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As in France, eating well and often is a favorite pastime in Martinique. Residents relish every meal and every sip of wine. The menus in most large restaurants are in French and English, but bilingual menus in the smaller ones are not available. |
“Entrée” means appetizer on French menus, not main course. Most restaurants offer a "tourist" meal -- an appetizer and/or salad, main course, dessert, coffee and sometimes a glass or carafe of wine. It's often the same price as a regular main course. A wide variety of international cuisine, including Indian, African, Argentine and Spanish, is available on the island. The spicy Creole and French dishes are the island's specialties. Look for fresh seafoods, including langouste (clawless Caribbean lobster), ecrevisses (freshwater crayfish), lambi (conch), requin (shark), chatrou (small octopus), sea urchin egg balls, crab and red snapper. Calalou is a soup of herbs, vegetables and either shellfish or pork. Accras are spicy cod and vegetable cakes. Colombo is pork, lamb, goat or chicken in a thick curry sauce.
Martinique produces 12 different rums, most highly regarded by the Caribbean and continental French, who prefer rum agricole (distilled from pressing fresh sugarcane) to the molasses-based rums of the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Barbados. Before leaving Martinique do not forget to try the traditional island aperitif ti punch (rum punch). It's a simple sweet-and-sour drink of cane juice, lime and rum.
An excellent lager beer, Lorraine, is brewed on the island, and you'll also find Carib (from Trinidad or St. Kitts) and Piton (from St. Lucia). "Ti soda" is a tangy, refreshing carbonated drink that is a children's favorite and made in Martinique. Exotic fruits (and juices made from them), including guava, soursop and passion fruit, are also local favorites. The French wines and cheeses are excellent.
Here is a list of some of the best restaurants in Martinique:
1: Coco Loco Bar and Restaurant
The Creole luncheons at this central Fort-de-France restaurant are great and, for Martinique, inexpensive at about 13 euros. At night, expect hot jazz sessions.
2: La Canne a Sucre
This intimate, 40-seat restaurant serving "haute nouvelle Creole" cuisine is owned and operated by Gerard Virginus, who once ran a popular establishment of the same name on Guadeloupe. Notable offerings include sea urchin mousse, flying fish, ostrich and some decadent French desserts.
3: La Plantation Pays Mele
One of the island's top spots. The menu blends traditional French cooking with Caribbean ingredients, offering such creative concoctions as mahimahi mousse and crayfish salad flavored with a hint of orange and ginger.
4: La Villa Creole
The food is secondary to the ambience at this French bistro, where guitar-playing owner Guy Brere-Dawson is known to entertain guests with songs. The dance floor is always open. The traditional French food, while not the main attraction, is tasty.
5: Le Foulard
This is one of the oldest (and finest) Martinique Creole restaurants, by the sea in Schoelcher, just northwest of Fort-de-France. Saffron shrimp and lobster crepes are the specialties.
6: Le Josephine
If you'd like to gaze out at La Savane as you dine, request a table on the terrace of Le Josephine. It's a very pretty place decorated in authentic Creole furniture and serving Creole and French cuisine. Try the excellent fish soup with crayfish. The menu varies every day.
7: Le Plein Soleil
It's a bit out of the way, but the ambience at this intimate French-Caribbean gem is worth the effort. The fixed-price menu changes regularly.
