Dining in Turks and Caicos

[liamsaunt]

My husband and I decided to check out Turks and Caicos. We rented a house for a week starting today, but ended up flying in a day early because of a storm building up right in the flight path. We scrambled, switched our flight, and used points to book a night at the Ritz Carlton on Grace Bay for last night.

 

 

The view from our room 

 

 

The beach itself reminds me a little bit of Miami. There  are a lot of resorts right on the beach. 
 

 

It’s not really my scene, but we are staying in a house in a quieter area for the rest of the trip.  Here are a couple of view from the beach

 

 

 

We were really tired on arrival, so just went to the sushi restaurant at the resort for dinner. Menu

 

 

 

I had a mocktail made with earl grey tea and pineapple, and my husband had a spicy pineapple margarita

 

 

We shared an order of potstickers

 

 

The hamachi turadito and the gunkan. The hamachi was good but the lobster one was kind of bland. 
 

 

Then we shared the spicy tuna roll and the South Caicos conch roll. Conch fritters on sushi was a new one hahaha, but we had to try it. I think I would have preferred just getting some conch fritters. 

 

 

We are checking out of here in a bit, going grocery shopping and then heading to the house.  I  think I saw the road to the area where we are staying from the plane, and it basically looks like a sand path. Should be interesting! I am glad we rented a Jeep. 

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

looks quite tasty

 

thank you for the menu's

[KennethT]

Enjoy!  I look forward to seeing your adventure here.  How is the weather there this time of year?  When I was a kid, my parents would take us during Presidents' Week to Miami (to visit the grandmothers) and then to an island in the Caribbean (to make up for Miami which was commonly 60 degrees and rainy until the day we left and then it was beautiful).  We usually tried to visit the more southerly islands (like Guadeloupe and South) since it was practically guaranteed nice weather, as opposed to the windward ones which could be as dicey as Miami.

 

Have a conch fritter for me!

[liamsaunt]

16 hours ago, KennethT said:

Enjoy!  I look forward to seeing your adventure here.  How is the weather there this time of year?  

Warmer than at home 😀. It was 83 yesterday. The water is too cold for me to swim in, but I fully admit to being a wimp. I rarely get into the water in the winter, no matter the location.  There were many other, hardier people swimming in the ocean yesterday. A “cold” front is moving in for the next day or so which is supposed to bring brisk winds and dangerous boating conditions.  
 

We moved over to the house yesterday. The road was actually in fairly good island condition until the very end. The directions we were given were terrible, so we ended up on a scenic tour of the area. There seems to be lots of new construction, as well as many properties for sale. Interesting.  The house is in the Chalk Sound area, which is a more remote part of the island. The sound itself is protected National Park. You can swim or kayak in it, but there’s no motorized boating allowed. 
 

View from the house. The pool is supposedly heated, so I might try and go swimming later. Results doubtful 😂

 

 

There’s a private access to the water below the house, with kayaks to use. We will not be kayaking. I always end up going in circles.

 

The kitchen

 

 

Welcome basket from our on island host, filled with the junkiest junk food ever.  If my niece and nephew were here they would be thrilled! I have found that junk food, especially chips, is actually one of the most expensive things to buy on an island, so it’s a nice gesture. I am saving my junk food ration for conch fritters though.

 

As an aside, we went grocery shopping before coming to the house, and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and cost of the food. It was more than at home, but not even close to the grocery prices we pay on St. John. They had a wide variety of organic food, lots of fruits and vegetables in good condition, and a large bakery selection. I did not check out the meat or frozen sections, but overall it was a very good experience.

 

By the time we were all settled at the house it was getting dark, so we went to the closest restaurant to the house for dinner, Las Brisas. I did not take pictures of the restaurant because it was dark, but we will probably go back for lunch at some point.  It’s an open air waterfront restaurant, with a pool that guests can swim in if they want to.  I think there are tables on the beach that are open at lunch, but it was too dark to tell.    We had a dining companion

 

 

The menu is massive.

 

 

 

 

 

We shared some conch fritters. They were really good, jammed with conch.  
 

 

The fish of the day was snapper or grouper. I saw the snapper going out to other tables and it looked really good, but I wanted shrimp since I cannot eat them at home.  Blackened shrimp with peas and rice and vegetables 

 

 

Husband had a grilled lobster with peas and rice and salad

 

 

No dessert.

[KennethT]

I thought the Kraken Burger was hilarious... first of all, how much food it is (and how much fat is probably in it!) but also, why is there no seafood in it?  I'd expect some calamari or something in a Kraken burger...

