit pricey, great service, still have a good reputation.
Hope that's enough to keep you going. It's making me hungry writing about it!
Enjoy.

amethyst09

Hello,

Oistins Fish Fry is great place to have fresh fish, grilled or fried served with a variety of vegetarian sides. But there are some other really good fish fries in Baxters Road and Moon town.



For mouthwatering Italian food I recommend somewhere a little further away than Luigis, with good reason. The food at Il Tempio Italian restaurant is delicious. I've never had a bad or just okay meal there. Plus I am also vegetarian , (no fish though).
Hope you have a great trip to Barbados.
You can see some pictures of Il Tempio restaurant at this page

http://www.life-n-styles-barbados.com/il-tempio.html

Il Tempio is on the west coast in Fitts Village, St, James.


And Barbados fish fries on this page which also has a menu of the food at oistins
:http://www.life-n-styles-barbados.co...ish-fries.html

I agree with Bajan girl my mouth is watering talking about this food.

alanb

We have tried the Oistins fish fry/grill -- it was fun, but not really our style for a second visit. To avoid long taxi rides from Bougainvillea, for our six (fish, pasta or vegetarian) dinners this time we are thinking about going to Champers, the Restaurant at Southsea (the "splurge" dinner), Luigi's, Bellini's, trying to pick two more from our list (Coast, Harlequin, Wispers, Aqua, Josef's, Pisces) -- too many to pick from!
Bajangirl, your postings are always helpful, so any recent experiences?

Lois

I know I'm not bajangirl, but we just returned 3 weeks ago and ate at Wispers for the first time and loved it. Gorgeous setting and the food was delicious. We ate outside, but I think I would opt to eat indoors next time -- still by the sea, but a/c and gorgeous.

Also, we had a fantastic meal at Aqua - their chef, Michael Hinds does some great work.

Lois