Back Home - Restaurant Report

[Michelle Edwards]

Hi Steve,

We kind of ate at the faster food side of things not so much the restaurants, as you know from mails prior to going it was last minute on a budget (It was Tobago or a new garden fence..mmmmmmmm....wonder how Tobago won) however, heres a couple places and our opinions.

PATINOS- We had a lovely meal there, the setting was georgeous and the food and service were supberb, however, being a veggie, I did not think it was the best value for money.

Do not get me wrong, what I had was very tasty and I could have no complaints regarding the standard of food I was given. However, the cost was around $US85.00 for the veggie meal and I honestly thought it was a little expensive for exact same meal as my husband but without the shrimp.

My husbands meal was supberb and he could not fault it, fresh, sizzling and tasty. Once agian though he is a growing lad and possibly thought that the what we were given was not possibly as good value as some other places.

JEMMAS KITCHEN-Although we have been to Tobago before we visited Speyside on a Saturday, yes when it's closed, so we thought we should give it a go this time. In all honesty we were a little sceptical as it is such a big tourist pull and it is very rare places live up to there expectations, but we had many locals also insist we went, so we did.

What great food!! My husband had shrimp and as a veggie they did me a battered type dish, which was georgeous. They even asked if I ate cheese or eggs, they don't even to that in the UK!! When it came there was absolutley loads, huge amounts of shrimp, my veggie thing, salad, rice, black eye peas & rice, we also had a tea and a coke and the whole meal only came to 155TT!! (Thats around £15.00 to non TT converters) It was also one of the best meals/locations/service we received. A 100% thumbs up to Jemmas.

MISS TRIMS-A kind of local take away at Store Bay, nothing particularly special, however , we were told if we wanted the best crab and dumplings to go there. Once again as a vegie I opted for the quite safe Veggie Roti which was pretty tasty and comparible to most I have had. This was my husbands first taste of crab and dumplings and I must admit he is now a convert, not a pretty site to watch, it has to be the most messy meal he has ever eaten. If you want to try a local dish (definatley a lunchtime setting) then go to Miss Trims the locals were right, absolutley cracking crab & dumplings.

CHEFS BBQ-Store Bay/Pigeon point junction. Again possibly a luchtime or self catering meal evening meal, great selection of salads, jackets pastas and such like for veggies and fantastic BBQ fish/chicken and a must for the traveller on a budget. It ain't full of locals for nothing! Good basic food at great prices

Roti Boys-Scarborough - Best Roti on the island (This is from a veggie prospective and I recommend the potatoe and pumpkin)

PIZZA BOYS - Store Bay/Pigeon Point Junction - It's a pizza type take away, Pastas Ok, fish and Pizzas there gave my husband the only upset stomach of the entire holiday. Would not particulalry recommend, however , I enjoyed the pasta.

FORTUNE CHINESE RESTAURANT - Bon Accord. To be fair we only had take aways (Prices double to eat in). The first one we had was supberb, really tasty. I then had a discussion with a local Trini and he disagreed, so I think it may be what your experience of chinese is. Every Trini we met (Trinidadian and they do not mind being called Trinis we met loads at Sandy Point) thought it was not that nice?? However, we met lots of Brits whom thought it was nice?? However, the second meal we had there was cooked a diferent chef and it was not as nice as the first. I suppose it is like a lot of these type of restaurants it depends on the chef on the night and what your pallate prefers.

OCEAN VIEW BAR BBQ - Most Fridays and is at Pleasant Prospect. Miss Pearl did a great BBQ for around 30TT you got a choice of fish or chicken, very tasty, loads of salads/potato salads/colslaws/rice etc... and then you can pop over to the love shack (Please do not let the name deter you) for some music and/or bands. Mainly Trinis and tourists with a healthy portion of locals and ex pats for good measure, great mix of music and people. Do not expect Miss Pearl to smile, she is a lovely women, but not a smiler!

As I previously stated we went on a budget this time (It cost us the price of a fence for our partiulary long garden). When we go back at christmas we will eat at more 'proper' restaurants and I am particulary looking forward to Armedeus at Plymouth(highly reccommended by toursists and locals alike - we were told to book in advance), Panache at Crown Point and Under the Mango Tree which was actually open every single time we went past!! (It was closed every time on our previous visit)

These comments are only opinions, please do not let anything we have said deter you from trying anything. The great part of Tobago is that you need to find your Tobago and whatever that entails, be it 5* hotels or a rum shop on the side of a road.

Enjoy!!

Michelle

[Barry]

Hi Michelle,

Read your very interesting accomodation reviews and glad to hear you had a great holiday, we also just returned recently and I will post some comments on our stay and restaurants in the next day or two. It was such a wonderful holiday I am already planning the next trip. Something you mentioned here caught my eye though. You said your meal in Patinos was $US 85. Is that correct? We ate in there a week or so ago and the most expensive thing on the menu was $160TT. Just thought I'd mention it in case it was an error.


Regards

Barry

[Steve Wooler]

Michelle - thanks for your wonderful reports. That's exactly what we need on the forum.

Barry - yes, I think Michelle probably meant TT$85.

Patino's is one of our favourites. I checked my VISA statement and notice that we paid TT$925 (£93.27) on 1st February for a meal there. That was for six people, including drink and tip. At £15.50 each, I think that represented excellent value. In fairness, the other four members of the party were my family who had just arrived from the UK a few hours before, so they weren't ravenous and possibly only had a main course each. Maybe one or two of us had dessert as well.

[Michelle Edwards]

Sorry boys you are quite right. I mean't did mean 85TT. DOH!! To err is human and all that.

Michelle