Tag Archives: Grenada

Grenada Island Tour, Caribbean

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Grenada is a magical Caribbean island, full of character and virtually unspoilt. There is so much to see and experience and it is impossible to do it all in five days, but we were lucky enough to visit the most famous places on a tour with the Board of Tourism.

Roger picked us up at 9am sharp from our accommodation, we were barely ready and had to continue to munch our breakfast bacon butties in the car. As most of the hotels are located around Grand Anse Beach (on the western side of the island) we had to drive quite far north to reach our stops for the day…

St George’s Market: As we drove away from Grand Anse and through the capital, St. George’s we got a glimpse of the bustling market: a colourful affair, tables laden with fresh fresh vegetables and spices.

Concord Waterfall: There are several waterfalls in Grenada: Annadale falls is a gentle stroll through some pretty gardens, and the Seven Sisters can be found after a more energetic twenty minute hike. Concord Waterfall is located in the hills of Concord, St. Johns on the west coast of Grenada. Follow the path down and you will discover the awesome cascade, it’s very natural and cool up there and on warmer days, visitors can splash around in the beautiful clear water.

Gouyave Nutmeg Factory: The Gouyave Nutmeg Processing Station is one of the largest nutmeg factories on the island. Tours are available for only $1. See the workers choose, grade and package the nutmegs. You can also step into the stencil room and get a local jute bag customized with any words of your choice. At the end of your tour, explore ‘Nutmeg World’ for packaged spices, clothing and other locally made souvenirs of your tour.

Petite Anse Hotel : This additional stop was insisted on by Roger, who has a soft spot for this picturesque boutique hotel. We enjoyed a very strong rum punch whilst admiring the epic sea views and chatting to lovely English owner Annie. I’d love to stay here on my next trip to Grenada.

Belmont Estate: Located in St Patrick only an hour’s scenic drive from the island’s capital St. George’s, Belmont Estate is a unique and authentic 17th century plantation that offers guests an opportunity to participate in and observe the workings of a fully functional historic farm.Guests can enjoy exciting tours that include visits to the gardens, heritage museum and cocoa processing facilities. They also offer an exquisite restaurant featuring traditional Grenadian cuisine, a goat dairy farm, petting farm, conference room, gift shop, café, produce shop, credit union and craft market.

River Antoine Rum Distillery: We were amazed and impressed by this visit. This is a privately owned distillery, whose processes have changed little since the 1800s. It is the oldest functioning water-propelled distillery in the Western Hemisphere. Guided tours are available at $2 per person, and well worth the price. Be sure to try the 75% Rivers Rum at the end of the tour, at such a high alcohol concentration you are unlikely to try such powerful rum elsewhere.

Grand Etang Forest Reserve: This was our final tour stop: a fleeting visit to the tranquil and undisturbed Grand Etang Park. We fed the fishes and laughed at the monkeys and soaked up the beautiful, calm atmosphere.

Chatting to Roger in the car, I was impressed to hear how proudly he spoke of this Caribbean island’s rich culture and inspiring way of life. This is a country that has so much to offer and yet hasn’t sacrificed the beauty or personality of the island for mass tourism. Grenada is a very special place and I hope one day I can return to investigate its history more.

With thanks to Grenada Board of Tourism.

More information on Grenada and all it has to offer here.

Laluna restaurant, Grenada

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Just off the beaten track, near Grand Anse Beach, you will find Laluna Hotel. This boutique accommodation offers sixteen cottages by the sea. As the name suggests the hotel has an Italian theme and a restaurant to match.

After a short taxi ride from our hotel, we found ourselves at the Laluna Restaurant, in a quiet and secluded area of Grenada. Although the food here is certainly on the cusp of the fine dining category, the atmosphere is very laid back and unpretentious.

We were very flattered to receive a pre-starter plate of treats, compliments of the chef. This was an absolutely delightful assortment of classic Italian miniatures: tiny pizzas and calzones, olives, sun dried tomatoes, porcini mushrooms and mouthfuls of crumbly parmesan. It was immediately obvious that all these ingredients had been shipped directly from Italy… as I’ve shopped in Grenada’s supermarkets and there is definitely wasn’t fresh parmesan of this calibre for sale.

