Just Got Back From A Week In Anguilla
 

Hi,
Just got back from a great week in Anguilla. I stayed at Paradise Cove. It was a very nice place with large spacious condos and a helpful staff. Only downside was that it was not on the beach. The other non-5 star hotel that looked very nice was Frangipani Beach Club. Both would be high on my list when I return. Now for the great Anguillan restaurants:

Ripples- Very good food. In an old house now painted purple. Best place in Sandy Ground. Fish and Chips were excellent best on the island. Caribbean Crepe and A+ for dessert.

Tasty's-For Lunch-Quesidillas and the Daily Special Sesame Chicken was good. Nothing spectacular. The burgers left something to be desired.

Blanchard's-OVERRATED. Spring Rolls, an appetizer, was the best meal on the menu. Cinnamon-crusted Chicken was dry and over-spiced. It seemed as if the Spice was used to mask the less than noteworthy food.

Kemia-FOR LUNCH- Beautiful Setting. Food less than memorable. This fish and chips tasted like frozen fish sticks. Grilled Jerk Chicken is best on lunch menu. Hot but just enough.

Oliver's- Excellent. Easily one of the best restaurants on the island. Wonderful setting on a dirty road right on the beach. Freshest seafood I have tasted. Grilled snapper is nicely seasoned with basil and lemon grass. If you have one chance to try Anguillan lobster have it hear. It's fresh and lightly flavored. All in all a wonderful ocean-front restaurant.

Pimms/Kemia-NEW YEARS EVE-The menu for New Years Eve was Moroccan themed. Even though the food was excellent it was highly overpriced at $250 per person. 4 out of the 7 courses were very tasty. Good but extremely overpriced.

E's Oven-FOR LUNCH- Small and welcoming place. BBQ chicken very good. Nice traditional island restaurant.

Trattoria Tramonto- Rather good Northern Italian cuisine. Nice view of the Caribbean. Try the daily specials which ranged from Veal Milanase (which was very good) to Kangaroo roasted and served with mashed potatoes. Nice rather informal place right on the beach. If you want a break from the seemingly endless barrage of fish and Caribbean food com to Tramonto.

Flavor?s-A nice view overlooking Road Bay. The food was good although it was nothing special. Conch Chowder is the best starter and the Coconut Tart is the best dessert. The Chicken was a little dull but the Pork was excellent. Tender and well flavored. Also the cheapest place I went on the Island. Quick meals too. I was in and out in less than an hour and a half. This place is new. I'll give it a little while to work out the flaws in their food.

Beaches

Maunday's Bay-The Cap Juluca Beach- My favorite a beautiful small crescent on the Caribbean. Be careful I was asked to leave for no reason by one of Cap Juluca's attendants.

Rendezvous Bay- Very nice 2 and a half mile crescent of white sand. Beautiful views of Saint Martin. A nice place to relax for a few hours.

Cove Bay-In between Maunday's and Rendezvous is this gem. Very secluded their were only about 15 people on the whole beach when I was their. You can rent beach chairs at Smokey's at the Cove. A really nice place to swim, relax and read a good book.

I hope I helped some of you who are going to Anguilla. I think Anguilla is one of the top 3 islands in the Caribbean. Please if you have any questions feel free to ask. Once again I hope you find this helpful.

Colin Wixted

What did you think of Cap Juluca. My fiance and I are staying there for our honeymoon.

Thanks for the excellent, detailed opinions, Colin. FWIW, my impressions have been almost exactly the same.
Did you miss out on Oliver's? It's one of our favorites.

in response to the first question. Cap Juluca is a very nice hotel. I happened to see Matt Damon while staying their. Very nice. Good beach. You should enjoy your honeymoon.
I didn't miss out on Oliver's. We dined their it was a wonderful experience.
Colin

Thank you for a nice report. Would it be possible to post this on the Anguilla forum on caribbean-on-line.com ? Lots of readers there would appreciate it.

All the beaches in Anguilla is public, including Maunday's Bay, no CJ attendent have the right to tell you to leave without any reason. (however, they can kick you off their beach chairs).

$ 250.00 for New Year's Eve, did this include drinks? We paid $ 95.00 per person for 5 courses at Altamer (no drinks, apart from one glass of champagne).

your report is much appreciated.
we're going there in May, staying at Frangipani.
counting down the days!

Thanks for the idea of posting on carribean-on-line.com. I did pay $250 per person without drinks. In total with drinks the cost for the three of us was about $950 + tip.
Colin

Yikes - that was overpriced! We paid $930 for 6, 5 course dinner and 4 bottles of wine, plus rumpunches and soft drinks.