Diners of the Caribbean

One kind reader recently asked if I could recommend some places to eat in the British Virgin Islands. I'd be more than happy to share some thoughts.

There isn't much of a restaurant scene on Tortola and certainly not on the more remote Virgin Gorda--at least in the conventional sense. There aren't any TGIFriday's or Ruby Tuesday's to be found. In fact, I didn't even see a McDonald's or a Burger King. Nor did I spot a Morton's or a Spago's. As I mentioned earlier, the BVI is unusually low-key and simple. They are much less frequented than either St. Thomas or St. John. This may change, however, with the recent arrival of cruise ships docking for a day in Roadtown, Tortola's capital. (This would include our very own Weekly Standard cruise liner Holland America.)

But there are a few gems, especially on Tortola, representing the best and most authentic in West Indian cuisine. Most of the good restaurants are family-owned. The decor is plain, but that just means all of the effort is put into the cooking. Out on the West Coast of Tortola, near Apple Bay, is a place called Coco Plums. It is a local favorite with reasonable prices. The menu here includes pork chops, garlic mashed potatoes, skillet-sautéed mushrooms, and my personal favorite, Voodoo Ribs--a whole rack of tender, falling-off-the-bone beef ribs slathered in a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. Further up along Carrot Bay is Palm's Delight, a family-style restaurant. I consider this to be West Indian at its best (before it eventually evolved into soul food and cajun on the mainland). There's curry shrimp, fried fish in Creole sauce, honey-stung fried chicken, and the mouth-watering breaded chicken in gingerwine sauce. The fanciest restaurant we visited was the Sugar Mill in Apple Bay, located on the grounds of a 17th-century rum distillery. Here you will find a perfect blend of native fare and New American--call it Caribbean fusion. The curried chicken is sweeter than it is spicy, the conch chowder was the richest and heartiest I've ever had, and the lobster and shrimp nicoise was a veritable seafood cornucopia. At the Biras Creek restaurant on Virgin Gorda, you will find rather high-end fare (the prix-fixe was about $65 per person) along with West Indian, including fried sweetbreads (my moment of true decadence), filet mignon, and seabass. Lobster is served every day.

If you happen to come off a cruise ship at Roadtown and are loathe to eat at a chain like Pusser's Landing, I highly recommend a diner called the Midtown Restaurant, right on Main Street. The special at the time was a sautéed conch for $12. It was diced and served in a light gravy alongside a bed of rice and plantains. For those not familiar with conch, think of a giant clam--meaty, chewy, and juicy all around. By the end of the meal, I had, um, conched out.

For more on the British Virgin Islands, visit their website.