Where to eat in Barbados: flying fish, cou-cou and the fish fry

Barbados takes its food seriously, and the national plate is the place to begin: cou-cou, a cornmeal and okra mash, with flying fish, steamed or fried. The island is also the birthplace of rum, so a meal here often ends where the sugar trade started.

What to order

Flying fish is everywhere, in a cutter (a sandwich in a salt-bread roll) or on a plate with cou-cou. Pudding and souse is the Saturday tradition: pickled pork with steamed sweet potato. And macaroni pie turns up as a side with almost everything. On a Friday, the move is Oistins, the fish fry on the south coast, where the grills run late and the whole island turns up.

The kitchens

Before you go

Ring ahead for a table on the west coast at sunset, and go to Oistins hungry rather than early, when it is at its best. The number on each page is the restaurant’s own.