Restaurants

You won't want to miss the all-you-can-eat barbecue buffets at CuisinArt Resort & Spa (tel. 264/498-2000; www.cuisinartresort.com), the best buffets on the island, with grilled lobster, chicken, and ribs; homemade desserts; and delicious sides and salads made with hydroponic-farm-fresh produce; a string band provides the entertainment. We'd also like to mention the terrific breakfasts (truly farm-fresh eggs) at the pleasantly old-fashioned Old House, George Hill, the Valley (tel. 264/497-2228); on Sundays, it serves a traditional Anguillian breakfast with salt fish and all the trimmings. Note: At many restaurants, prices for fish, lobster, and crayfish rise and fall depending on availability.

Resources for Self-Catering

Anguilla is pricey enough as it is without having to pay marked-up hotel prices for basics like milk, soft drinks, snacks, and beer. For groceries, drinks, and kitchen staples, stock up at Albert's Supermarket (tel. 264/497-2240), in the Valley, a large, full-service grocery store. In Anguilla's West End, you can get a full complement of groceries and other sundries at Foods Ninety-Five (tel. 264/497-6196), just after the entrance to Cap Juluca. Ashley & Sons (tel. 264/497-2641; www.ashleyandsons.com), in the South Valley, has a wide selection of beverages, snacks, fruit, and toiletries. Monday through Saturday, don't miss stopping at the Fat Cat Gourmet (tel. 264/497-2307; www.fatcat.ai) by Albert's supermarket in the Valley; hands down, this place has the tastiest take-out goodies (from entire meals to cakes) on Anguilla. When I leave Anguilla, I try to have a veggie wrap, some spicy seafood pastries, and a couple of brownies to comfort me on the trip home. This is also a great place to pick up snacks for a picnic on the beach.

Sun, Sand, Music & Barbecue

Anguilla has a number of teriffic casual beach bar/restaurants, most of which have live music at least once a week. You can have a light meal and a drink for around $20. These places are about as casual as casual can be, but remember, this is modest Anguilla; if you've been swimming, cover up before you sit down to eat. At Upper Shoal Bay, check out Gwen's Reggae Bar & Grill (tel. 264/497-2120), which features Gwen Webster's barbecue daily into the early evening; on Sunday it showcases live reggae performances. I love Gwen's barbecued chicken and her special slaw. The palm grove here is one of the few naturally shady seaside spots on the island, and it comes with hammocks. At the more populated end of Shoal, island institution Uncle Ernie's (tel. 264/497-3907) is open from morning 'til at least sunset most evenings, serving up generous plates of chicken and ribs, fresh fish, fries, slaw and cold Red Stripe beer. Uncle Ernie died in 2007, but a wonderful photograph of him watches over the action here. At the west end of the island, a sign points off the main road down a bumpy road to Nat Richardson's Palm Grove Bar & Grill (tel. 264/497-4224) at Junk's Hole. Islanders and visitors flock here for what many think are Anguilla's most succulent grilled lobsters and lightest johnny cakes. Bring your swimming gear and snorkel until your lobster comes off the grill. Over at Sandy Ground, another island favorite, Johnno's (tel. 264/497-2728; closed Mon), has live music most Wednesday evenings (reggae and soca) and Sunday afternoons (jazz). Burgers and grills are available all day, or you can just order a rum punch, plop down at one of the picnic tables on the beach, and watch the spectacular Sandy Ground sunset. A few minutes' stroll down the beach is the new guy in town, Elvis' (tel. 264/461-0101), which opened in 2007 and is giving Johnno's some sunset competition. Elvis' bar occupies an Anguillian boat beached on the sand, with tables and chairs nearby. There's great rum punch and nibbles (sometimes barbeque) and live music several times a week. Half-way between Johnno's and Elvis, overlooking the Salt Pond, the Pumphouse (tel. 264/497-5154; www.pumphouse-anguilla.com; closed Sun) has rafter-shaking live music almost every night, the best cheeseburgers on the island, crisp Caesar salads, and dynamite rum punches. As you may soon find out, one Pumphouse rum punch is equivalent to at least two anywhere else! This former rock-salt factory, with some of its original machinery still in place, is the funkiest (what is that pair of downhill skis doing leaning against a ship's figurehead?) bar on the island -- unless that award should go to Bankie Banx's Dune Preserve (tel. 264/497-2660; www.dunepreserve.com) at Rendezvous Bay, with its own salvaged boats and the island's most seriously relaxed musician. Reggae star Bankie Banx is usually in attendance and joins in the live music performances here several times a week. In 2008, Bankie added a seaside restaurant presided over by Dale Carty, chef extraordinaire at Tasty's, serving light lunches (try the zippy marinated conch and snapper salad), dune burgers, and onion rings, and -- in honor of Bankie's vegetarianism -- a veggie plat du jour that you order by asking the waiter "What's Bankie Eating Today?" Heading from Bankie's toward the east end of the island, keep an eye out for the small sign that points from the main road to Smokey's (tel. 264/497-6582) at Cove Bay. Delicious crayfish, lobster (and lobster rolls), ribs, spicy wings, and curried chicken or goat are served up most days.

Roadside Eats

Especially on the weekends, you'll notice a number of roadside food stalls in the Valley near the outdoor People's Market (a great place to get fresh fruit and veggies) and around the roundabout by the school and library. Out on the island, you may see other food stalls, often doing barbeque in grills fashioned out of oil drums. This is a great way to sample such local delicacies as bull foot soup, pigtail soup, goat water, roti, and fungi. Keep an eye out for Hungry's, the mobile food van that is usually parked near the Post Office in the Valley. You can eat yourself silly on sandwiches, wraps, curries, or stews, usually for a good deal less than $10.

Grilled Lobster on a Remote Cay

At Island Harbour, just go out on the pier and wave your arms (or dial tel. 264/497-5123) and a boatman will pick you up and transport you across the water to Scilly Cay, pronounced "silly key." You wouldn't really call this place an island; it's more like a spit of sand 150m (500 ft.) off the coast of the main island's northeastern shore. At Eudoxie and Sandra Wallace's Gorgeous Scilly Cay, a glorified tiki hut, you can select a fabulous fresh spiny lobster or crayfish (you can also opt for chicken or veggies). What you chose is grilled while you wait, marinated in a sauce of honey-laced orange juice, orange marmalade, roasted peanuts, virgin olive oil, curry, and tarragon. You can scuba around the nearby reefs or just relax and watch the pelicans dive for fish. Lunch is daily Tuesday to Sunday from noon to 3pm, with live music Wednesdays and Sundays. This is a place to laze away the day; by the time you leave, you may have spent $100 per person -- but what a day.