Anguilla has a reputation for expensive restaurants, and it is deserved — but the reputation obscures a genuine local cuisine that costs very little and is easier to find than the fine dining.
The national dish
Pigeon peas and rice with stewed goat is what Anguillians eat at home and at every celebration. The goat is browned, then stewed slowly with thyme, onion and hot pepper until it falls off the bone. You will find it at roadside stalls in The Valley and at every festival.
Crayfish and seafood
What Anguilla calls crayfish is the Caribbean spiny lobster, caught in pots off the north coast and usually split, grilled over charcoal and served with lime and butter. Crab backs, conch stewed or curried, and whole snapper grilled whole are the other staples. The season for lobster runs from December to April.
Johnny cakes and sides
- Johnny cakes — fried dough, slightly sweet, eaten with everything.
- Saltfish — flaked salt cod with peppers and onion, traditionally breakfast.
- Fungi — cornmeal cooked to a firm paste, the local counterpart to polenta.
- Pumpkin soup — thick, mild, and on nearly every menu.
Where to eat cheaply
The barbecue shacks along the road in The Valley on a Friday and Saturday night sell ribs and chicken by the plate. Ken's BBQ is the best known. Tasty's near South Hill is a proper local restaurant at moderate prices, and the beach bars at Shoal Bay serve fritters and grilled fish all afternoon.
Rum and drinks
Anguilla does not distil at scale, but rum punch here is made with fresh fruit rather than syrup, and the local habit is to add a grating of nutmeg on top. Try a bush tea — an infusion of local herbs served hot even in the heat — at least once.
Why the food is expensive
Anguilla has no rivers, thin limestone soil and 900 mm of rain a year, so almost nothing is farmed at scale. Nearly every ingredient that is not caught offshore arrives by boat from Saint-Martin or by container from Puerto Rico, and the cost shows on the bill. What is genuinely local is the seafood — spiny lobster, conch, snapper, mahi-mahi — along with goat, which thrives on scrub that would not support cattle.
Eating on a budget
Buy from the fishermen at Island Harbour in the morning if you have a kitchen. The supermarkets in The Valley carry imported goods at imported prices, but the roadside stands and the barbecue shacks sell a full plate of food for a fraction of restaurant cost, and it is the same food Anguillians eat.