The Beach House Restaurant, Grenada- Review

-Cuisines:  International- American, Italian, Mediterranean, Thai, Seafood, Steaks, Burgers 

-Location: Pink Gin Beach, St. George's, Grenada.  Just off the airport road before the Grenadian by Rex Resorts, or take a daytime water taxi from the Carenage in St. George's.
-Hours: M-Sa 11am-10:30pm
-Phone: (473)-444-4455 (call ahead for reservations to avoid hassle)
-Price Range: $$-$$$
-Reviews

-MENU (prices and descriptions)

I had the pleasure of celebrating my friend , Grace's, B-day at this restaurant and boy did we have a celebration.

*Service-  

Had it not been for good company and heavenly butter accompanied by herb rolls, I would've noticed that service was slow (from an American point of view- slow.  From a Grenadian point of view- fast. hahaha).  Considering the fact that there were a decent amount of people to be tended to and also, the fact that everything is cooked fresh, I'd say that the wait wasn't bad at all.  The group was welcomed with smiles and the waiter was nice and took more than just one group picture of us without being told to do so.  Brownie points for him.

*Food-  

You can order on your own or go with the set menu (3 course, 130EC/person).

• Duck- My favorite. Simple yet delicious.  It was so tender and flavourful unlike anything else I've ever tasted.  I'm not one hundred percent sure, but from what I can tell, the sauce it was cooked in was a balsamic type vinegar reduction.  It was smoky and had a hint of sweetness to it.  This  dish won my heart and I would highly suggest it. 
• Eggplant Parmesan (vegetarian)- nothing special about this dish and I wouldn't suggest getting it.  It was a little on the bland side and I can tell the eggplant was boiled instead of fried in oil (less flavorful).
• Scallops-  Just because they're so rare to find on the island, I say yes, I suggest getting them.  What was special about the scallops was not what they were seasoned in but more how they were cooked.  Tender and juicy, these scallops were definitely a treat.
• Shrimp- Your usual grilled Cajun type seasoned shrimp. It was a little on the salty side and I wouldn't get this dish again.
• Fish of the day- baked- Let's just say that I would have rather used the money to buy my own fish to marinade. The fish was good but a little on the naked side.  It wasn't dressed in anything special.   Fried-  mmmMMmm.  Then again, how can you mess up battered fried fish?
• Tiramisu- I'm not even a coffee fan and I loved it.  Big portion and not too sweet. It had a nice coffee flavor and it was cute.  For presentation, they dusted the top off with cocoa power. 
• Guava Cheesecake-  I loved it and it was a big slice too! The guava flavor is more prominent in the topping more than it is in the actual cheesecake slice.
• Citrus Meringue- MMmmmmMm.  They made their meringue crunchy in texture.  It paired well with their passion fruit slurry and whipped cream.  the citrus part shines out throughout the dessert.  It can be a little sweet for those without a sweet tooth. 
• Tuna tartare-  I didn't like the flavor and texture.  I've been spoiled in San Francisco with fresh delicious raw tuna, and this was no where near as good.  
• Dinner Rolls and Butter- MMMMmmmmMMmmmm.  I dream about the butter until this day.  It's so creamy and delicious.
• Crab Rangoons-  How can you go wrong with crab?  They were served with a delightful cilantro duck sauce (though the duck wasn't obvious).  For 35EC, you make them at home and get 45 Crab Rangoons instead of 4 hahah.  Need a recipe? Click here for my recipe.

*Ambiance- 

Dim lighting.  Sounds of the waves right next to you.  Elevator type music played in the background. They have a cool lounge area around the bar for people that want to hang out closer to the beach side.  Hookahs available.

*Cost-

Very reasonable for the wide array of food they have available.  I would come back again for all of their desserts and certain dishes that stuck out to me (duck and scallops).  

*Attire-

I called to ask about dress code and the guy on the phone said "Just dress nice." hahahaha.

My Beautiful Friends Angela (left) and Grace the Birthday Girl (right)

*Bottom Line-

Did I mention that I loved their Duck breast? Haha.  Great location, great dessert (from what I've tasted so far in Grenada, the best), great duck, butter, and scallops.  I highly suggest this restaurant, especially for special occasions.  If you're looking to not spend so much money, they have a decently priced lunch menu!!!

