Eating and Entertainment
Unlike Trinidad - where fetes and street food are a daily staple - Tobago is far more low-key. The best budget food options - including the sublime curry crab and dumpling - are available from the stalls on Store Bay. Most restaurants cater for the tourist trade, as most locals eat at home, and are therefore located in the Lowlands area, with pickings extremely slim further afield. If you're here in the slow season (April 15-Dec 15), bear in mind that many kitchens close at around 9pm. Apart from occasional concerts - look out for the posters - most entertainment on the island revolves around rum shops and the infamous Sunday School in Buccoo. Black Rock Cafe Grafton Road, Black Rock tel 868/639-7625. Popular open-air restaurant on the town's outskirts serving medium-priced soups, salads and fabulous fish dishes for lunch and daily dinner. Moderate prices, on average TT$70-100. Blue Note Corner of Store Bay Local Road and Airport Road, by the police station, Crown Point. Appealing local-run and typically lively bar and restaurant serving up tasty fresh fish and a variety of local vegetables done with interesting twists. Average meal TT$70-100. Cafe Petunia Old Milford Road, Little Rockly Bay, Lambeau. This delightful little cafe overlooking Little Rockly Bay has great atmosphere, excellent service and delicious home-made cakes, sandwiches, salads and cappuccinos. Expect to pay TT$10-50. Especially popular on Friday nights for happy hour (6-8.30pm) when the owner, Petunia, entertains her guests with soulful singing accompanied by a cuatro band. Open daily 10am-10pm. Copra Tray Store Bay Local Road, Lowlands. Popular liming spots for locals and tourists with a dance floor, pool tables (TT$10 for 30min), an outdoor patio, a resident DJ and African drumming every Saturday night. International menu, good for a light lunch or a pre-drinking dinner of meatloaf, vegetable quiche, lasagne, calamari or pizza, served in a pleasant garden setting set back from the road. Prices $TT30-100. Watch out for the prowling menfolk. Closed Sun. First Historical Cafe Windward Road, Studley Park. This eccentric, brightly painted cafe is a shrine to the island's history, every inch of wall being covered with handwritten accounts of Tobago's turbulent past alongside local anecdotes. The budget-priced food is good, though service painfully slow; breakfast is served from 9am, and you can have inexpensive salads, burgers and sandwiches for lunch. Jemma's Treehouse Main Road, Speyside tel 868/660-4066. Popular with every island tour bus this place lurches crazily in the boughs of a tree, and the sea view is fantastic. Serves tasty creole-style food for reasonable prices; expect to pay $TT70-150. Breakfast (8.30-10am) is eggs, bacon or local fish dishes; lunch (available until 4pm) includes breadfruit or eggplant casserole, tannia fritters, fried plantain and salad; and dinner - fish, lobster and shrimp - is excellent, as are the puddings. No alcohol and closed Friday night and all day Saturday. Kariwak Village Store Bay Local Road, Crown Point tel 868/639-8442. Fresh herbs and spices, inventive slants on local staples and genuine love in the kitchen makes this the best place to eat on the island. It's also one of the most expensive, with meals costing TT$150 plus. Breakfast and dinner menus are set - usually with a meat, fish or vegetarian option - and vegan food is available. Accompanied by live music, the Saturday night buffet is particularly good. The Lush Shirvan Road, Mount Pleasant. Former site of Tobago's only horse-racing track, this popular pick-up joint is filled with locals and foreigners who come here for live music and DJs serving up ever-popular Jamaican and Trini tracks, alongside hip-hop, R&B and old-school soul. Tues-Sat 7pm-3am. Best night is Friday, when the crowd is at its biggest. Small cover charge. Salsa Kitchen 8 Pumpmill Rd, Scarborough. Child-friendly, with an enticing menu of pizza, pasta, tapas and grilled food, along with fresh fruit juices and locally grown coffee for TT$70-150. At weekends the cafe livens up with nightly entertainment, music and dancing. Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri-Sun 11am-2pm & 6-10pm. Shore Things Old Milford Road, Lambeau. A delightful cafe in a brightly painted old house with verandah overlooking the sea. Serves delicious light lunches, pizzas, pastelles, quiches and salads plus fresh pastries and fruit juices (TT$10-50). High-quality regional crafts and furniture are also on sale. Mon-Sat 10am-6pm. Under the Mango Tree Black Rock. Lovely yellow-and-green cafe on the roadside serving sandwiches, pizza, salads and hot meals including coconut crusted chicken in peanut sauce, all freshly made, for under TT$70 and served inside or under the shady mango tree. Delicious fruit juices and amusing signs complete the atmosphere. Open 1-9.30pm for lunch and dinner. Closed Fri.
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