Cruising the islands, where to eat?

[little ms foodie]

My husband and I will be joining some friends on a (hopefully) warm weather cruise thru the eastern caribbean next month. Obviously coming from the ship we will have limited time in each port. I'm looking for suggestions on where to have casual, fun, traditional food and drinks!

In San Juan we have from 4pm until midnight so we will be looking for suggestions on dinner and bars

In both St Thomas and Tortola we are only there from 8am until 6pm and we will go diving both locations weather permitting. So maybe some recommendations for casual lunch and/or snack and/or bars.

Thanks!!!

[bobby29]

If your in "downtown" Charlotte Amalie St Thomas, you can try Glady's Cafe in the Royal Dane Mall. Pretty authentic West Indian fare - oxtail, mutton, salt fish and roti's. The place is nice, but it's tucked back in the mall off the main street so no views. Also, a place called Cuzzin's on Back Street is supposedly good for West Indian food.

[little ms foodie]

Thanks bobby, I've made note of your recommendations!

[bushey]

We spent a week in Tortola a few years ago, and the food was not memorable. What all of us do remember, however, is the great coconut ice cream from one of the little shops at Soper's Hole. We'd walk or drive over each afternoon and sit on the docks, licking our cones and watching all of the sailboats come in for provisions.

[Free Martha]

I was in San Juan last week during the San Sebastian festival, a few weeks ago.

We had a great lunch at El Jilarito on Calle del sol in Old San Juan. Try to get in the door before 1:00 pm on the weekends to beat the rush.

A very popular option is La Bombonera,( more of a coffee house), on Calle San Francisco, Usually a wait, out the door, both places are very local and inexpensive.

[Jenny McClure]

In San juan, you will be arriving into Old San Juan. I think most of the stores stay open til 5 or 6, they have outlets of Coach, Polo, Guess and a few others. For drinks there is the old stable that a lot of people from the cruise ships go to called the Parrot Club. It is Nuevo LAtino style fooda nd the quality is consistent., it is alwyas busy and has a nice bar if you only want to go for some drinks. They do good mojitos. Across the street there is a place called Dragonfly. It is fusion, latin and Asian. It is a really popular, trendy place. Locals and tourists go. It gets really busy and you cannot make a reservation so go early if it is towards the end of the week. They also do good cocktails. Another favourite of mine ( I live in Puerto Rico) is Baru. It is up top on San Sebastian. It is a popular places with locals. The owners are colombian and the service has always been outstanding. Good place for ambiance and either dinner or just drinks. The food is like larger tapas stlyle. Great carpaccios and kind of nuevo latino style food.

These are all in Old San Juan close to where the cruises come in. There are many other options if you want to get in a taxi.