Scallops

*Tips-  Don't forget to make reservations and don't forget to wear insect repellent!  The mosquitoes in Grenada are persistent and unforgiving.  I suggest taking a taxi to this restaurant as it is not conveniently located on a main local bus route.  Don't forget to bring your camera!  

Umbrella's- Review

Lighthouse Burger- 6oz patty, pineapple, bbq sauce.

Details:

-Cuisines: American- Burgers Chicken Wings, Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, Fish N Chips, Cocktails
-Location: Grand Anse Beach (From SGU take Grand Anse bus. Stop at pavilion (the stop after IGA). walk towards beach and turn right. Umbrellas will be on your right. Walking: walk towards beach from soccer field in front of IGA past lifeguard tower. Turn left and walk about one block up.  You will see wooden tables and umbrellas to your left).
-Hours: Tu-Th 12pm-9pm; Fr-Sa 12pm-10pm; Su 12pm-8pm
Delivery: Weekdays 11:30am-8:30pm ; Fr & Sa 11:30am-9:30pm; Su 11:30=7:30pm
-Phone: (473) 439-9149
-Price Range: $

-Attire- casual

-seating and Bar available

-Click here for their Menu

Virgin Pina Colada.

OMG BBQ Maco Ribs.  The best meat I've tasted on the island.  They sure know how to cook their ribs. I dream about then day and night.

Catch of the Day Sandwich

Catch of the day fish on top on caesar salad.  I'd suggest asking for dressing on side you regulate amount.

Nachoes. Delicious, But I must warn you that they don't have traditional tortilla chips.  Instead, imitation Dorito like chips hahaha. Delicious cheese, Delicious jalapenos, delicious salsa.

Sweet potato fries.

Carriacou Fish Bites

To sum my experience up at Umbrella's-- great atmosphere, perfect location on the Grand Anse beach front, great prices, and great tasting food.  I went here to celebrate my friend, Grace's B-day so with her B-day celebration came a big feast.  What's a B-day without a big feast right?   

It's been 7 months and I haven't had a decent burger (I have high standards... In-N-Out hahaha).  Spiceland Mall's Grill Master's burger was a complete fail for me (I don't know what kind of patty that was and the buns were like dense dinner rolls).  Rick's Cafe had a better burger, but still, it lacked the burger spark.  So far, Umbrella's is in the lead for best burger (of the three I tasted so far here in Grenada).  ***Update. I just had Banana's burger and they also have a traditional American hamburger patty and bun (I love their bun the best. it's the one with sesame seeds on top ahah).  I enjoyed it so much and along with Umbrella's burger, it's in my top 2 burgers in all Grenada.

I ordered the flip flop burger and the lighthouse burger (a regular burger + pineapple and BBQ sauce) for my studious husband back home.  Both tasted like your traditional angus burger.  I order them all the time.  Don't forget to ask them how you want your burger done.

Best thing about Umbrellas is they offer delivery earlier than all the other restaurants, that normally start delivery at 6pm.  Keith, the owner, is the fastest with getting orders out.

Flip Flop Burger

I also tasted their Carriacou Love Bites- deep fried battered fish bites (MMMm), Sweet Potato Fries (MMmmm Delicious!), and  their Mocha Jumbie dessert (house made brownies topped with ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream (mMmm)).  Large portions for all. I highly suggest everything!

Mocha Jumbie for the Birthday girl

Service- On non peak weekdays, lightning speed, on weekends, expect to wait a bit longer, but for one of the busiest restaurants in Grenada, service is considered fast for me, on busy days.  Our waitress was super nice.  She knew about Grace's B-day and decided for the Dessert to be on the house. 

Tips: Nights can get pretty busy.  Try going at an earlier time.  Bring a change of clothing along with flip flops and a plastic bag just in case you want to get wet and hang out on the beach.  Also, don't forget to wear sunglasses and sunscreen as the sun can be pretty intense at times.  10EC to rent the white chairs.  You might want to wear insect repellent if you plan on eating inside (both day time and night).

The Belmont Estate (better known as The Grenada Chocolate Factory)- I got the Golden Ticket

I've been to loads of places around the island and this place ranks in my top 5 all time favourites.  How often do you come across a raw chocolate factory?  Did I mention that they're all organic and give out chocolate and hot chocolate samples?  Score!

