Want local flavor/island dining in St. Lucia, please

[Gogirul]

We are traveling to St. Lucia in September. We have hired a car and are staying in Rodney Bay, but are willing to drive to get good meals if needed. Really looking for good local/West Indies dining: both High end and inexpensive. We have been to multiple Caribbean destinations, but this is our first trip here and would love to experience true island flavor as we have in the past. Please help with recommendations from anyone who has had experience on this island. Grazi in advance!

[jayvalle42]

Hi Gogirul,

I recently got back from St Lucia and did a small, meager write up on chowhound for someone looking for some info. Due to lack of time I am going to copy what I wrote over there (hope it helps somewhat). If you have any specific questions please feel free to hit me up and I will answer as best I can. Jay

ok - back and will give some much needed St Lucia feedback! we stayed at Anse Chastenet...first night there we asked some hotel staff for some recommendations as we didnt have reservations until friday and saturday night. more than a few told us Dasheene at Ladera so thats where we went. the view was nothing short of spectacular and the food was pretty good. there wasnt a fish special that really did it for me so i went with the lamb (slightly overcooked) and my wife went with the Shrimp Dasheene...her dish was excellent...the next night we had reservations at Rainforest Hideaway in Marigot Bay...pretty cool cause you get to take a little boat across the inlet to get to it...the food here was very good and i would say its worth the drive from Soufriere and the very short boat ride. we both had seafood (salmon filet and the chili infused shrimp and scallop), the cold thai spiced pumpkin and coconut soup was fantastic and my desert - espresso pot au chocolat was killer...the following night we had reservations and Edge in Rodney Bay and it was excellent - the best meal of the trip hands down...we did the tasting menu and since i dont have it in front of me and since it changes i wont bother with a breakdown right now, we also ordered some tuna sashimi and it was perfect but go there if you can or if its not to far away for you...for me it was well worth the cab ride...the only complaint is that it was a bit rushed and they have no wine pairing to speak of but i was ok with that as i got to do my own and the pours were full glasses (no complaints over here!)...the last night we stayed in and had dinner at Anse Chastenet - they have several restaurants but all of them serve any menu you wish...we had the Treehouse menu...i hate to say this but i cant recall what we even had...not that it was that terrible but it wasnt all that great or memorable...maybe after Edge is why - i dont know but we werent blown away by it...if youre staying at the resort than of course i would say go for it but its not worth a special trip...sorry for the uneven and not too detailed report but to sum it up in order:

Edge (hands down the best by far)

Rainforest Hideaway

Dasheene

Treehouse

as for Anse Chastenet it is a beautiful resort with some of the nicest staff i have ever encountered on a trip...any questions or any specific details ( i know i left a lot out) just ask...jay

[Gogirul]

Thanks, Jay. The Edge and Rainforest are both on our list. I had heard the same thing about Dasheene. Overrated, but killer views. Several have told us to just have cocktails there and go somewhere else for dinner. You didn't happen to try Martha's Table in Soufriere (more of a lunch spot I believe)? Or any other lunch spots worth checking out(again local food)? We are going in a little over a month. We are staying in Rodney Bay...but, We plan to dive at Anse Chastenet, so will see that beautiful area too. Any other info you can provide about the island is greatly appreciated!