Eating Out in Anguilla – Let’s Eat!

Friend: We should do something?

Me: Great. Where do you want to eat?

Eating out in Anguilla  is a big thing or is that just me and the people I know? A lot of outings with my friends and family in Anguilla are centred on food. This is ideal for me as:

1)            I love to eat

2)            We have some really great food on the island

‘Eating out’ is a big part of life all around the world but here is why I will miss it in Anguilla.

Eating out in Anguilla – The company

Some of my best memories and many significant milestones of those I love were celebrated around a dining table. It didn’t matter if we were in a beach bar or partaking in upscale dining as the conversations were always loud and rambunctious. We always had energy can’t done and the energy level soared as new persons arrived. Bonus, alcohol was not a requirement to have a good time while eating out in Anguilla. When everyone is still laughing and talking long after the plates have been cleared then you know you are surrounded by unadulterated sunshine.

“Laughter is brightest in the place where the food is.”    Irish Proverb

Lunch and Dinner at Five Restaurants in Anguilla

Dinner at Blanchards Restaurant

Lunch at The Restaurant at Malliouhana – An Auberge Resort

Fishermen’s Day Celebration

Group shot at Flavours Restaurant, Anguilla

Eating out in Anguilla – The ambiance

The other day I went out to lunch on Shoal Bay with one of my friends. She asked if a particular table was OK. My only requirement was that I got to sit facing the ocean. I wanted to be able to look up and see the brilliant blue hues of the Caribbean Sea. It is little things like this which help to ensure my gratitude tank is always full and overflowing.

You see, I don’t just eat out. I breathe in the happiness of the ocean and the tantalising aromas which drift from the kitchen. My eyes are appreciative of the scenery and décor around me. Sometimes the ambiance is perfectly created by God and other times it is patiently and lovingly crafted or designed by man. Either way my soul shines. My ears are open and ready to respond to laughter but also to hear nuances of pain from my dining companions. When lunch and dinner are placed before me, I eat with my eyes before my mouth and because life here is so unhurried I get to savour each tantalising morsel of food (OK I actually eat very fast but I am usually starving by the time the food comes out!).  Eating out in Anguilla for me is a complete experience.

“One cannot think well, love well and sleep well if one has not dined well.” Virginia Woolf

Day view from the restaurant

Day view from the restaurant

Eating out in Anguilla – The Seafood

So if someone asked you to guess what I order most when eating out in Anguilla, here is a hint, “food from the sea.” I am a seafood lover and seafood is so well prepared in Anguilla. Like, I could buy lobster or crayfish while attending a fair from a roadside stall or I could order crayfish at a five star restaurant and both would be equally sumptuous. So right now I am getting my fill of seafood from snapper to conch to crayfish (because I really like the type of crayfish we get here!). I really like the variety of seafood options on many menus and I will certainly miss it for the time we are away.

“Seafood makes you live 10 years more” – Kevin Steele

lunch at The Restaurant at Malliouhana

lunch at The Restaurant at Malliouhana

My Anguilla Experience, Lunch at Pokers Plank Restaurant, Anguilla, 2013

Eating out in Anguilla

 

Conch Creole at Tasty's Restaurant - Guilty of starting to eat :)

Conch Creole at Tasty’s Restaurant – Guilty of starting to eat 🙂

Food to go on the grill

Food to go on the grill

Eating out in Anguilla – The Live Music

Throughout the week, there is live entertainment at many of Anguilla’s restaurants. I sometimes choose a restaurant for its delicious food but also to see talented and rising local musicians perform. From soulful Omalie 360 at Ocean Echo to Omari Banks at D’avida’s Restaurant just to name  a few.  You can find out beforehand what live entertainment will be available or you can choose to be delightfully surprised. There are no wrong answers here.

“Food is music to the body, music is food to the heart.” – Gregory David Roberts

Omalie 360 - So awesome

Omalie 360 – So awesome

 Stay up to date with the ‘What I will miss most about Anguilla’ blog series

Did you miss the previous blogs in this series? Catch up on what I will miss most about Anguilla below.

Basking in the Sunlight

Aya Lawd; Anguillian Dialect and Accent

Beach Days at Shoal Bay in Anguilla

Stay in Touch

No worries. Even after we leave, we will continue to post beautiful pictures of Anguilla on our My Anguilla Experience Instagram and Facebook pages as team members are still on island :).

I am also inviting you to follow me on this blog (or perhaps a new blog coming soon) and on my Facebook and Instagram page @shelleciabjohnson as this ‘sun-loving’ Anguillian girl transitions and builds a new (temporary) life in England :).

Before You Go

Let me know what you love most about eating out in Anguilla?

Talk soon

Xoxo

Shelly

#shellsofsunshine