Selective Eat / Drink in Tobago ... a Review

[Paul Tallet]

Here is a list of the places we visited:-

D’Almond Tree Castara
D’Lime Castara
Cascreole Castara
The Boathouse Castara
Marguerites Castara
Naturalist Cafe Castara
Duck Boat Trip/No Man’s Land
Bago’s Bar Crown Point
Pelican Reef Crown Point
Mount Irvine Hotel Beach Restaurant Mount Irvine
Sharon & Phebs Charlottesville
Gemma’s Speyside


And this is what we thought of them:-


D’Almond Tree

Lovely location on the beach next to the Naturalist.

Strong Points ... Lovely tasty food. Check out the Ice Creams. Everything homemade and organic. Scrumptious.

Weak Points ... they need a crash-course on ‘Service with a Smile’.

Comment ... Lovely family run business with massive potential for as long as Vera keeps making the Ice Creams.

Price Factor ... TT$80+ per meal per person. Quite expensive but average for Castara.


D’Lime

Bar on main road to beach (not sure if they do food).

Strong Points ... TV to watch the footie. Low prices. Great chill out. Service with a smile (when they are awake!!).

Weak Points ... They sleep alot!! But it's easy to wake them up.

Comment ... Pure chill out. Even the dogs and chickens come here for a kip.


Cascreole

Right on the beach ... about 12 feet above the leaping sandflies ... great view for sunsets ... this is a goldmine.

Strong Points ... Still got the pool tables (go to new supermarket for cues/balls) ... new Supermarket ... and the Restaurant has been developed and is much better organised ... high standards are much more consistent than before. Food wonderful every time. Service with a big wide laughing smile.

Weak Points ... Dexter thinks he is a world class pool player

Comment ... This place has everything going for it.

Price Factor ... TT$80+ per meal per person. Again, average for Castara but expensive.


The Boathouse

Right on the beach in Heavenly Bay, Castara. Fantastic setting.

Strong Points ... reputation (new chef?) and the best rum punches.

Weak Points ... not their fault, but they were closed when I went there on a Saturday ... the opening times are clearly shown in the Bar ... shame I did not have another opportunity to go back.


Marguerites

Small Restaurant next to the school in Castara. Alcohol not served but you can take your own.

Strong Points ... Food is always excellent.

Weak Points ... Can get full up and they may find it difficult to cope (not really their fault) ... I would have eaten there more often otherwise. Also a crash course in ‘Service with a Smile’ required (except for Marguerite who is always full of beans).

Price factor ... TT$80+ and a 10% service charge which is worth it if Marguerite is serving you !!


Naturalist Cafe

Right on the beach ... mainly serves breakfasts, snacks, coffee, tea ... Internet Cafe too. They were just introducing meals for Lunch at very reasonable prices but as yet they do not serve dinner.

Sundays is barbecue night at TT$150 per person with as much food you can eat, as much rum punch as you can drink and musical entertainment ... unfortunately I have very little recollection of the 2 bbq's that I attended (hic)

Strong points ... best aspect of the beach. Very chilling. Good Food. Excellent ground coffee.

Weak Points ... No evening service but I understand that this is being worked on.

Price Factor ... Meals starting at TT$40 ... very good value.


Duck ... Boat Trip / No Man’s Land

Boat Trip includes snorkelling, a Beach barbecue and, if you are lucky, you will witness Duck’s mindless ‘arse-dance’.

Strong Points ... you can catch your lunch (if not, it’s ‘chicken of the sea’!) ... Duck entertains you all the way ... Duck drives the boat ... Duck surfs in his boat ... Duck goes fishing ... Duck cooks everything ... Duck washes up ... Duck dances ... it’s all DUCK !! ... Erm ... he also mixes his own lethal version of Rum Punch.

Weak Points ... take a cushion to protect the business that you sit on ... Duck suffers from MBR (Motor Boat Rage). Oh and erm ... the Rum Punch if it gets the better of you.

Price Factor ... Duck charges about TT$450 per person for a full day out with the food, drinks, dancing, fun and acts of stupidity all included ... excellent value for a twit like me. Try a Theme Park ? .... er no !!

Comment ... Thank you Duck for one of the best days out I have ever had.


Bago’s Bar

On the corner of Pigeon Point Road where it turns right at Cable Beach. Lovely setting. Bar and Food. Closed on Mondays.

Strong Points ... According to my son, James, the best Burgers in Tobago (which is why we went there alot!) ... also the spag bog is better than James’ Mum’s spag bog (and that is saying something). And the only place I have eaten a Chicken Roti without bones in it. Service with a smile and very good value.

Weak Points ... Closed on Mondays.

Comment ... A goldmine due to it’s location. If we visited Pigeon Point we would make it a feature to walk all the way down the beach to Bago’s for lunch ... pure ecstacy.


Pelican Reef

Posh restaurant near the airport.

Strong points ... Large Menu ... nice looking place. Food alright. Staff are definitely trained on their service standards.

Weak Points ... The staff trainer should be sacked.

Comment ... It’s an OK place trying to be the place to be ... seems to have great potential ... there was something missing and I could not put my finger on it.