[liamsaunt]

23 hours ago, KennethT said:

I thought the Kraken Burger was hilarious... first of all, how much food it is (and how much fat is probably in it!) but also, why is there no seafood in it?  I'd expect some calamari or something in a Kraken burger...

 I did not even notice that on the menu! I tend to skip over the red meat section, especially on a menu this large.  That is a wacky sounding burger! I wonder what inspired such an….extreme concoction.  
 

The weather was not great yesterday, with lots of dark clouds and wind. 
 

 

We scrapped our plans to explore the beaches near the house and just stayed at the house and read books until dinner. The pool remains untested.

 

We were originally thinking of just getting take out, but ended up booking a last minute table at Indigo at the Wymara Resort. It’s a really beautiful resort. I should have taken pictures. Here’s the restaurant interior. It was much too windy to dine outside. By the time we left they wasn’t a single open table.

 

 

Menu. Evening specials 

 

And the regular menu

 

 

 

 

 

Our server said the lobster, grouper, and snapper were all local. We decided to share the seafood sampler special to start. It was a pretty plate and perfect for sharing.

 

 

Husband chose the lobster spaghetti for his main dish.

 

 

And I had the blackened grouper

 

 

All of the food was delicious. We both finished our entrees so were not hungry for dessert (and I forgot to take a picture of the dessert menu).  We just ordered espresso and shared a scoop of house made Biscoff ice cream.

 

 

It’s still windy and a bit overcast today, but not as bad as yesterday, so we are going out to explore the island beaches today. I am hoping to find some more conch fritters along the way. 

[gfweb]

On 2/1/2026 at 8:15 AM, liamsaunt said:

Warmer than at home 😀. It was 83 yesterday. The water is too cold for me to swim in, but I fully admit to being a wimp. I rarely get into the water in the winter, no matter the location.  There were many other, hardier people swimming in the ocean yesterday. A “cold” front is moving in for the next day or so which is supposed to bring brisk winds and dangerous boating conditions.  
 

We moved over to the house yesterday. The road was actually in fairly good island condition until the very end. The directions we were given were terrible, so we ended up on a scenic tour of the area. There seems to be lots of new construction, as well as many properties for sale. Interesting.  The house is in the Chalk Sound area, which is a more remote part of the island. The sound itself is protected National Park. You can swim or kayak in it, but there’s no motorized boating allowed. 
 

View from the house. The pool is supposedly heated, so I might try and go swimming later. Results doubtful 😂

 

 

There’s a private access to the water below the house, with kayaks to use. We will not be kayaking. I always end up going in circles.

 

The kitchen

 

 

Welcome basket from our on island host, filled with the junkiest junk food ever.  If my niece and nephew were here they would be thrilled! I have found that junk food, especially chips, is actually one of the most expensive things to buy on an island, so it’s a nice gesture. I am saving my junk food ration for conch fritters though.

 

As an aside, we went grocery shopping before coming to the house, and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and cost of the food. It was more than at home, but not even close to the grocery prices we pay on St. John. They had a wide variety of organic food, lots of fruits and vegetables in good condition, and a large bakery selection. I did not check out the meat or frozen sections, but overall it was a very good experience.

 

By the time we were all settled at the house it was getting dark, so we went to the closest restaurant to the house for dinner, Las Brisas. I did not take pictures of the restaurant because it was dark, but we will probably go back for lunch at some point.  It’s an open air waterfront restaurant, with a pool that guests can swim in if they want to.  I think there are tables on the beach that are open at lunch, but it was too dark to tell.    We had a dining companion

 

 

The menu is massive.

 

 

 

 

 

We shared some conch fritters. They were really good, jammed with conch.  
 

 

The fish of the day was snapper or grouper. I saw the snapper going out to other tables and it looked really good, but I wanted shrimp since I cannot eat them at home.  Blackened shrimp with peas and rice and vegetables 

 

 

Husband had a grilled lobster with peas and rice and salad

 

 

No dessert.

 

Looks good.

Funny how a detail can spoil things.  I hate being served on plastic and those plastic sauce cups bother the hell out of me.

[liamsaunt]

23 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

Looks good.

Funny how a detail can spoil things.  I hate being served on plastic and those plastic sauce cups bother the hell out of me.

