Food & Cuisine in the Caribbean

Cuba’s capital serves comforting criollo cooking such as ropa vieja, slow-roasted pork and rice and beans, increasingly reinvented at the city’s private paladar restaurants. Rum cocktails invented here, from the mojito to the daiquiri, remain essential to any Havana evening.

The birthplace of jerk, Jamaica’s capital fires up scotch-bonnet-spiced chicken and pork over smouldering pimento wood, alongside ackee and saltfish, curry goat, oxtail and festival dumplings. Downtown food markets and smoky roadside jerk pans make Kingston the beating heart of the island’s cuisine.

Puerto Rico’s capital plates mofongo, lechon and fresh seafood alongside a booming farm-to-table movement in Old San Juan. Roadside lechoneras roasting whole pigs and the island’s rum heritage give San Juan one of the Caribbean’s most exciting dining scenes.

Trinidad’s capital is a street-food mecca, home of doubles, roti, bake and shark and pholourie born of its deep Indian and creole roots. The multicultural food culture peaks at Carnival, when the city eats and feasts around the clock.

Barbados styles itself the culinary capital of the Caribbean, famous for flying fish and cou-cou, pudding and souse, and the Friday-night fish fry at Oistins. Bridgetown pairs rum shops with fine dining fed by the island’s rich fishing tradition.

The Dominican capital serves hearty sancocho meat stew, mangu mashed plantains and la bandera, the everyday plate of rice, beans and stewed meat. Colonial-zone restaurants, street-corner fritters and bustling produce markets showcase the island’s rich Spanish, African and Taino culinary blend.

The Bahamian capital revolves around conch, served cracked, in fritters, salads and chowder, alongside fresh-caught grouper, rock lobster and rum-soaked desserts. The lively Fish Fry at Arawak Cay is the essential place to sample the islands’ seafood and street-food traditions.