Where to eat & drink
Sugar Beach is a resort that excels at interesting food choices for all the family, and kids’ club events leave parents free to try the more grown-up offerings. The Terrace offers generous breakfasts, lunch and informal dinners, while the colonial Great Room does refined modern Caribbean fusion, and there’s arty sushi at the Cane Bar. The casual toes-in-thesand Bayside serves pizzas, salads and a tapas-style menu that includes a sticky octopus tostada that’s a winner with kids, too. Pizzas around £12, mains £12-23, kids’ menus from £11. Café Olé is one of the casual, wooden-decked restaurants overlooking Rodney Bay’s smart marina. Inexpensive lunches, informal dinners and a range of coconut-based fruit smoothies (£3), make this a firm favourite with families, along with wraps (£5) and salads (£7). cafeolestlucia.com Fish Fridays are a Caribbean tradition, combining a street party, food and music, and St Lucia’s ‘fish Fridays’ are numerous. The most popular is Gros Islet’s Jump Up, with rum shops, live DJS and BBQ-A plenty. Get there before sunset with the kids to avoid the crowds. Anse La Raye’s Fish Friday is less raucous with grilled and fried fare including lots of local veggies (corn, plantain and breadfruit). More out of the way, Dennery is home to a thriving wet fish market (most mornings before noon), and hosts a Fish Fiesta on Saturdays (4pm till late). Eat fresh fish, crab, conch, lobster, shrimp and authentic Creole dishes served from little tents, backed by the sounds of soca, zouk, reggae and dancehall (£3-10). The Coal Pot is a St Lucia food landmark at the Vigie Marina, across the bay from Castries. Come for a casual lunch, or early for a more dressy but family-friendly dinner, with the best tables on the veranda right by the water. Menus are chalked up daily and might include such Frenchcaribbean staples as crab backs (spiced, stuffed crab), callaloo soup, figs and saltfish, mussels provençale and Coquille St Jacques. Dishes are around £8 (tel: +1 758-452-5566).