Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Bananas, mangoes, passion fruit, plantains, breadfruit, okra, avocados, limes, pumpkins, cucumbers, papaya, yams, christophenes (also called chayote), and coconuts are among the fresh fruits and vegetables that grace St. Lucian menus. The French influence is strong, and most chefs cook with a Creole flair. Resort buffets and restaurant fare include standards like steaks, chops, pasta, and pizza—and every menu lists fresh fish along with the ever-popular lobster.
Caribbean standards include callaloo, stuffed crab back, pepperpot stew, curried chicken or goat, and lambi (conch). The national dish of salt fish and green fig—a stew of dried, salted codfish and boiled green banana—is, let's say, an acquired taste. A runner-up in terms of local popularity is bouyon, a cooked-all-day soup or stew that combines meat (usually pig tail), "provisions" (root vegetables), pigeon peas, dumplings, broth, and local spices. Soups and stews are traditionally prepared in a coal pot—unique to St. Lucia—a rustic clay casserole on a matching clay stand that holds the hot coals.
Chicken and pork dishes and barbecues are also popular here. Fresh lobster is available in season, which lasts from August through February. As they do throughout the Caribbean, local vendors set up barbecue grills along the roadside, at street fairs, and at Friday-night "jump-ups" and do a bang-up business selling grilled fish or chicken legs, bakes (fried biscuits), and beer—you can get a full meal for less than $10. Most other meats are imported—beef from Argentina and Iowa, lamb from New Zealand. Piton is the local brew; Bounty, the local rum.
Guests at St. Lucia's many popular all-inclusive resorts take most meals at hotel restaurants—which are generally quite good and, in some cases, exceptional—but it's fun when vacationing to try some of the local restaurants, as well—for lunch when sightseeing or for a special night out.
What to Wear: Dress on St. Lucia is casual but conservative. Shorts are usually fine during the day, but bathing suits and immodest clothing are frowned upon anywhere but at the beach. Nude or topless sunbathing is prohibited. In the evening the mood is casually elegant, but even the fanciest places generally expect only a collared shirt and long pants for men and a sundress or slacks for women.
Opposite the Mystique St. Lucia and Reduit Beach, this dining spot is part of Rodney Bay's "restaurant central." After cool drinks and warm appetizers at the bar, diners make their way to the dining room or garden for some serious seafood or a good steak, spicy Moroccan-style lamb shanks, or simple chicken and chips. The seared yellowfin tuna, potato-crusted fish of the day, and fresh lobster (in season August–February) are big hits, too.
Walk down a garden path to Chateau Mygo (a colloquial corruption of "Marigot") or sail up on your boat, pick out a table on the deck of this popular dockside restaurant, and soak up the waterfront atmosphere of what may be the Caribbean's prettiest bay. The tableau is mesmerizing—and that's at lunch, when you can order a sandwich, burger, roti, fish- or chicken-and-chips, and salads. At dinner, owner/chef Shaid Rambally draws on three generations of East Indian and Creole family recipes. Beautifully grilled fresh fish and local lobster in season are embellished with flavors such as ginger, mango, papaya, or passion fruit, and then dished up with regional vegetables—perhaps callaloo, okra, dasheen, breadfruit, christophene, or yams. This is a very casual restaurant with reasonably priced meals. And, oh, that view!
The rather sophisticated beachside restaurant at Cap Maison is tucked into a cliff surrounding a crescent of sand at the northern tip of Saint Lucia. During the day, match a glass (or bottle) of excellent wine to fresh salad or perfectly cooked burger with shoestring fries while staring across the sea as far as Martinique. The atmosphere changes in the evening, when the surf gently laps the sand and candlelit lanterns grace the alfresco dining deck. The dinner menu is a little more substantial but still focuses on excellent seafood. Desserts are rich but mini, which you'll appreciate when negotiating the 92 steps back up to the road.