What you will find at the estate:

• Cocoa Trees- you will have a chance to taste a cocoa bean straight from a cocoa pod.  How cool it that? The pulp surrounding the bean is super delicious and resembles the pulp of a lychee.  
• Heritage Museum-  Vintage cameras, ledgers, typewriters, paintings, jewellery.
• Cocoa processing facility- here you will watch an educational video on the processing of cocoa.  After the video, you will receive chocolate samples and hot chocolate samples (my favourite part of the tour).  After, a tour guide will guide you through the different processing stations (fermenting and drying of beans).  You will even have a chance to participate in the drying out of the beans by taking off your shoes and walking through them under the warm sun.
• Petting farm- tortoises, monkeys, goats, parrots (super super cute).  They also have a bird, Rainbow, who knows how to talk!!  This bird will make you laugh for days.  I think I lost some weight from burning calories laughing. 
• Arts and Crafts shop where you can buy cool souvenirs such as spices, clothes, decorations, jewellery. 
• Cafe and chocolate shop- they carry a variety of fruity dark chocolates such as guava, soursop, cherry, mango, and so much more.  They also have truffles and chocolate bars. 
• Restaurant- Buffet style, all you can eat. ~70EC/ person.  You have an option of omitting the soup and dessert but I don't recall the price difference.  I think it was around 40EC.   I had pumpkin soup, stewed eggplant, fried fish, stewed beef, stewed chicken, salad, and ice cream. Their juices are freshly squeezed.  Everything was amazing!!  The best local food by far.  
• Nice, energetic, outgoing workers.  Probably the best customer service I've experienced in Grenada by far. 
• A table full of local vegetables and fruit.  The tour guide will tell you the names and a few details of each.

Tips: 

*I highly suggest wearing pants to avoid being bitten by sand flies (also known as sand fleas, sand gnats, or chitras).  Every single person I know who has visited the Belmont Estate were once victims of these little punks (even if they used insect repellent).  They're found in the processing facility, and at the monkey area, ideal, damp places for the insects to thrive in. 

*Don't forget to wear sunscreen and sunglasses.  

*Don't forget to bring some money for some goodies!

*Don't forget to bring your camera!

*If you're prone to motion sickness, I highly suggest taking some pills before the bus ride (bumpy and winding).  Sitting in the front with the driver will drastically help decrease your chances of getting dizzy.  It helped me a lot!

Details:

*Getting there: From Saint George's University, take the Grand Anse bus and get off at Texaco.  Catch a #1 St. George's bus to the last stop (main bus terminal in town 2.50EC/person).  Transfer to a #6 bus to Grenville (6EC /person) and get off next to the police station (to the right of where #6 stops.. towards the parking lot full of #9 buses).  Transfer to a red bus #9 Hermitage (3EC/person) and request to be dropped off at The Belmont Estate. ~40min-1hr trip depending on traffic.


*Tour length (10EC or 4USD/ person): ~30min. view cocoa trees, processing facility-watch video, see fermenting and drying beans, see animals, sampling of chocolate and hot cocoa.  After the tour, you can walk around on your own, eat, and/or shop.  Allow 2-3hrs total for the whole trip.

*Opening Hours: Sunday to Friday 8am-4pm.

Open all public holidays except Christmas

Closed Saturdays

*Phone Number: +1 473 442 9524

*For more details, visit their website by clicking HERE.

For more pictures, please visit my album on Flickr by clicking HERE.

Rainbow the Talking Bird


what this bird can say- rainbow, the F word, polly want a cracker, happy birthday, bye. Also, it can meow like a cat and laugh hysterically.

Creamy Sausage Cabbage Pumpkin Soup

It's hard not to be able to find pumpkin (more formally known as calabasa squash) here in Grenada.  It's dirt cheap, versatile, and it's nutritious.

One day, I had left over breakfast sausage, left over cabbage, left over wonton wrappers, and a bit of cream cheese in my fridge.  I decided to have a left over party in my kitchen and slapped them all together.  Out came the creamy sausage wonton....  I fried (dipped in sweet n sour sauce) several and froze some for later use.  

