Caribbean Food in Antigua

When visiting Antigua you’ll more than likely be at a hotel or resort that provides all your food and drink, but if you’ve got the time and a set of wheels get out and explore the amazing local cuisine you can enjoy across the island!

We went out for a day and visited two great spots to try some of the spices and home made cooking which makes the food so special, spent time talking to the establishment owners and found out their stories and the love of food means to them.

Try out some of our favourite places for Local Caribbean & Street Food in Atigua!

Gina’s Cook Shop

When we pulled up to Gina’s the first thing we both said to eachother was, “mmmm that smells so good!” The feel of the area Gina’s Cook Shop is located in is bubbly with a lot of passing trade of local and tourists alike. It can also sometimes be a hangout point for the local car racing club, which is pretty hard on Antiguan roads with their bumps so is more of them just driving slowly up and down.

We were warmly greeted by Gina and her family who she runs the cook shop with, we’d been chatting on WhatsApp earlier that day to check if she was open as with most things in the Caribbean, an opening time is more of a guideline. The cook shop is made up of a few small roadside units that are all part of the family business, a small shop, the kitchen cookshop area, and a fruit and vegetable stand. So pretty much everything you need under one roof! There’s also a covered picnic bench area to side so you can eat in and relax watching the world go by or grab it as a take away. If you did decide to hang out for the day the beach is quite literally behind the cook shop.

Antiguan Street Food

Now back to the food. On the grill that day Gina has some home spiced chicken which smelt absolutely amazing, this was being cooked on a drum barbecue which I’m pretty sure began it’s life as some sort of oil drum, you’ll see these everywhere across Antigua as barbecues really are a big thing. The chicken was chopped with a giant cleaver in front of us and came apart beautifully, showing how tender and slow cooked it had been. It was served with some rice, home made coleslaw and plantain.

The whole meal went down like a treat, I wish we had time to visit Gina’s again as the chicken was so tasty and full of exotic flavour but not overly spicy. The coleslaw and veg was a treat at just the right texture, tasted fresh and really complemented the main dish. My favourite bit as always was the plantain which is regularly served across Antigua.

Gina’s is a great spot for Antiguan street food! She treats every customer like family so expect a really warm welcome and a photo request for her Instagram when you arrive. We were told the next day she was going to be doing a cook off with lots of different meats and dishes so send her a message early when you arrive in Antigua to see what she’s got planned.

Local Caribbean Cuisine Antigua

You might not spot 4A Restaurant driving past but if you want to taste real local Caribbean cuisine available in Antigua it’s a great choice for a spot of lunch or tea. The restaurant has some outdoor seating benches and a kids play area and they also sell fresh bread made that day and a choice of refreshments. It very much has a real local feel to it so we’d highly recommend it if you’re trying to find the real Antigua!

As amazing as the food was we both agreed we both agreed that our favourite part of this particular stop was speaking with the owner/chef once we had finished eating. As we were asking about how secret recipes and any tips we could take home and try her eyes lit up with joy and you could tell how passionate she was about her food and her business. One tip she did give us was to use white potatoes as a base for the gravy sauce as this carries the flavour and gives it an amazing texture.