FOODIE GUIDE: Hilton breakfast buffet, Cuz's fish cutters and more top Barbados eats

FOODIE GUIDE: Hilton breakfast buffet, Cuz's fish cutters and more top Barbados eats 

I've just got back from a trip to Barbados (my 4th time ahahaha always going to the same place) and of course had an incredible time. We stayed at The Hilton for 7 nights and were very lucky that my Dad is a Hilton Honors member so got access to the executive suite ver nice.
The food in Barbados, and pretty much the whole Caribbean, is suitably amazing. Some traditional foods include macaroni pie (billion times better than plain ol macaroni cheese), grilled fish e.g. mahi mahi, dolphin (dw it's actually swordfish), flying fish, kingfish, plantain (similar to banana), rice and beans, and you can't forget the rum punch never forget the rum punch.

We had a variety of food, from the local fish cutter van (Cuz's) to a fancy birthday dinner at The Tides. Barbados is home to lots of up-market and even some Michelin star restaurants to cater for all the celebs. Sad I'm still yet to spot Rihanna or Simon Cowell.

In The Hilton lounge we were treated to a buffet breakfast every morning (my absolute weakness in life, made the daily morning transition of woman->whale) and each evening hors d'eouvres were served from 5:30pm. This consisted of crudites, crackers and cheese. As a lover of broccoli I treated myself to an entire plateful.
To be honest I don't think I felt hungry once those whole 7 days.

Nice and cheap 

Cuz's Fish Van can be found in the car park of Dipper's beach club in Carlisle Bay (3min walk from The Hilton). He has become rather popular and is now ranked the #12 best place to eat in Barbados by TripAdvisor which is above the The Cliff (probably the fanciest restaurant on the island). He's not around on weekends but instead a mobile Jamaican Kitchen van comes to take his place. They serve similarly delicious fish cutters in addition to jerk chicken and pork. 

The Bay Tavern at Martin's Bay serves more tasty fish in beautiful polystyrene boxes with authentic Bajan style. It's a bit of a steep downhill drive to get there but the beach is lush and normally quiet. 

Oistins is the place to go if you really want to eat like a local. Busiest on Friday nights, the food can sometimes take a while but it's definitely worth the wait (might have something to do with "island-time" and being laaaaaaid back man). The setup is lots of different stalls with outdoor seating, plastic forks and plenty of Banks. Whatever stall you choose the food should be good, but waitresses do try their best to get your business. The meal consists of fish with salad, a mayonnaise type sauce and a starch. The starch can be chips, macaroni pie or rice and beans and I'm going to say macaroni pie is 100% the best. 

At any of these places a meal should be around BDS$10-20. 

Super fancy 

The Cliff is meant to be the island's most famous restaurant but it is super expensive so we haven't been. This time, for my Dad's birthday, we went to The Tides. We arrived to have a valet park the car and walked through the entrance, past some local artwork to be seated at out table. The waiters were so so nice and repeatedly told my Dad he didn't look his age (I won't divulge) and that he was blessed to have three lovely ladies in his life (me, my Mum and my sister) which is true, we are lovely. Every course was so tasty and looked very aesthetic indeed. To my dad's ultimate embarrassment the waiters brought him a cake singing happy birthday. After the meal we went for a walk along the boardwalk outside and in the sea there were some humongous fish. Apparently they were tarpon fish who swim closer to the shore for the light coming from the restaurant. We even saw some kinda stingray thing!! I think this was my favourite meal out ever. The staff were so lovely and we had a table overlooking the sea, tasty food, all good. 

A three-course dinner costs around BDS$175 (£69). 

Two years ago for my Mum's birthday we went to Cin Cin. This restaurant is another one that overlooks the sea and we ate whilst watching the sun set along the horizon. Again the staff were lovely and my Mum suffered a similar experience of them bringing out a cake and sparkler for her. 

Cost is around BDS$150 (£59) for three courses, excluding drinks.

More Barbados posts and pictures to come xxx