Where to eat in Trinidad: doubles, roti and bake and shark

Trinidad eats better on the street than most islands do in a dining room, and the food is a map of who settled here: African, Indian, Chinese, Syrian and Venezuelan, folded into one of the most distinctive kitchens in the region.

What to order

Doubles is the one to chase first: two pieces of fried bara around curried channa, dressed with pepper and tamarind, eaten from a paper bag for a few dollars, best in the morning. Roti here means dhalpuri or buss-up-shut wrapped around curry, and bake and shark is the Maracas Beach ritual, a fried bake stuffed with shark and every sauce on the table. Callaloo and pelau round out the home cooking.

The kitchens

Before you go

Doubles is a morning food and the best stands sell out, so go early. For bake and shark, the whole point is eating it on Maracas Beach. The number on each page is the business’s own.