Anguilla XV: Straw Hat, Tasty's, and Another Day of Sheer Perfection

Passing showers during morning coffee

Despite the late night (by my standards anyway!), I rose with the dawn on the first day of the year and read while Michael slumbered a bit longer. Before long we were  both feeling a bit hungry, but Roy’s is closed on Mondays, so we broke our fast on with coffee and granola bars that we brought from home. We checked with Wayne first to make sure it was okay, and then brought our coffee downstairs to the closed restaurant to enjoy by the water.

We would not have wanted a full breakfast anyway since we had luncheon reservations at Straw Hat at 12:30. After it stopped raining we took a shorter walk up and down the Sandy Ground beach but the direct sun with no ameliorating breeze was starting to get a little too intense for my husband, who hails from northern stock much better suited to the cold.

Gorgeous Meads Bay

Looking for a change of scenery, we decided to take our chances to see if Straw Hat might have chairs & umbrellas available and packed up our beach bags to head to Meads Bay early. Luck was with us as we checked in and inquired whether they had anything left and we got the last set of chairs & umbrella in the front row facing the beach – huzzah!

With more than an hour before our reservation, we alternated between reading, hanging out in the water, and simply enjoying the breeze. Other times of year Meads can feel a little still, a little hot, but on this particular visit it was all bliss. We ordered a couple of Tings to enjoy and then eventually wandered up for our lunch table.

Sea Rueben

Banh Mi - minus cilantro

It’s always so hard to make up my mind what to eat at Straw Hat – I’ve never had a bad meal there, and their menu has changed so often that I’ve never fallen into any kind of food rut – but I have never hesitated when it comes to my drink order, and that’s their Ti punch. It’s one of my favorite rum drinks anywhere – not too sweet, and each ingredient gets to shine. Michael ordered the Island Passion, and then we decided on the Sea Rueben (him) and the Tuna Banh Mi (me), after I was gratified to learn that it could, in fact, be made without cilantro.

The whole experience was basically sublime. Our original plan for the day was to scoot somewhere else by 2:00, but we were experiencing a serious gravitational pull there. My husband’s preferred way of doing things is to stick to whatever plan we may have (it’s a plan – that’s what it’s for!), but even he seemed delighted with my proposal that we just stay put. Meads Bay was tossing up waves that were just large enough to demand our full attention when in the water so that they wouldn’t crest directly on our heads, and so our afternoon was spent in rotation between that glorious water, reading on our loungers, dozing off, and repeating.

This book pubs in May. It's SOOOO good.

Peter and Anne stopped to chat with us and we caught each other up on the broad strokes of our lives in the last couple of years, and then Peter mentioned that Waves had moved down to Sandy Ground and that it was amazing and we should try it out since it was so close to our home base at Roy’s. Around 4:00 pm we settled up our beach tab (which is separate from the main restaurant) and made our way homeward.

For this trip we were trying to alternate bigger ticket meals with more moderate ones, and so originally we thought we might pick up take out for dinner from Blanchards Beach Shack since we were in the neighborhood. After some discussion, however, we determined that we really wanted to sample something new-to-us and so we decided to give Tasty’s POV a try.

We arrived while it was still light enough to appreciate the view over Sandy Ground and were only the second table occupied. I think this is the second occasion on the trip where our server may have forgotten to put our order in, because we were there for nearly 30 minutes before she came back to say that they were out of a key ingredient for the drink I ordered. Again, luckily, we had not arrived hungry and we were in no rush whatsoever, so it was no hardship to sit and enjoy the view, the breeze, and the music which had started up in the interim.

I’m happy to say that our drinks arrived immediately after that, with our food not long to follow, and it was all worth waiting for. Michael had the seafood pasta, which was delicious (although not beautiful to photograph), while I chose the coconut crusted fish, coconut rice, and roasted veg. We loved it all and frankly it was hard not to lick the plate. Our bellies were full and happy, and it was a fantastic ending to a perfect day. 

Anguilla, or There and Back Again Part IV

Another Tuesday in paradise. Rise with the sun, read in bed while listening to the waves, breakfast on the balcony. Early walk on the beach, floating in those gorgeously warm waters, read under the umbrella. Those last three bits? Repeat until it’s time to clean up for lunch.  Because today, lunch is a Special Occasion.

