Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
something of a small art gallery, displaying paintings by Caribbean artists. Many of
the works are for sale.
Kings Wharf.
&
340/773-9843.
Main courses breakfast $3-$13, lunch $7-$15. AE, MC, V. Daily 7am-4pm.
Fort Christian Brew Pub
CAJUN This fish house and brewery boasts one of the
best harbor views in Christiansted. It's the only licensed microbrewery in the U.S.V.I.
Rotating beer choices can include a pale ale (Hammerhead), a red ale (Blackbeard's),
and a dark stout (West Indies Porter), all of which have earned a formidable reputa-
tion on the island. Many patrons come just to drink, staying until closing, which is
around 1am. A roster of burgers and sandwiches is served at lunch and dinner. In the
evening, the upstairs dining room offers a two-fisted menu that includes a 16-ounce
rib-eye with caramelized onions. A favorite of ours is Bourbon Street Jambalaya.
Maybe it's better in New Orleans, but this version tastes very much of Louisiana, as
does the shrimp étouffée, slow-cooked in a blend of Creole spices and stock. The
blackened or pan-seared catfish also takes you way down south. For something West
Indian, order the red snapper with
fungi.
There is also a microbrewery storefront in
Charlotte Amalie that gives out free samples (and sells beer).
55 King's Alley Walk.
&
340/713-9820.
www.fortchristianbrewpub.com. Platters in brew pub $8-$10;
main courses in upstairs restaurant $17-$25. MC, V. Daily 11am-10pm.
Harbormaster Restaurant
AMERICAN This is where guests at the local
town inns head for a day at the beach. It's a 4-minute, $3 ferry ride across the harbor
from Christiansted, at Hotel on the Cay. While here, you don't want to go back into
town for lunch, so the hotel has wisely decided to accommodate its many day visitors
by offering this quite acceptable restaurant. It offers the usual array of salad platters,
sandwiches, omelets, and burgers, but many main dishes are more elaborate and
appealing, especially the grilled filet of mahimahi (or swordfish); the conch in a
lemon, garlic, and butter sauce; and the barbecued ribs. The excellent Tuesday-
evening West Indian barbecue costs $27 for all you can eat (kids eat at a 50% dis-
count); steel-band music, limbo, fire-eating, broken-bottle dancing, and the Mocko
Jumbie stilt dance accompany the feast.
At the Hotel on the Cay (p. 152), Protestant Cay.
&
340/719-5438.
Main courses $7-$40; breakfast
$6-$11. AE, DISC, MC, V. Daily 7:30am-4:30pm; Tues 7-10pm.
Harvey's
CARIBBEAN Forget the plastic and the flowery tablecloths that give
this place a 1950s feel and enjoy the thoroughly zesty cooking of island matriarch
Sarah Harvey, who takes joy in her work and aims to fill your stomach with her basic
but hearty fare. Try one of her homemade soups, especially the callaloo or chicken.
She'll even serve you conch in butter sauce as an appetizer. For a main dish you might
choose from barbecue chicken, barbecue spareribs, boiled filet of snapper, and some-
times even lobster.
Fungi
comes with just about everything. For dessert, try one of the
delectable tarts made from guava, pineapple, or coconut.
11B Company St.
&
340/773-3433.
Main courses $6-$22. V. Mon-Sat 11:30am-3:30pm.
Junie's Bar and Restaurant
CARIBBEAN A local favorite, particularly
among the corps of taxi drivers, this restaurant occupies a white-painted cement
building about a half-mile south of Christiansted, adjacent to a church and a discount
store. Inside, wooden tables, metal chairs, bowls of cut flowers, and a well-scrubbed
kind of simplicity add to the appeal. Your hosts, Junie Allen and her daughter Denise,
prepare a flavor-filled but basic medley of West Indian staples, including a roster of
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