St Lucia Restaurants

Overlooking Vigie Marina, not far from St. Lucia's capital of Castries, the Coal Pot is known for its seafood, but the restaurant also serves poultry and meat. French-born Chef Xavier calls the cuisine "mainly local and some French flavors." You select your fish and choose whether you want Creole, lemon, garlic, ginger, coconut or other sauces.

Called "Auntie Debbie's" by the locals, this open-air restaurant, housed under a tin roof is quite a find. Debbie cooks up Creole-style snapper and mahi-mahi, as well as St. Lucian curried goat and chicken. The flavorful entrees come with at least seven side dishes. On the day we dined, we sampled such local items as plantains, breadfruit balls, salted cod fish cakes, curried pumpkin, eggplant and banana fritters. Kids can choose chicken fingers, burgers or spaghetti from the children's menu.

If a local had not taken us to dinner at the Kimatrai Hotel's restaurant, we wouldn't have dined there. And, that would have been our loss. The plain hotel overlooks the Vieux Fort Fisheries Complex in a working section of Vieux Fort that's not frequented by tourists. Guests dine in the bar or on the covered patio. Our tasty grilled snapper came with three side dishes. In addition to fish, the moderately priced restaurant serves chicken and pasta. The large portions are easily shared with kids.

Locals and tourists alike come for the jerk chicken, grilled lobster, rotis (West Indian/Caribbean-style wraps) and fresh fish.