The Best Restaurants in Antigua and Barbuda

Find a table in the flower-filled garden of this nautical-themed restaurant, and watch the sailboats bobbing about in Falmouth Harbour as you dine. Classic Caribbean dishes like curry conch and jerk chicken with rice and peas are the highlights of the menu here. However, the restaurant also does a good line of satellite-dish-sized pizzas. Try to save room for dessert – the homemade hot banana bread with ice cream is something to write home about.

A wooden cottage, painted the color of summer clouds and the sky, is the setting for this pretty restaurant in English Harbour. The whole place is surrounded by tropical, flower-filled gardens, which are lit by strings of fairy lights in the evening. There are tables inside and out, and the menu is filled with French Creole dishes like lobster bisque with caviar croutons or duck with plantain chutney.

Set on the clifftop above Coco Beach in Saint Mary, this Mediterranean-inspired restaurant serves up uninterrupted views of the Caribbean Sea. The tables here are set inside a series of thatched palapas, with wispy white curtains to keep out any breeze. The menu showcases local produce and changes seasonally. Treating yourself? Go for the six-course tasting menu, which features high-caliber dishes like crispy hen’s egg with truffle hollandaise or king scallops with smoked oyster.

The balconied wooden building in St John’s that houses Hemingway’s restaurant dates back to the 1800s, when it was used as a hotel. It’s still full of period features today, including the sort of dark-wood bar that Hemingway himself would have approved of. The food here is classically Creole: think curried shrimp and okra gumbo. For a little spectacle, order the Antiguan lobster – it’s doused in rum and arrives at the table in flames.

Topping the jetty at Antigua Yacht Club Marina, Cloggy’s looks out over the superyacht-dotted waters of Falmouth Harbour. Grab a seat on the restaurant’s balcony, and watch the crews working on the crafts as you eat. The menu is a mashup of cuisines: Caribbean dishes like coconut prawns share the space with options like Indonesian chicken satay and Aussie burgers. Head here after 6pm on a Sunday for Sunday Funday, which features sundowner cocktails and live music.

The seating at this English Harbour eatery spills out onto a sandy patch of beach that’s shaded by neem trees and scented by orchids. Don’t let the tropical setting confuse you, though. The menu is predominantly French and features dishes like escargot, cheeseboards topped with livarot and pont l’évêque, and tarte tatins. Thirsty? Try the cocktail of the month. It’s often pretty special, featuring finishing touches like dragon-fruit-infused ice cubes.

A band of lily-white sand fronts this cottage-style restaurant on Barbuda’s south coast. The highlight of the menu here is the lobster, served grilled in garlic, alongside salad and thermidor sauce. There are plenty of ways to wash your meal down, too: go for a classic rum punch, or take your pick from the wine list, which features wines from around the world, including a few refreshing rosés from Provence.

This hillside restaurant looks out over the peacock-blue waters of Dickenson Bay on Antigua’s north coast. While the view is undeniably Antiguan, the food makes you feel like you could be in Rome. The menu revolves around homemade pasta and sauces as well as hubcap-sized pizzas cooked in the wood-fired oven on site. Book a table just before dusk, and watch the sunset as you dine.