Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
» ¼ fl oz (8ml) coffee liqueur
» ½ lemon, juiced
» 4 fl oz (120ml) pineapple juice
Combine the ingredients and pour over ice. Garnish with a cherry.
Skol! Slàinte! Cheers!
Where to Eat & Drink
You may notice that a large number of downtown Nassau restaurants
seem to be Greek-run. Greek-Bahamians, who immigrated to work in
the sponging industry in the late 19th century, are a visible minority in
New Providence, where many of them today work in the restaurant or
hotel business.
Our rule of thumb: the uglier the conch shack, the better the conch. Don't be put off by
the ramshackle appearance of some down-home cafes and takeouts - they often serve the
tastiest, most authentic food at the best prices.
The bigger tourism areas have a huge variety of international cuisine, from avant-garde
sushi joints to steakhouses to cozy French bistros. Since most food is imported, prices tend
to be high. A fancy meal in the Bahamas can easily set you back 50% more than the same
meal in New York.
THE UBIQUITOUS CONCH
Conch (pronounced 'conch') is the de facto national dish of the Bahamas, a
staple of every home, restaurant and roadside takeout stall in the country. A type
of sea snail with a large, lovely cone-shaped shell, it's fished from the shallows
and brought live to market, then extracted through a hole in the shell. Its tough
flesh, comparable to calamari, takes some TLC to tenderize. Chefs usually
pound the meat, score it with sharp knives, or marinate it in lime - the mark of a
top cook is the tenderness of her conch. The top conch dishes are cracked conch
(battered and fried), conch salad (chopped and tossed with onions, tomatoes and
lime juice; choose either skin-on on skin-off), conch chowder, roast conch,
conch souse (stew) and conch fritters (deep-fried balls of minced conch and bat-
ter).
Conch stands - beachfront or roadside wooden shacks with primitive kitchens
- are often the best place to sample conch in all its forms. Ask a local for their
favorite; everyone has an opinion on who serves the best conch!
