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Back-to-back restaurants in the busy "Golden Mile" north of Castries provide a staggering number of choices. Beachside eateries along Reduit Beach offer dining with sea breezes, and Rodney Bay as a whole seems to have more restaurants per square mile than anywhere else on the island, most clustered around the intersection of the Castries-Gros Islet highway and Reduit Beach Road. During the Friday night street party in Gros Islet, restaurateurs and vendors set up roadside barbecues and sell roasted chicken, fish or meats, as well as cold beers to wash it down - check Hector's, Cecilia's and Nigels Bar for inexpensive and delicious barbecue. North of Gros Islet, the restaurants thin out a bit, but a number of vendors set up in front of the entrance to Pigeon Point and at the causeway beach, selling tasty barbecued chicken, roasted vegetables and floats. East of Gros Islet, on the road to Cas-en-Bas, La Panache is a fun experience, and boasts one of the area's more authentic Creole menus.
Coco's. Daily 7am-11pm. Inexpensive-moderate. Set in a bamboo shack on the Gros Islet side of the Rodney Bay marina, this small Creole restaurant serves decent, inexpensive seafood. No culinary awards but a good place to relax at lunchtime. No credit cards.
Coral Avenue and Marina Road, Gros Islet
T 4500510
La Panache Twice a week, Henry Augustin lays on one of the area's best dining experiences at his friendly guesthouse; an informal, five-course feast of West Indian food at its finest. The menu is built around fresh fish, poultry and seasonally available market veggies, and dishes are passed around family-style, elbows and all. Call ahead to reserve a place.
Cas-en-Bas Road
T 4500765
Laurel's. Mon-Sat 9am-1am. Moderate. Turn toward the coast at the signs for the Orange Grove Hotel and you'll see this small, no-frills Creole restaurant set in a house. Seating is on the lawn or under a canopy on the ground floor. Nicely cooked and served in lavish portions, dishes include green figs and saltfish, lambi, fish Creole and garlic shrimp
Bois d'Orange
T 4528547
Cap Estate and Pigeon Island
Great House. Tues-Sun 4.30-10pm. Expensive. Fine dining (afternoon tea and dinner only) in a 235-year-old stone plantation house overlooking Bécune Bay, with seating inside or on the stone patio. The cuisine is West Indian and French - try the lamb with garlic and rosemary - and the four-course set menu (around US$40) offers excellent value. Adjacent is the Derek Walcott amphitheatre, where you can see occasional works by the man himself before or after dinner, depending upon schedules.
Castries-Gros Islet Highway, Cap Estate
T 4500450
Jambe de Bois. Daily 9am-5pm. Inexpensive. The legendary one-legged pirate François Leclerc - jambe de bois means "wooden leg" - who made Pigeon Point his home never ate in this café, but he didn't miss much. The food is uninspired, but it's a pleasant setting by the sea inside the Pigeon Island complex and a good place to cool off; Creole shrimp and chicken, fish and chips, burgers and sandwiches are all served.
Pigeon Island
T 4508166
