Roadside and sidewalk vendors abound. These are probably the best places to buy fresh fruits and some vegetables. Rather than use your own judgment as to which mangos or other fruit will be the ripest, don’t be bashful, simply ask the shopkeeper, “what ones would you bring home tonight?” You may be surprised, sometimes biggest is not best.

The indigenous fish are of surprisingly limited variety, not as one might suspect being surrounded by ocean. Nevertheless good choices are caught fresh daily and form a large part of the diet. Those that abound are grouper, “whelks”, snapper, tuna, yellowtail, and oldwife. Caribbean lobster, the clawless kind are quite plentiful and very tasty. Conch, pronounced “conk,” is served fried, as stew, chowder, fritters, and as cold conch salad. It is delicious in any form and often served as appetizers or main courses.

Dishes are usually accompanied by side dishes of baked plantain, pigeon peas and rice, or fungi. Fungi (ordered as “foon-gee”) is made with cornmeal, and okra served as a light dumpling. Other specialties are pate’ (“pat-ay”) and turnovers with spiced beef, chicken or saltfish. Kallaloo soup uses local greens, okra, ham bone, fish bones, and hot pepper. Then there is “souse,” a lime juice flavored stew of pig head, tail, and feet.

Some of these and other West Indian style dishes are regularly sold at sidewalk stands throughout the island. The one time when all local dishes are available is at Carnival time (usually the end of April) when the downtown municipal parking lot becomes the site for a food and drink village manned by various civic groups for celebratory and fund raising purposes. Local restaurants, often run by native St. Tomians, are particularly adept at serving this kind of food which is well worth tasting. A word of advice - dishes are often well spiced. Usually a bottle of tabasco or other hot sauce will be found at your table if you like your meals very spicy.

Very close to Pavilions and Pools, in Red Hook and slightly beyond, you will find several excellent restaurants. The front desk can help by answering any questions on dining options during your stay with us.