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WHAT TO EAT AND WHERE Amazing gastronomical experiences are easy to find on St. Kitts and Nevis due to the huge variety of fresh food and produce available. While some is imported, you'll find lots of local delicacies from which to choose. And, there are so many kinds of dining options that you could spend your vacation traveling from one restaurant or beach-side grill to another for an entire week and still not sample it all! And don't forget to try each establishment's own version of rum punch!
Local specialties to try:
- Rum punch - A local favorite that changes from place to place (each restaurant adds its own twist)
- Goat water - An interesting concoction that resembles a stew
- Roast pig - An island tradition, many grills and restaurants offer a version of this dish
Beach-Side Eateries:
Reggae Beach Bar and Grill This is a fairly new beach bar on the lovely Cockleshell beach. Ask about Wilbur the resident pig.
Lions Beach Bar Also located on Cockleshell beach, with a great view of the beach and the mountains beyond.
Shipwreck Bar
Tucked into a hillside right on the beach, with great views of the St. Kitts sunset.
Shiggedy Shack
Try the grilled lobster, fresh fish and chicken done Kittitian-style. Check out the bonfire on Thursdays.
Ziggy's St. Kitts largest beach bar, Ziggy's offers breakfast, lunch and dinner and music every Friday.
Restaurants:
Montpelier Plantation Inn Nevis
Open by reservation, this lovely inn offers a changing four-course meal accompanied by champagne.
Golden Lemmon Inn & Villas
A charming plantation with romantic views, the dining is a combination of Caribbean, continental and American cuisine.
Ottley's Plantation Inn The Royal Palm restaurant here is highly-acclaimed locally, and reservations are required.
Waterfalls
Located near Basseterre Bay with a romantic view, Waterfalls offers classic and West Indian cuisine.
For a full listing of St. Kitts restaurants, try explorestkitts.com or frommers.com.
Recipes to Try
The St. Kitts cuisine is a wonderful fusion of many cultures including Dutch, West Indies, Caribbean, African and more. Here is a sampling of some of the local favorites from stkittsnevisinfo.com.
Goat Water
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours 30 minutes Serves: 8-10
INGREDIENTS:
- 10 lb Goat Meat (Mutton)
- 2 lb (1kg) green pawpaw (diced)
- 2 lb (1kg) breadfruit
- 1 lb (500g) flour
- 1 lb (500g) onions
- 1/1 pt. (125 ml) cooking oil
- gravy browning
- bouquet garni
- 1 lb (500g) cooking tomatoes
- 6 tbsp (30ml) tomato ketchup
- 2 oz (50g) margarine
- Salt & black pepper to taste
- 3 maggi cubes
METHOD / DIRECTIONS: Wash meat, cut into serving pieces and season with salt and pepper. Set aside for ½ hour. Lightly brown in cooking oil, then put into large pot and simmer for 2 hours.
Remove from fire. Dice pawpaw, breadfruit and onions and sauté in margarine. Add to meat and return to fire. Simmer gently and add bouquet garni and whole peppers.
Mix 3 tbsp flour to a smooth paste with water, and add 2 tbsp gravy browning. Add to stew and continue simmering. With the remaining flour, make tiny dumpling (droppers) and add to the stew.
Add cubes and continue simmering until meat is very soft, and the stew brown in color. Remove bouquet garni and hot peppers. Serve hot with bread rolls.
Pelau
Preparation Time:
overnight (for marinating purposes)
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes Serves: 6-8 people
INGREDIENTS:
- 1lb rice
- ½ lb chicken, back 'n' neck
- 2oz carrots
- ½ lb pigeon peas
- ½ lb salted pig tail
- 2oz green pepper
- 2 oz pumpkin (diced)
- ½ lb spinach (chopped finely)
- 1 bunch herbs (chives)
- 2oz onion (sliced)
- 8 cups water 2 tbsp margarine
METHOD / DIRECTIONS:
Soak pigtail overnight. Clean and season chicken. Clean pigtail, cut up small and cook. Next, sauté spinach, carrots, pumpkin, onion, pepper, peas and chicken in margarine. Add cooked pigtail cover and simmer.
Add washed rice and bunch of herbs, stir well. Add salt to taste, and cook until grains are soft. Remove herbs, and serve hot with lettuce and sliced tomatoes.
Conch Salad
Serves: 8 to 10
Ingredients:
- 2 celery ribs, chopped finely
- 1 medium onion, chopped finely
- 2 green peppers, chopped finely
- 2 finely diced firm ripe tomatoes
- 2 hot red peppers, chopped finely
- 1/2 cup fresh juice of a lime or lemon
- 1 small cucumber, finely peeled and diced
- 3 lbs of skinned and finely diced conch -or diced lobster (optional) -
- salt to taste
Preparation: First use two large bowls of the salt water and thoroughly wash the conch into the first bowl. Finely dice and put in the second bowl to soakfor at least 30 minutes. Drain off the excess water and combine all of the ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl. Finally, leave the mixture to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour, you may serve the salad chilled on a bed of lettuce.
