Day 5: Potato Pie And Rice: What’s For Lunch? Dining Ashore On Dominica
After hiking the Syndicate Trail and Syndicate Waterfalls, we made our way back to Portsmouth for lunch!
Dining Ashore On Dominica: What’s For Lunch?
After Clearing Customs, exploring the Syndicate Hiking Trail, and taking a dip in the Syndicate Falls, Slim took us back down to Portsmouth for lunch.
We went into a small open-air concrete building next to what we figured out was the tour guides with their business’ local mid-day hang out spot. I can only assume whether there’s tourism work or no work each day, this is a spot is a local watering hole. Right next to the mouth of the Indian River (our next spot on the list), my theory is this lunch spot was probably run by one of the tour guide’s sisters. This bar / lunch spot is super typical of a local Caribbean hang out: Concrete building, a handful of tables and chairs, no decor, a couple locals sprinkled by the bar, family or friends coming by to greet the 2-3 women working the bar, 2-4 options for lunch, 2 of which are already sold out, so you have two choices… standard fare. We sat at the bar.
Campari Everywhere.
One of the most badass things about traveling through the French Caribbean is it doesn’t matter how scrappy of a bar you’re at, every bar we went to had Campari, which is my all-time favorite cocktail beside a G&T. So I ordered Campari and soda, Danny ordered a beer, and Laura was a high maintenance diva, ordered a TERRIBLE shitty cranberry cocktail, making this Laura’s second of three notable shitty cocktails of the trip. First was Mojito a lá whiskey, in Martinique, the third was to come later in the afternoon on our Indian River tour. Laura’s quotable for our day ashore on Dominica:
“They had the crappiest cocktails, but the flora was great.” - Laura, Quote Of The Day, Dominica, after her third terrible cocktail.
Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Red Beans And Rice, And Local Pumpkin!
On Today’s Menu: Potato Pie Or Stewed Jerk Chicken
As I mentioned, true to standard Caribbean style, of the 4 options on the menu for lunch, 2 were already sold out, so we had the option of Potato Pie or Chicken. The bartender affectionately described the Potato Pie as one of her favorites: Sweet potato and white potato mixed with cheese topping. Watching the way she lit up while describing it I had no choice but to order it, just as an excuse to see that smile again. Laura and Danny split the chicken and rice, Laura secretly devising a plan to “vulture around” and sample my entree, too.
Trust The Locals.
Always trust a plump Caribbean bartender after a morning of hiking to steer you right for some comfort food. Simply said: that Potato Pie was the shiiiit. So. Freaking. Comforting. And I was right, I got her to smile at least 3 more times every time she’d check on us I’d tell her how much I loved it. The chicken Danny ordered? It was your standard Caribbean dish: chicken thigh, kinda stewed with a Caribbean red-colored gravy with rice. I out-ordered the shit outta Danny.