- Namaste Café
This place is owned and operated by a yoga-teaching ex-patfrom Indiana. Jessie, the owner, led us in an awesome rooftop yoga practice onemorning while we stayed on the island. After yoga, we went downstairs and enjoyed breakfast. I had a deliciousbagel with peanut butter, banana, and honey drizzled over the top. I washed itall down with their homemade hibiscus-honey kombucha. The café also has a widevariety of coffee drinks and sandwiches. While you’re there, pick up a copy ofJessie’s children book, Island Boy. She was thrilled to sign the copies Ibought for our nieces and nephew.
- Il Pelicano
Located a few doors down from the Iguana Reef Inn, this place reminded me most of a restaurant back home. To be honest, it’s why it wasn’t my favorite! That being said, the food was terrific and we ate there twice. I had the branzino both times, and it was really delicious. It is more moderately-priced than some of the other spots with entrees costing around $25BE. There is outdoor seating and a small bar. What I loved about it was the live entertainment both nights we were there. A girl was playing her guitar and singing. It made for a very relaxing dinner.
- Island Magic Restaurant
This ties for first place as one of my favorite spots to eaton the island. It is in a very quiet spot on the island and was about a fifteenminute walk from the Iguana Reef Inn, which is where we stayed. We sat in thebeach section of the restaurant. All of the tables in this section hang from acanopy. The seats are swings that hang from the same canopy. It was such a coolway to eat dinner. I had red snapper cooked in a coconut curry sauce. It wasabsolutely delicious! Caution- it gets very windy at night- so bring a sweater.
- Suggestion Gourmet
Suggestion Gourmet ties for first place on my list. In theambiance department, it wins by a landslide. The restaurant is set far backfrom the road underneath an incredibly gorgeous canopy of trees and bistrolights. It is a tiny place that serves pizza and two dinner options daily. Ihad really good Thai lettuce wraps when we ate there. They were fresh anddelicious. It is a very small place, and it was hard for them to accommodateour group of 16 despite having a reservation. It wasn’t for lack of trying,because the wait staff and owner were all incredible and working their tailsoff to get our meals out to us in a timely fashion. That being said, if you aredining with a small group, there shouldn’t be any sort of problem. I highlyrecommend sitting outside and try the dessert! The owner is from France andmakes fresh eclairs and macaroons daily.
- Sports Bar
This place is the definition of ‘dive bar.’ You walk in and question whether you should touch anything in the place besides your beer bottle. That being said, it has one of the coolest vibes on the island. You walk out the backdoor and the sea is about five yards in front of you. One of the nights we were there, they had live drummers singing and performing. Everyone in the place was dancing and having a blast. Sports Bar has special events during the week; including karaoke and trivia. What more could you want?
