Straw
Hat, located at the Frangipani Resort, offers panoramic views of Meads Bay from
the restaurant deck. (The pale-pink Mediterranean-style Frangipani property is
our first choice of lodging should we ever return to Anguilla. On this visit, we
stayed at Cuisinart, which was too large, impersonal, and all-inclusive-feeling
for our taste.) Note that although the Straw Hat restaurant has been in
business since the mid-1990s, it was not always located at Frangipani Resort. Previously,
it occupied space in Forest Bay until 2008. The Straw Hat restaurant appeared on Conde Nast Traveler’s “50
Best New Restaurants in the World” list in 1999, and it has been a hit with
customers ever since. Straw Hat, like nearly all waterside restaurants on
Anguilla, is primarily open-air, with tables positioned on the deck under a
roof as well as out in the open beneath palm trees (the exposed tables use
umbrellas for shade during the daytime). The restaurant also keeps a few tables
“indoors” near the small bar. If you dine at the restaurant, you are invited to
use their complimentary beach chairs and umbrellas (however, restaurant guests
may NOT use the lovely beachside pool at Frangipani). Chandeliers that utilize
straw hats as shades are an adorable decorative touch, in keeping with the name
of the restaurant, and some of the servers wear large straw hats as well. The
restaurant must be even more attractive at night, lit by candles and white
string lights.
Straw Hat serves Caribbean and American cuisine, and it is
delicious! We had some of our tastiest food of our entire 9-day Caribbean trip
during our lunch at Straw Hat. (In fact, our food was so good that we debated
returning on another day, although we did not because we wanted to try a variety
of restaurants instead.) We shared the delicious conch fritters as a starter,
which the chef served with tomato jam/relish. As main dishes, we ordered the
shrimp/lobster taco starter (which was fantastic; the tacos were topped with
mango crème fraiche and aioli, as well as herbs and shredded veggies) and the
curried goat entrée (Straw Hat was the only restaurant on Anguilla that offered
goat on the menu, so we there was no question that we would order it; the delectable
dish was served with rice and peas). For dessert, we shared the yummy Kahlua ice
cream pie (with a chocolate cookie crust and toasted almonds).
Our lunch at Straw Hat was one of our favorite meals on
Anguilla – gorgeous scenery, great food, and attentive staff.
No comments:
Post a Comment