Romantic Escapes in the Caribbean

Bahamas Dining

Although you'll find any type of food in Nassau (including plenty of fast food), give Bahamian cuisine a try. One of the most popular dishes is conch (pronounced konk), a shellfish served chopped, battered and fried in conch fritters. Grouper, a large fish caught in the waters just offshore, also appears on every menu, usually served with the ever-present side dish peas and rice. For real traditional Bahamian food, give johnny cakes and boiled fish a try — for breakfast. You might have a tough time looking at the fish (usually grouper) so early in the morning, but sample the cornbread-like johnny cakes.

The popular beer in these islands is Kalik, pronounced ca-LICK like a ringing cowbell in a Junkanoo parade. For something a little stronger, a popular drink in the Bahamas is gin and coconut water.

Throughout the Bahamas, gratuities of 15% are usually added to your food and drink bills.

NASSAU-NEW PROVIDENCE ISLAND

Cafe Johnny Canoe
Forte Nassau Beach Hotel
West Bay Street on Cable Beach
Dress Code: casual
Reservations: not accepted
$-$$

This is one of our favorite Bahamian restaurants both for its festive atmosphere and its excellent food and service. Don't look for anything fancy; this is a diner-style restaurant decorated with Bahamian crafts and photos of the restaurant's long history. Diners can select from seating indoors and outside, a good choice on warm evenings, when you can share a drink beneath the multi-colored Christmas lights and listen to live music.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served in this popular eatery. We opted for an appetizer of conch fritters followed by grouper entrees. Prime rib, Bahamian fried chicken, fried shrimp, cracked conch, and burgers round out the extensive menu. Follow it all with a Bahamian guava duff with light rum sauce.

Cafe Matisse
Bank Lane, behind Parliament Square
242-356-7012
Dress code: proper attire required for dinner
Reservations: suggested
$$
Why is this restaurant named for Matisse? Because you'll find prints of his colorful work decorating the walls of this charming eatery. Here the real art, though, is found on the plate in the form of Italian dishes including homemade pasta, seafood, and pizza. Open for lunch and dinner.

Compass Point Restaurant
Compass Point
West Bay Street, Gambier
242-327-4500
Dress code: casually elegant
Reservations: suggested
$$
This oceanfront restaurant serves up inventive cuisine using local ingredients. The restaurant, an open air seaside eatery, is as delightfully casual as the resort itself, the perfect place to throw on a colorful sundress and enjoy a Bahamian meal, all enjoyed to the sound of the surf. Chef Stephen Bastian's talents are showcased on a menu that features Californian-Caribbean cuisine. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served here.

Gaylords
Dowdeswell St.
242-356-3004
Dress code: dress, no casual attire
Reservations: requested
$$
Located in a 150-year-old Bahamian home, Gaylords is for those looking for a taste of authentic Indian (not West Indian) cuisine. Tandoori and Indian dishes fill the menu. A specialty shop next door sells Indian food items.

Graycliff
West Hill Street
242-322-2797
Dress code: dressy, jacket and tie suggested
Reservations: required
$$$
The most famous gourmet restaurant in all of the Bahamas (and some say the Caribbean), Graycliff has received numerous awards and honors. A member of the Chaine Des Rotisseurs, the oldest culinary association in the world founded in 1248 by the king of France, this restaurant is reason enough to schedule a trip to the Bahamas if you are serious about fine dining.

"The" place for visiting celebrities looking for an elegant place to dine, Graycliff has drawn stellar diners such as Sean Connery, King Constantine, Princess Caroline, Barbara Mandrell, Paul Newman, Stevie Wonder, and more.

The restaurant has also been named one of the world's ten best restaurants by Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Other accolades include the Grand Award by Wine Spectator for the 180,000 bottle wine cellar. The award has been bestowed on only 93 restaurants around the world. A quick look at Graycliff's restaurant verifies the magazine's choice: if you're feeling generous you can order up a bottle of 1865 Chateau Lafite for $16,000 or 1795 Terrantez for $17,200. The restaurant also features rare cognacs from the Charente region of southwest France including vintages such as 1788 Clos de Giffier Cognac, and 1872 Armangnac Janneau. The restaurant is also noted for having one of the best Cuban cigar collections in the world.

The five-star eatery serves up gourmet Bahamian and Continental dishes at gourmet prices; expect to spend about $150 for an average dinner for two. Historic Graycliff, part of the National Register of Historic Places, is also an inn. Chef Ashwood Darville's specialties include dishes such as Bahamian Crawfish in Puff Pastry, Grouper with Cream and Dijon Mustard (featured in Gourmet magazine), Roast Rack of Lamb marinated in Graycliff's secret recipe, and Pepper Filet with Sweet, Hot, White and Black Peppers, Cream, Onions, and Cognac.

The setting is as exquisite as the cuisine, filled with antique charm and elegance from a Baccarat chandelier to photographs of King George VI at Buckingham Palace. Diners can enjoy their meal in the library dining rooms, filled with rare books.

Mama Loo's
Atlantis, Paradise Island
Paradise Island
242-363-3000
Dress code: casually elegant or dressy
Reservations: suggested
$$-$$$
This dinner-only eatery serves up unique Caribbean-Chinese dishes. Diners enjoy torchlight chandeliers and rattan wingback chairs.