Another great Turks and Caicos trip in the books. We sort of settled between alternating between Anguilla and TCI these days. TCI is my home away from home, my partner if you will, while Anguilla feels like the mistress. I’m starting to think this is the closest I will ever get to a mistress. A bit shorter than usual (the trip, not the mistress), but this was some of the best eating in roughly 25 trips. Over the years, new places have been hit or miss to put it mildly. But this time we encountered new places that dished out some fairly impressive stuff. Only problem, not small, it all comes at a small fortune these days. Meals under $200-250 for two are becoming a rarity in Provo.
The Farm
An unplanned breakfast, lunch and dinner at the newest addition to Seven Stars. A striking, comfortable, bright and airy place with a very capable kitchen at the hands of island veteran Edwin Gallardo. Terrific short rib sandwich and a salad with the kind of dressing that almost made Mrs Z pull a Meg Ryan. Serviceable breakfast (SS guests get a $25 credit) other than the surprisingly stale sourdough.
The best part was Indian Sundays which happened to be during the Super Bowl in our case. I wasnt expecting much from a theme night, but this was as solid as I ever had in the Caribbean. The Butter Chicken alone is worth the “price of admission”. It has more of a peppery, “Chettinad” like flavor profile and is simply outstanding. The shrimp fry and carrot cake not too shabby either.
Omar’s Beach Hut
Beach shacks or huts is one area Anguilla got the edge, while Provo’s shacks are closer to regular restaurants. Although, places like Omar’s and the famous Da Conch Shack are quite picturesque and worth leaving the resorts for. Omar’s has arguably the best Oxtail dish on the island, but pretty much everything I’ve had here from fish tacos (top) to conch fritters have been solid. Omar is sort of an island legend and the local following reflects that.
Le Bouchon
A must on every single visit. We’ve been enjoying Le Bouchon cooking before Le Bouchon was even born (when the chef owned Caicos Cafe). We found Pierrik Marziou’s legacy even in Paris. Last time we stayed in the 11th arr., walking distance to a place called Justine formerly owned by Pierrik and named after his daughter who owns a shop right near Caicos Cafe. “Its… a small world after all” Everybody…
Another stellar meal. Killer Escargot as usual. Perfectly tender octopus sitting on a nice and crunchy salad. Love salads with texture. And I can’t think of another signature dish on the island that’s more renowned than the Steak au Poivre. It’s the sum of all parts dish including the fries, au gratin and veggies. Highly recommend Le Bouchon, for like the 25th time.
Hemingways
Nothing to see here. A traditional lunch since the first trip where we stayed at the Sands (before Seven Stars was built) on one of the best oceanside decks on the stretch. Over the years we settled on fish and chips and fish tacos, no matter how many times we examined the menu. Yes, its Swai, but who cares if you rarely eat it. Swai can be delicious when prepared right and is flakier than most Snappers out there.
Bay Bistro
The new and improved* Bay Bistro 2.0 is off to a promising start with an asterisk attached. Carmen Norocea (formerly with Magnolia) is leading the new team, and she completely revamped the menu. While the food was mostly great, the overall experience was somewhat lacking. Not much of a break between courses and we were done eating in under an hour. Not much of an ambiance or personal touch from the staff. Normally I’d be fine wit that. But like Indigo, Omar’s and other new places its nice to meet the people that can introduce you to the concept and/or menu. Carmen was not there, and the active manager was mostly entertaining one guest.
The food was indeed mostly good, but not perfect. The clear miss was an overcharred, dry and uneventful lobster that relied on melted butter more than I normally like. Surprising considering lobster was historically the one sure thing at BB. The rest was great. Tiger Shrimp tartelette wasn’t much of a tartelette, but sitting on top of one. Quite excellent mostly due to the smart shrimp seasoning.
Tuna Tataki was very interesting. Something you may find at a finer joint with the flavors to match. The one dish I’d come for were the Jerk lamb chops. Superb, even with the uneven cooking. The dessert of banana and toffee in a jar needed some adjustments like a more accessible, not frozen at the bottom, Graham cracker crust, and more cream.
Lua at the South Bank Resort
I love trying new places but this is one pricy lunch at a resort I probably should have skipped. I was curious about the resort itself and I was advised to go by a trusted local. But at the end of the day, this is just another restaurant at a pricy resort where you get good service with hit or miss dishes. In our case it was a fine Caesars salad, a refreshing creamy feta with hot honey. But a basic, slightly oversalted $40 Snapper filet on top of Caponata was a pricy miss. Caponata was a nice touch, but the dish was desperately missing something starchy and got boring in a hurry.
Marine Room
Out of the new places we tried, this was our favorite by a mile. From the stunning decor, drinks, food and ambiance this was just about flawless. A packed house, not in a beach resort, means they are doing something right. I will save the rest to a dedicated post. Spoiler: The signature Sideways Lasagna wasnt the best dish. How will you sleep tonight? I recommend Zzzquil. Bout time I add some ads here. Zzzquil – when you are over 50, doing eye exercises at 3 am, the 20th Tiktok trick you’ve seen.
Caicos Cafe
The traditional first and last night meal. Not much has changed except that its as busy as ever. On our first night, we sat next to the entrance and witnessed the amount of people being turned away. Make reservations people, especially in places like Caicos Cafe and Le Bouchon which are very popular with locals. One thing I’m beginning to realize with CC, as it gets more and more popular with locals, we are more in the mercy of the local taste. Case in point, the famous grilled calamari is now fried.
But there’s no shortage of hits. On our first night we discovered a well crafted Duck Foie Gras terrine. The Gnocchi is still the same fresh pillowy goodness. The conch chowder is as good as ever, and the Lobster fra diavolo is still a crowd pleaser. Pay attention to the specials. They may include a fresh Wahoo perfectly cooked on top of an addictive Amalfi style veggie stew. Or a beautiful chewy Strozzapreti with bits of octopus, beans, olives, tomatoes and more. Strozzapreti of course was created when someone saw a priest being slowly strangled. On our second night we came with local friends, so we were able to sample all the specials.
And talking of special, a special shutout to the lovely couple we met on our first night who are avid readers of the blog. Pleasure was all mine, obviously 🙂
Chinson’s
Avid readers, both of them, know I’m a big fan of Chinson’s. A trip feels incomplete without at least one visit for lunch. Not only great food, but the prices are more than fair as opposed to much of the island these days. Great Jerk as usual, and the Goat Curry is still the GOAT.
Eating With Ziggy 