Price Factor ... weird, some dishes seemed really good value at TT$60+ and then some similar dishes were like TT$150+ ... and, no, I am not getting confused between starters and mains ... I just think this place has lost it’s business plan.


Mount Irvine Hotel Beach Restaurant

Revamped in the last 2 years ... fantastic location right on the west end of the beach.

Strong Points ... Good, simple menu, nice food, nice staff, lovely place.

Weak Points ... ‘Over the Table Sauce’ ... get some condiment thingies for goodness sake, if I want mayonnaise I want mayonnaise on the drip, not a slippery bowl full of it to chuck all over the table!! Keep it simple!! Also the extra charges. Oh ... and I don't need a detailed written VAT receipt plus 2 copies for each and every Carib or Rum Punch ... OK? ... I just want a BLOODY CARIB !!!

Price Factor ... Quite cheap at TT$60+ until they add about 25% of service charges.

Comment ... I just like the place ... so relaxing.


Sharon & Phebs

Large Restaurant situated on the right as you start down the main road into town.

Strong Points ... Staff have a wicked and devilish sense of humour. Food excellent. They have a designated smoking area.

Weak Points ... None.

Comment ... Nice place to eat and watch the tiny world of Charlottesville pass by.

Price factor ... Good value ... TT$50+ per person.


Gemma’s

A well known restaurant built into an Almond Tree right on the beach in Speyside.

Strong Points ... Great reputation, caters for many tour parties.

Weak Points ... Well ... erm ... we arrived and the waitress ignored us. So we stood about for a bit ... no result. So we sat at a table ... nothing. After 20 minutes we left and went to Sharon & Phebs. And, guess what? ... it was not busy at all either.

Comment ... to be fair I have been here before and enjoyed good service and good food ... something must have gone wrong on this occasion.

Price Factor ... Don’t know but I know it is at the top end.


Closing Comments

These are just my opinions so if I have said a good thing or bad thing it does not necessarily mean that you or the place concerned will agree with me ... just opinions.

I apologise to the baddies if I caught them on a bad day and I congratulate the goodies for getting it right on the right day.

I can only tell what I know.

Bon appetite !!

[Roger D.]

Paul as always Not even Steve could have topped this excellent report.

[Steve Wooler]

Dead right! (but you're still banned Roger)

[Shelley S]

Really good review, wish I'd had this before my visit. I agree about Marguerites in Castara, the best food we found there although you have to take your own beer.

Our two favorite restaurants in Crown Point were La Cantina for the superb Pizzas, and Cafe Iguana for the good food and brilliant Thursday night entertainment.

We also had a good meal at Conrados. They have a new chef and put on a special meal for his first night which was excellent. Not sure if they are doing this regurarly. The setting there is the best in Tobago for a sunset drink.

[Paul Tallet]

Hi Shelley

I was tempted to try the Cafe Iguana but never got round to it ... it looks a nice place but has had a few negative reviews and that's why I was wanting to try it ... so good to see a positive perspective from you, maybe I will get there next time.

Roger/Steve ... thanks for the compliments but reviews like that are not possible without such a wide and diversified choice and methods to go about your eating and drinking habits ... plus, it's the people that count ... even negatives can be good experiences in Tobago ... everything has it's own character.

It takes me back to my childhood when you expected the same old face in the sweet shop every day ... that's Tobago ... no longer in the UK ... if you get what I mean.

One other regret was that I never found the House of Pancakes open ... maybe next time.

Regards

[Ronald]

Hi all
Cafe La Iguana is a place I´ve visited many times during my many years in Tobago, never got bad food there. Nice place and you can buy good local art there too.

But, as we see by comments about hotels, restaurants and so forth when travelling around into different countries, we don´t like same things. The staff at La Iguana aren´t the same every year eighter, and as it is, everyone can have a bad day.
But for me La Iguana is a place I visit every year, every week, nice food, nice music and the staff and the owner is friendly. But they don´t play tourist music.
Ronald

[Roger D.]

Dead right! (but you're still banned Roger)

I'm banned How 'bout a nice cold Carib, Paul is buying...

[Steve Wooler]

Shucks! You found my price. All right then!

[Paul Tallet]

TT$7 is the cheapest Carib I found at some random supermarket between Moriah and Scarborough.

TT$18 most expensive after all the service charges added at the Mount Irvine Hotel Beach Restaurant ... no wonder they have to fill out all those stupid receipts.

Next time I go there I will expect a full compliment of steel drums in full chorus, synchronised dancing, Bob Marley Flags waving and a firework display as my Carib is delivered to me on a silver platter ... then go away and leave me in peace until the next one

I hope Mount Irvine Hotel takes note of this extremely important feedback.

Smile.

[SandraK]

Dear Pete
Restaurant reviews, weather reports - brilliant by the way - but still no sleaze, am feeling a little disappointed. Either son has access to your computer or you are still blushing, whichever, I need to know .

[Paul Tallet]

Ha Ha ... don't tempt me.

How can I possibly share my scandalous moments on such a reputable website?

Anyway the Beach review is up next ... I will see if I can spice it up for you pet

Regards