5 Best Restaurants in Trinidad and Tobago

The Sardinha family has been serving the best local lunches at their home since the 1980s. The ebullient Alison entertains and hugs diners while her husband, Ken, does the cooking. The only bad news is that the restaurant is primarily a lunch spot; the good news is that you may not have room for dinner afterward.

Recorded steel-band music plays gently in the background at this romantic, candlelit spot in the Kariwak Village complex. In a bamboo pavilion that resembles an Amerindian round hut, Cynthia Clovis orchestrates a very original menu. Whatever the dish, it will be full of herbs and vegetables picked from her organic garden, and there is always a vegetarian option. Be sure to try the delicious house-made ice cream and the reasonably priced but potent cocktails. Friday and Saturday buffets, with live jazz or calypso, are a Tobagonian highlight. Those really taken with the food can even purchase the restaurant's cookbook, Cooking Kariwak Style.

Beautifully presented dishes made with the freshest of fish is the big draw at this cozy eatery. The surf and turf, featuring Caribbean spiny lobster, is excellent, and the bar is usually lively and populated with regulars who consider this an essential Tobago dining experience.

Set in a traditional West Indian house filled to the brim with Caribbean art, this restaurant is the creation of Rosemary (Roses) Hezekiah and her late sister, Allyson Hennessy, a Cordon Bleu–trained chef who was a local television celebrity. The creative creole menu changes regularly, but there's always an unusual vegetarian entrée; the callaloo is considered one of the island’s best; and the chip chip cocktail, a restaurant rarity, is deliciously piquant. If it's available, be sure to try the signature stewed oxtail with dumplings.

Rum shops and good food are an intrinsic part of Trinidad life, and both are combined in this colorful eatery, which is open from 10 to 6. Regulars from the nearby university and industrial park flock here at lunchtime to enjoy a wide selection of spicy local Indian food. It can get a bit loud, but at least there are fans to keep the heat under control—just barely. If the atmosphere is a bit too much there's always the option of takeout. To get here, turn off the Churchill Roosevelt Highway at the FedEx building (north side of the highway) in Tunapuna, and take the first left.