myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Is it just my opinion, or are restaurants in Tobago getting quite expensive? The first time we visited, in 2001, two of us could go to dinner for about $30 US. We noticed after our recent visit that the prices have increased quite a bit. Dinners now range from $25-$35 at most of the restaurants. Steep by US standards considering what you get. The upside, I feel, is that the creativity and presentation have improved. That said, here are the restaurants we visited this year, a few of which were an exceptional value:

Shore Things -- This place is a real gem. Beautiful setting, friendly service, good food and a great value. For lunch we had the chicken sandwich and shrimp salad, accompanied by two Caribs each and the coconut cream pie for desert. Bill was around $15 US. Highly recommended.

La Terrazza -- Those of you who have been to this place at its old Shirvan Road location will be surprised. No longer a laid back place, its new location at the Tobago Plantations is fancy, fine dining. Not my cup of tea on a Caribbean vacation, but the food is still excellent and the service outstanding. We had appetizers, dinner and a couple of drinks each. The bill for two was about $50 US. Highly recommended.

Bonkers -- Went here for lunch. I had the fish and chips, excellent. My partner had the burger, which was a disappointment. Overcooked, and the bun was too much bread. Nice cold Caribs, though. Bill was around $30. Several people at our resort went for dinner, with mixed reviews. I guess it's what you order. I've had the rum roasted pork, which is fabulous, as is the Mojo chicken. Recommended.

Pelican Reef -- Good service, but the food was a bit average compared with last year when we went. The preparation was just not as creative or tasty (I had the shrimp and callaloo soup). The bill was about $60 US, which was a bit high. Next year, I'll try a different place.

Bamboo Mile -- Good food, creatively prepared, but a bit over-priced ($25 for shrimp, $36 for ribs). Our party had the ribs, shrimp, lobster and chicken. With the exception of the chicken, which was overcooked, everything else was excellent. Oh, and we had the pumpkin pancakes with shrimp for an appetizer. To die for! Recommended, but I hope they adjust their prices a bit.

Flaming Dragon -- Average Chinese food, good service. Within walking distance of a resort, so worth the trip. Try the spring rolls and the lo mein. A good value at about $35 for 2 with beers.

Jemmas -- The food was fantastic. Served family style, the plates just kept coming. Can't even remember what everthing was, but we had these little vegetable fritters, rice, salad, steamed vegetables, mahi mahi in a creole sauce, BBQ chicken and ice cream. Lunch was part of a tour through our resort, so I don't know what the exact price was, but I'd highly recommend. Food was better than when we visited in 2003.

Island Girl -- OK, this is a sail boat, not a restaurant. But I'd be remiss not the mention lunch prepared by captain Scott. The best on Tobago! Mahi Mahi grilled right on the boat, stewed chicken, rice, bean salad, garlic bread and garden salad in limitless portions. Who can beat the setting, floating on the water in Cotton Bay!

The Lady who sells doubles at the airport. To die for! I think they were like $2.50TT.

The shark and bake shack at Pigeon Point. No shark this visit, but great flying fish. They have roast bake now, instead of fry bake. I liked it, but my partner wasn't so crazy about it. A good value.

Bring back Ruby-Lou's to Sandy Point!

Hi Sharon

Thanks for that wonderful review - exactly what we need.

Yes, I totally agree about prices. I know the cost of labour has rocketed in recent years, but none of the restaurants you mentioned employ a great number of people, so that can't be the reason.

To be honest they're killing the goose that laid the golden egg. We dined out less than half as often as we have done in previous years. Frankly, I couldn't justify the cost, not when we could slap fresh fish on the barbie and have a great meal back at our accommodation. We spoke to a lot of self-catering visitors who felt the same. Great news for PennySavers, Moorsheads and the Golden Grove Meat Shop, but bad news for Tobago restaurants.

To be honest, I felt the effect was showing this year - few of the restaurants were as busy as during our visit in 2005.

Steve,

Like you, we also cooked in more than previous years -- about every other day. This was directly related to the high cost of the restaurants, even though I dislike "domestic duties" on vacation. But you can't beat the fresh fish and we BBQed chicken and ribs, and made curried shrimp. Yum! Kept us at the resort more during the evenings, which turned out being a good thing because we met lots of great people. I agree with you that the restaurants are hurting themselves. I can see paying high prices for some things, like lobster or a quality steak, but not for chicken and fish when they are so inexpensive to procure. I may try to bring in more food stuff next year. I used to laugh at our guests when they brought in steaks and pork roasts, but I'll probably join them in the future.

Sharon

We generally found that eating out did not seem more expensive than two years ago.
I am posting my reviews under the restaurants we visited.
We did spend most nights using the Barbie having driven up to Mount Irvine for 3pm to buy a whole King Fish - cut it up and shoved the portions in the freezer section of the fridge ! At 18TTs a pound you cannot go wrong ! I later caught a Mahi Mahi on a fishing trip which I took home and that was cut up for the Barbie too !!!! If only I could do that in Leicestershire !!!

We also ate in most of the time. We also found the restaurants over priced and with sub standard service........I don't endorse charging North American prices without North American standards of preparation and service.

We also bought fish from Mt Irvine beach. We had king fish, snapper and Mahi Mahi. Fabulous!!!

Bryn