Best Places To Eat In The Bahamas
The food scene in Nassau Paradise Island is booming, with famous chefs from around the world flocking to the beautiful shores to open Bahamian outposts of impeccable dining experiences from across the globe. These headline-making restaurants are worth a trip to Nassau Paradise Island alone, and a meal at one of our fine dining establishments is a definite must-do on any foodie’s travel itinerary. But what about the smaller restaurants that pepper our island delighting guests and locals alike with bold flavors and delicious dishes? These smaller restaurants are perfect for grabbing a quick bite, easy lunch, or authentic meal, and will provide just as many dining memories. Keep reading on for some of the best places during your visit to the Bahamas.
1. Twin Brothers, Arawak Cay
Just a brief strut from the western esplanade of Nassau, is the authentic Twin Brothers restaurant located in Arawak Cay. They serve a little snippet of paradise called Conch salad. It's one of the most popular Bahamian dishes that is both a flavorful comfort food and a colorful, edible work of art. The key ingredient in the dish is conch, a shellfish that is unfortunately slowly dying out due to its rapid depletion in the Caribbean seas. Other ingredients include finely chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and a marinade of goat pepper, lime, and orange juice, a mixture that also partly cooks the raw white conch meat. However, there is also a tropical version of the salad with apples, pineapple, and mango added to the regular salad, with a less spicy flavor.
2. Parking-Lot Vans, Nassau
On weekdays, lunch vans will often park in beach lots or near souvenir shopping hubs to provide lunch for local vendors—and any savvy tourists in the vicinity. What’s a lunch van, exactly? Just what it sounds like: a car or van with a hatchback full of home-cooked Bahamian food, from curry chicken to oxtails or pork chop, depending on the day. A heaping plate with two sides—rice and peas, potato salad, coleslaw, steamed vegetables, the islands’ trademark “slice” of mac-and-cheese—will run you about $6. They are not always easy to find, as signage might not be present, so ask around. We found one called Shan’s in the lot behind the massive Mélia resort in Cable Beach, a stone’s throw from the area’s famed Daiquiri Shack. (Incidentally, the daiquiris also cost $6 apiece, if you’d rather drink your lunch!)
3. Swiss Pastry Shop, Cable Beach
Thanks to a handful of European pastry chefs who have landed in resort kitchens over the years, the Nassau area has a great little bakery scene. At the Swiss Pastry Shop in Cable Beach, you’ll find some tasty and inexpensive breakfast and lunch items—Jamaican-style patties (don’t miss the conch patties), dense johnny cakes with cheese, quiches—nestled among the cakes, custards, tarts, and Bahamian sweets and be sure to pick up a traditional guava duff for dessert.
4. Fish Fry Resturants, Arawak Cay
No visit to Nassau would be complete without a visit to Arawak Cay’s Fish Fry. Located about a 15-minute walk west of Nassau’s downtown proper, this group of restaurants include humble shacks alongside full restaurants (some with air conditioning). There are few better (and less expensive) places on the island to sample Bahamian specialties, like conch fritters, conch chowder, cracked lobster, snapper and grouper- among many other fish dishes.
5. The Poop Deck, Nassau
The Poop Deck has been one of Nassau’s most well known restaurants for over 25 years. It’s a perfect combination of classic Bahamian plates and a spectacular, elevated view of Nassau’s anchored Harbour boats and the twinkling lights of Paradise Island. This is one of the few restaurants where you can hand pick your dinner; with daily catches inclusive of lane snapper, red snapper, hogfish, grouper and freshly caught spiny lobster (known locally as crawfish) prepared: blackened, fried, steamed, smothered or grilled. All meals are served with fresh, island sweet bread rolls that are warm and satisfying especially with a generous pat of butter. Yum!
6. Lukka Kairi, Woodes Rodgers Walk
Perched on a balcony well above Downtown Nassau’s harbor front hustle and bustle, Lukka Kairi is an ideal place to cool off with a cocktail (or several). Since 2015, “they’ve been serving both quality interpretations of classic Bahamian dishes and daring new ventures into the uncharted waters of Nouveau Bahamian Cuisine”. From bites of crispy cracked conch that melt in your mouth to guava duff served layered in a mason jar- everything on the menu or handcrafted at the expansive and colorful bar will delight your senses at once.
7. Sun & Ice, Nassau
The newly renovated The Coral at Atlantis is chic, colorful, and full of Caribbean charm. At the center of this impressive space is Sun & Ice, a gelateria inspired by the colors and flavors of The Bahamas. Helmed by local chef Wayne Moncur, the iced desserts at Sun & Ice come in flavors like Auntie Mar (a guava-duff flavored ice cream), Mango Skin (a mangola and avocado gelato), Junkanoo (a red velvet gelato), and more.
8. Frankie Gone Bananas, Arawak Cay
The original Frankie Gone Bananas location at Arawak Cay in Nassau has been popular for years, so it’s no surprise that the local seafood eatery has opened a second location at Marina Village in Paradise Island. This casual restaurant stays true to its Bahamian roots serving dishes like coconut and Kalik chowder, Bahamian rock lobster, and classic Bahamas cocktails like Sky Juice and Goombay Smash.
9. Humidor Churrascaria, Nassau
Graycliff Hotel’s culinary name may be built upon its namesake five-star restaurant, but for a more casual, family-friendly dining experience, head to their Churrascaria! Churrascaria is a centuries-old Brazilian cooking technique of cutting and grilling meat. At Humidor Churrascaria you’ll have the authentic experience of table side carving and a mouthwatering array of choices.
10. Athena Bar And Cafe, Downtown Nassau
This family-owned Greek restaurant in downtown Nassau has been in business since 1995 and is one of the popular stops on Tru Bahamian Food Tour’s Bites of Nassau Food Tour. Not only do they serve up classic Greek dishes like calamari, spanakopita, and gyro, they also have some Bahamian staples like conch fritters and grouper.
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David Castain
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