Dining and Entertainment

Weekly local events are all about seafood

Where to Party and Eat Heartily

Evening dining and entertainment are often at the same location. First, some ideas of what you will be dining on.

Garden fresh vegetables and desserts laced with tropical fruits are the hallmarks of St. Lucian dining. You will find these items in every type of restaurant, whether it specializes in flavorful Italian sauces, East Indian curries, fresh grilled seafood or Creole-style entrees.

Many local vegetables, such as christophene, breadfruit and callalloo, are unfamiliar to most visitors. Breadfruit, brought from the South Pacific by the infamous Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty Fame, is often served like a potato or made into a pie. If breadfruit doesn’t appeal to you immediately, don’t feel badly. It’s something of an acquired taste.

Callallo, on the other hand, is one of the island’s most popular dishes. This green leafy plant resembling spinach makes a wonderful soup you definitely should try. Most of St. Lucia’s fruits are popular and well known such as mangoes, papayas, pineapples, soursops and guavas.

St. Lucia’s famous Creole cuisine is an appetizing mix of French, African and Indian influences, many dishes based on prized recipes handed down through the generations. Although not as hot as its close cousin, Cajun cooking, if you encounter an especially spicy Creole sauce of tomatoes, onions, and peppers proves, eating a slice of bread with butter almost always puts out the fire.

Friday is St. Lucia’s main party night. Seafood lovers will want to attend “Seafood Friday,” a combination seafood fest and music jam at the fishing village of Anse La Raye, south of Castries. Starting about 6:30 PM, the tiny village closes off numerous streets to give residents time to prepare fish cakes, fried and stewed fish and whole lobster. Live music plays until early morning in the village square. At Vieux Fort at the southern end of the island, is an all-the-you-can-eat-fish street party called “Swaye.”

The fish fries may start fairly early but nighttime entertainment often begins late. The island’s entertainment hub is at Rodney Bay, where its lounges, bars and dance clubs may not open until 11 p.m. The restaurants keep normal hours.

Just south of Rodney Bay is St. Lucia’s longest running get-together, the Friday night Jump Up at Gros Islet. This legendary street party begins around 9 as a huge system starts pumping out Caribbean rhythms for everyone to dance to in the street. Local vendors sell barbecued chicken, conch, rum and beer. Since it can get crowded and sometimes rowdy, women shouldn’t carry a purse or go alone, but they can expect to have a good time.

JJ’s Street Jam at Marigot Bay on Thursday and Friday nights dancing with a live band. Also at Marigot Bay is Doolittle’s, offering a live band and dance music that changes nightly.

Many hotels, particularly the island’s many all-inclusive resorts, provide entertainment exclusively for their guests.

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