Which is to say, Hibernia. I’d only been there once before for dinner many years ago, and when I tried going there for lunch on my last trip in 2016, I showed up without a reservation and they were closed.  So this year it was definitely a priority for me to have a nice meal at Hibernia, and I wanted to go for lunch so that I could enjoy the views and their lovely gardens to the fullest.

As it turns out, I was the only guest for lunch, so basically I had the luxury of a private dining experience. Mary Pat was incredibly lovely and gracious, and we chatted a bit about the island and the changes we’ve seen over the years, but then we also bonded over books.

I placed my order for the scallops & wahoo carpaccio with passionfruit, cucumber, and basil, followed by the warm crab, lobster, and onion tartlet, accompanied by the delicious Irish brown bread and sauvignon blanc. While waiting for my first course, I explored the art gallery and made some photos.

The Hibernia meal is like no other on the island. From the objets d’art of Southeast Asia to the gorgeous view to the unique menu, it all adds up to one phenomenal experience. This beautiful appetizer is one of the two best cold first courses I’ve enjoyed on Anguilla (tied with the cucumber soup with tomato sorbet at Jacala). Also, how gorgeous is it?  I love passion fruit - the flavor is so bright and clean, and frankly I don’t know why it isn’t used more widely with tropical cuisine. The warm tart was redolent with seafood and was comforting AF. The two combined were sheer perfection.

For dessert, I ended up ordering a trio of sorbet/ice cream. One scoop each of ginger and almond gelato and a separate bowl for the passionfruit sorbet.  Every last spoonful was divine. Also, the bowls they were served in were just beautiful. Hand painted coconut shell and hand carved wood. 

Eventually I tore myself away from that idyllic setting because I wanted to briefly stop in Island Harbour before heading on to Shoal Bay East for the rest of the afternoon. Sidenote: I gave my mom my old iPhone in September, but I mistakenly deleted all of my photos, including all of my Anguilla pics.  So I wanted to stock up on my stock photos, as it were.

Lime Keel is new since my last visit to the island

My favorite spot on Shoal Bay East is Elodia’s.  The location is a bit quieter and I love being so close to the point. I’m sure there are other spots in Anguilla where the same thing happens, but what is so remarkable to me about that location is the change in scenery, wind, even temperature when you reach the end of the point and look towards Upper Shoal Bay. 

Carole, the lady I used to know from Elodia’s, no longer works there but her niece was there the day I dropped in.  It was a quiet afternoon, so she let me camp out under the big canopy for a couple of hours for only the cost of a single chair & umbrella. I had a small nap and when I emerged from my food coma, I went for a short swim.  Or rather, I simply entered the water and bobbed in place for a while. 

Around 4:00pm I settled my tab and drove homeward. Mindful that I still had a little shopping to do for friends back home, I stopped in at Irie Life on my way back to Turtles Nest. As always, their prices are a little high, but I knew it was where I could pick up some baseball caps.

I’d originally planned to stop in to visit with Pam at Sea Spray on my way home, but since she was closed that afternoon, I headed home and tried to figure out what my plan for the night would be.  I debated between eating my Dolce Vita leftovers and staying in for the whole night vs eating my DV leftovers and then actually heading over to Dolce Vita so I could see Abbi (since I’d missed him, thanks to my reservation gaffe), sit at the bar, and eat that amazing poached pear dessert again. 

After heading up to the rooftop deck for sunset and making a few photos (alas, less than spectacular) with my complimentary glass of house rum punch, I felt extreme inertia kicking in.  As darkness fell, I knew in my heart that I’d be staying in for the night.  (Sorry, Abbi!) The leftover lasagna from Dolce Vita was quite possibly even better than it was the first night and I finished off the bottle of wine that Turtles Nest had given me upon checkin.

That was also the same night of the exclusive wedding party that had booked the entirety of the Four Seasons resort. It was definitely a no-expense-spared sort of soiree, so between the light show and the fireworks, it felt like a private party pour moi.  Happy early birthday to me, indeed.