While studying on the islands is a fantastic opportunity for students, it is not uncommon to miss certain aspects of home, especially the food. With a new location comes new situations for personal growth in terms of the your taste pallet. Both Anguilla and St. Vincent have much to offer in terms of restaurants and both islands have supermarkets. The diversity or restaurants is large on both of the islands but this blog will go over student favorites to grab a quick bite or to sit down for something a little more fancy.
Anguilla
Anguilla has no fast food chains on it, but you will find more than enough restaurants to choose from and you will find your go to place.
Restaurants
Blanchards Beach Shack
A major spot for students and tourists alike is Blanchards Beach Shack. It also has an indoor restaurant and is frequented by celebrities, most recently by Adele. The shack has various types of tacos, soups and salads, burgers, big bowls, and even hot dogs. The restaurant section takes reservations and also has an expansive menu, including its own signature dishes such as Grilled Anguilla Crayfish, jerk chicken and grouper nicoise. Both the shack and restaurant have vegan and gluten free options. This is a great place to go if family comes to town to visit or if it is date night.
Quintessence
A lot of restaurants on Anguilla are attached to hotels,but if you are looking for something very special, visit Quintessence. It is a hotel with it’s own highly trained and well traveled chef. Chef Dominique Thenevet hails from France and has worked all over the world in countries such as Egypt and Yemen before settling down in Anguilla. He runs Julians, a tropical French bistro which offers both lunch and dinner menus. The lunch menu is a blend of both local and French cuisine, including fish tacos and crab cake, as well as charcuterie. They also offer sandwiches and a margherita pizza. The dinner menu is on the high end side in terms of dishes offered and price. The main courses include fish products like a catch of the day and a crayfish creole, Italian dishes like Fettuccine al Julian and Spaghetti Neptuno. For the couples, Julians offers a Classic French Chateaubriand, which is roasted beef tenderloin with Burgundy sauce.
Supermarket
J.W. Proctors
If you are more of a home cooker, there is a supermarket by campus. J.W. Proctors offers a large selection of ingredients to choose from at reasonable prices. Fresh, chilled and frozen products can be found there.They also carry dry goods and household items and have a fully functioning deli complete with rotisserie chicken, fruit and chicken salad, cake, meat and cheese and more.
Merchant’s Market
This supermarket is one of the oldest on the island, dating to 1967 and it’s main customers are restaurants, so it is prepared to sell in bulk. They boast an inventory of over 3,000 items, including lamb chops, loads of salmon, various fruits and vegetables and even bagels! During Christmas time, they even sell real Christmas trees! Their service is top notch and there is no membership fee.
Campus
The campus in Anguilla has a student lounge equipped with fridges to store lunch and microwaves to heat food up. There is also a food truck called Velma’s Food Van which parks outside the doors every day and a restaurant which opened recently called Oishi Asian Cuisine.
St. Vincent
The home of our other campus also is rich in cuisine and local taste as well. A lot of food is grown or made on Saint Vincent. Breadfruit is a major food on the island. Brought over as a food to feed the slaves who worked the sugar plantations in the 1700s. It is so important that there is a festival every August as part of Emancipation Month. It has become popular in the US as a meat substitute for vegans. Indian culture is also part of the overall culture of Saint Vincent. Foods like roti, which is a flatbread, are used across the island. The two cultures intertwined after indentured servitude was abolished.
Restaurants
Beachcombers
There are many restaurants on St. Vincent, such as Beachcombers, which the name of both a restaurant and a hotel. While they do not have a menu online, they do offer tea on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, barbecue with a sides buffet and accompanied by live steel pan music for a true Caribbean experience, and a happy hour Friday through Sunday when you can watch the sunset.
Punkie’s Bar and Grill
If you are looking for a party vibe, Punkie’s Bar and Grill is the place to go. With a pig on the spit and a juice bar offering five types of juice, Punkie’s is the go to at the end of a long week. They offer wings, different types of roti and pizza.
The French Veranda Restaurant
Overlooking Villa Beach at the Mariner’s Hotel, The French Veranda Restaurant offers great food with a beautiful view. French Veranda offers an international menu including escargot, fish stroganoff, lamb curry and more. Their main courses are split between fish and meats.
Flow Wine Bar
The Flow Wine Bar has an extensive menu to choose from including, flatbread pizzas, various types of pastas, pork spare ribs and featured wines.
Campus
If you are looking for spots closer to campus or on campus, there is Amigos Taco Stand. They offer tacos and soda’s on the cheap and include a vegetarian option The student lounge in St. Vincent is like the one on Anguilla, it is equipped with a microwave and fridge to store cold lunches. A stand on campus offers breakfast, lunch and coffee to those who want to order. There is a KFC across the street from campus. It is one of the few big chain restaurants on the island.
Markets
Masseys
The local grocery store is a chain called Masseys. They offer a wide range of ingredients to choose from, have a pharmacy and a deli which offers an extensive menu of four different types of meats such as rotisserie chickens. They also offer sweets and salads and is very popular with students and convenient. Students like to host small clinics there.
Kingstown Public Markets
What better way to get fresh fruit and fish than to go to the source. St. Vincent’s fruit and fish markets in Kingstown offer fresh fruits like coconuts, sugar apples and julie mango's, as well as fish fresh out of the ocean. As with all markets, these markets are busiest on Saturdays, so plan accordingly
As you can see, the possibilities are endless in terms of food by campus. The flavors are there, the pricing is fair. The only question you should be asking is, “Where should I go first?”