They drive me bonkers too! I really don’t understand it because there’s always a focus on sustainable practice, reusing stuff, no plastic bags etc., but then…the little sauce cups. They have them everywhere on St. John too. There’s recycling here, but I think those sauce portion cups are too small to recycle, aren’t they? I am sure there’s a reason for using them but I don’t know what it is. 
 

We did get out yesterday despite the wind. I brought the sweater, jacket and hat I wore on the plane here, and we headed over to the Bight to do a beach walk. It was cold and windy, but beautiful. There’s a snorkeling area here, for when the weather is calmer.  It was much too dangerous for anyone to swim today. The kitesurfers were out in force. 
 

 

We found this big US Coast Guard buoy washed up

 

More kitesurfers. There was a guy offering lessons on the beach to anyone interested. That would NOT be me! 
 

 

We walked for a few miles, until the wind got to be too much, and then decided to go find some lunch. We had heard good things about Mr. Grouper so headed over.  They were setting up for a big party that had bought out the restaurant for the night when we arrived, but they said we could sit because we were just two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Husband had a margarita of some kind.
 

 

We shared a conch salad. this was very tasty. Anemic tomato was discarded.

 

 

I ordered a blackened grouper sandwich, and husband ordered a blackened grouper wrap.  They were so small! I think my sandwich had 2 ounces of fish in it. It was hard to even see the fish in my husband’s wrap. Plus, the fish was fried, not blackened.  Pretty disappointing, but we ate it anyway.  The wrap:

 

 

The sandwich.  It was literally four bites haha.  I guess you were supposed to fill up on fries, but we left those uneaten.  

 

After lunch we headed back towards the house to explore the closest beach to us, Taylor Bay. This was a very pretty spot. It’s shallow for a long ways out, so good for kids.  I am not sure if you can see the people walking away out there 

 

 

 

The right side of the beach had some really interesting limestone formations to explore, and the shoreline was filled with little shells and coral rubble. We will be coming back here for sure.

 

 

I prefer to only eat one meal a day, but husband was still hungry after his mini wrap, so we popped back over to Las Brisas, where husband had lobster and shrimp spaghetti

 

 

And I ordered blackened grouper.  Actual blackened grouper haha! 
 

 

We are waiting out some weather this morning before heading out to explore another part of the island.

[MaryIsobel]

4 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

They drive me bonkers too! I really don’t understand it because there’s always a focus on sustainable practice, reusing stuff, no plastic bags etc., but then…the little sauce cups. They have them everywhere on St. John too. There’s recycling here, but I think those sauce portion cups are too small to recycle, aren’t they? I am sure there’s a reason for using them but I don’t know what it is. 
 

We did get out yesterday despite the wind. I brought the sweater, jacket and hat I wore on the plane here, and we headed over to the Bight to do a beach walk. It was cold and windy, but beautiful. There’s a snorkeling area here, for when the weather is calmer.  It was much too dangerous for anyone to swim today. The kitesurfers were out in force. 
 

 

We found this big US Coast Guard buoy washed up

 

More kitesurfers. There was a guy offering lessons on the beach to anyone interested. That would NOT be me! 
 

 

We walked for a few miles, until the wind got to be too much, and then decided to go find some lunch. We had heard good things about Mr. Grouper so headed over.  They were setting up for a big party that had bought out the restaurant for the night when we arrived, but they said we could sit because we were just two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Husband had a margarita of some kind.
 

 

We shared a conch salad. this was very tasty. Anemic tomato was discarded.

 

 

I ordered a blackened grouper sandwich, and husband ordered a blackened grouper wrap.  They were so small! I think my sandwich had 2 ounces of fish in it. It was hard to even see the fish in my husband’s wrap. Plus, the fish was fried, not blackened.  Pretty disappointing, but we ate it anyway.  The wrap:

 

 

The sandwich.  It was literally four bites haha.  I guess you were supposed to fill up on fries, but we left those uneaten.  

 

After lunch we headed back towards the house to explore the closest beach to us, Taylor Bay. This was a very pretty spot. It’s shallow for a long ways out, so good for kids.  I am not sure if you can see the people walking away out there 

 

 

 

The right side of the beach had some really interesting limestone formations to explore, and the shoreline was filled with little shells and coral rubble. We will be coming back here for sure.

 

 

I prefer to only eat one meal a day, but husband was still hungry after his mini wrap, so we popped back over to Las Brisas, where husband had lobster and shrimp spaghetti

 

 

And I ordered blackened grouper.  Actual blackened grouper haha! 
 

 

We are waiting out some weather this morning before heading out to explore another part of the island.

What a huge, eclectic menu!