The chef came over and told us about the specials (Mahi-Mahi fish and Tuna Carpaccio) and noticing my bemused expression kindly recommended a superior white wine to compliment our meal. The Donna Giovanna 2010 from Tenuta Tuzzolini was a very individual and palatable light white with a slight sweetness and lovely apricot undertones.

To start I chose the Antipasto Italiano and my guest ordered Bresaola Condita. Both were very fresh and simply prepared and presented. Again I particularly noticed the delicious cheese and how well it contrasted with the peppery salami.

Meat, fish or pasta categories are available for later courses. With the hot weather and humidity, we avoided heavy meat dishes in favour of lighter choices from the pasta menu. The homemade ravioli (with daily changing fillings) was sublime, light and perfectly assembled, it was my ideal main course. The filling was Callaloo (a Caribbean spinach like vegetable) and parmesan (my favourite), lightly dressed in a buttery basil sauce. My guest opted for Sea Crab Linguini; deep sea crab meat sautéed with olive oil, sweet peppers and tomato sauce. The spectacular presentation of this dish is inspired, a huge mount of linguini with a giant crap claw for the diner to crack open themselves. It was delicious but required a big appetite to clean the plate as the portion was very generous.

Desserts were the only slight disappointment.  My Tiramisu, for which I had great expectations, was a little bland and lacked the chocolatey coffee flavour I hoped for. I must mention though – the quirky knife and fork shaped cocoa powder pattern which was very cool. The profiteroles were pretty standard, nice fluffy choux pastry filled with vanilla ice-cream and topped with dark chocolate sauce.

I can’t imagine anywhere in Grenada beating Laluna for Italian style, flavour and authenticity. We loved our meal there, and by the sounds of it, I think I’d love the accommodation too.

More information here.

http://www.laluna.com/

Rhodes Restaurant Calabash Hotel, Grenada

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‘Calabash’ is a word I noticed frequently on my Caribbean trip. This exotic fruit is widely grown and every island has properties named after it.

Grenada’s Calabash Hotel is very well known, popular particularly for its exceptional Gary Rhodes restaurant. We went along for a lovely evening of music, cocktails and food.

Like many Caribbean restaurants, the cocktails here are fun, fruit juice based, often topped with a ruby red jewel cherry. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that these drinks have unique and creative recipes. They are rather sweet but with some inventive flavour combinations.

After visiting the chef in the kitchen and slurping up the dregs of our cocktails, we sat down in the main restaurant area. The decor is simple and smart, with a gentle accompaniment from the steel drum, it generated a relaxing and soothing mood.

We perused the menu whilst enjoying a glass of white wine and taking in the atmosphere. Each day there are two menus on offer so regular guests at the hotel eating here every night have plenty of choice: the chef’s daily specials are super fresh, seasonal dishes according to the catch of the day, and the standard Rhodes menu offers a larger selection of dishes, which change less regularly, designed by Gary. We mixed and matched as I’m sure many diners do.

Pan-fried tiger prawns with a citrus souscaille was prettily presented, a light and summery starter. My butternut squash risotto was filling but delicious with a lovely combination of toasted almonds, spring onions and fresh herb vinaigrette on top – all it needed was an extra sprinkling of parmesan and a touch of ground black pepper.

Main courses were spectacular, we chose the chef’s recommendations and they didn’t disappoint: the Caribbean warm lobster with spicy rice and creole sauce, and Gary’s more British fillet of beef with roast potato and sautéed mushrooms. The lobster was breathtaking – the best we tried on the island: juicy, plump and meaty, it was cooked and prepared to perfection. The beef was wonderful too, the highest quality meat, topped with a foamy wholegrain mustard cream sauce.

The night was coming to an end; an enthusiastic waiter finished singing with the band and couples began to leave their tables bidding goodnight. We had time to quickly try the famous chocolate banana pudding with chocolate ice-cream, an indulgent mess of gooey goodness. Banana and chocolate is a popular pairing in Grenada and this pudding was finely executed; a fondant like dessert with great flavour and texture.

Rhodes Calabash is a magnificent restaurant and an example of how Caribbean ingredients and British ideas can create a very successful fine dining menu.

More information here.

http://www.calabashhotel.com/dining/rhodes-restaurant/