Another day, I made pumpkin soup.  I wondered if there was a way to jazz up this soup and I immediately thought about the wontons I had froze from a week prior.  I decided to toss some in my pumpkin soup... an idea I was forever thankful towards my brain for thinking.  The combination was so great.  The second time around making pumpkin soup (this recipe), I didn't have wonton wrappers, but I did have all of the ingredients within. I added all of the fillings of the wontons straight into the soup.  Same great taste from when I first made it.  I hope you enjoy it! It's one of my own that I'm very proud of.

Ingredients:

5 cups water

2lbs pumpkin cubed 1''

1 tsp (or to taste)

black pepper to taste

2'' sausage or 1/3 a log

1 bunch chives chopped

3 garlic cloves

1'' slice ginger grated

1/2 cabbage chopped

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

dashes of cayenne pepper (for heat)

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp sour cream + 2 tbsp cream cheese (or just 4 tbsp sour cream)

Directions

1.  Bring water, salt, black pepper, and pumpkin up to a boil.  Once boiling, turn heat down to medium high and cover.  Cook until tender (~30min) and after, mash pumpkin. After mashed, leave heat on medium low while cooking sausage.

2.  in a heated fry pan under medium high heat, add chunks of sausage. fry until golden brown.  

2.  add ginger, garlic, and chives and cook until tender ~ 5min. be careful not to burn garlic.

3.  add cabbage, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, and cumin. Cook until tender. ~ 5min

4. add cabbage mixture into pumpkin soup plus sugar. bring to a boil ~ 5-8min. or until well incorporated.

5. turn heat off and stir in cream cheese and sour cream mixture.

Real Crab, Crab Rangoons

Take some cream cheese ~8ec, a can of real crab meat ~11ec, and wonton wrappers ~6ec, and you got yourself a piece of what I call heaven.

I was so eager to eat them that I didn't bother with making them look pretty before I took a picture of them hahaha. 

One day I got sucked into trying the food from the Chinese lady in the Gazebos at SGU.  Who could resist her charm? I wanted to sample over and over again just to see her smile and say "very good, very nice."  Haha.  As expected, I got hit with loads of Umami goodness (a taste in my book that screams out MSG).  Being a firm believer of the dangers of MSG, I decided not to eat there again.   Well, that eliminates one of the only few sources of crab rangoons in Grenada (if they had them at Flag, they probably would've been made with imitation crab meat and msg... double whammy).  So I took it upon myself to get out there and make them myself. 

Being good as they are, I was hoping that me and my friend Laura could cut straight to the chase and just do the eating part (we talked about making them when we first met).  Since one of the two sources I had known about, failed, I decided to spare me and Laura the trouble and made them at home instead.  Me and Laura had so much fun wrapping them and even more fun eating them.

Serve with sweet n sour sauce or better yet, eat them on their own!  You can also toss them in soups (at the end when they're almost cooked to prevent sogginess) without frying them.   To store, lay them out in a single layer apart from one another on a piece of foil, place in a ziplock bag, and freeze.

~15min; ~45 servings

Ingredients:

1 pack wonton wrappers (foodfair)

1 8oz container chive and onion cream cheese (IGA)

1 6.5oz can real crab meat (IGA)

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

dash of cayenne pepper for heat (optional)

dash of black pepper

splash soy sauce

generous pinch of sugar

splash of lemon juice

1 tbsp butter

1 garlic clove minced

3 stalks chives chopped (just the green parts)

sweet n sour for dipping sauce

Directions

1.  In a large bowl, add crab meat, cream cheese, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, soy sauce, sugar, and lemon juice.

2. in a small sauce pan, heat butter.  add garlic and chives and cook on low heat ~4min or until tender.

3. add garlic and chives into crab and mix well.

4. take one wonton wrapper and place in a diamond shape.  place ~1tsp of crab in the center.  wet edges of wonton with finger to help seal wonton.  fold bottom half of diamond towards top to make a triangle. 

5. deep fry in a small sauce pan ~1 min on each side or until golden brown.  (if you don't have a small pan. you can use a big one and tilt the pan to one side frying one rangoon at a time so you can prevent having to fill the whole pan with oil.) Tongs will help flip the rangoons easily.