Where to eat in Tobago: curried crab and dumplings by the sea

Tobago is the quiet, green half of the two-island republic, more beach and forest than its busy twin, and it has a dish all its own. The food here is unhurried and built around the sea.

What to order

Curried crab and dumplings is the island’s signature, blue crab cooked down in curry with soft flour dumplings, messy and eaten with your hands, born on the sand at Store Bay in the 1960s. It is the plate to chase first. Around it sits the shared cooking of Trinidad and Tobago, roti, doubles and callaloo, plus fresh fish and provisions. In Buccoo, the weekend runs on it, especially after Sunday School, the village’s late-night street party.

The kitchens

Before you go

Crab and dumplings is weekend and beach food, best where the tables are full, so go when the crowd does. The number on each page is the business’s own.