The Anguilla List
Five editorial picks, ranked by the only filter that matters: why you are dining.
Veya
Anguilla's institutional fine-dining anchor. Veya's magical 'Indonesian treehouse' setting since 2007 with Jerk-spiced tuna and Moroccan lamb chops.
Blanchards
Anguilla's longest-running luxury beachfront institution. Melinda and Bob Blanchard's Meads Bay dining room since 1994.
Straw Hat
The quintessential Caribbean outdoor dining experience. Condé Nast Traveler's 50 Hot New Restaurants of the World, with Anguilla's most photographed violet sunset.
Jacala
Meads Bay's French institution. Chef Alain Laurent's contemporary French-Caribbean cooking with the most reliable mid-tier serious-occasion dinner on the island.
Mango's
Cap Juluca's beachfront flagship. Anguilla's most polished resort-fine-dining experience and the canonical Maundays Bay luxury setting.
Best for First Date in Anguilla
Intimate, conversation-friendly rooms. Impressive without being intimidating. The tables where first impressions are made.
Straw Hat
The quintessential Caribbean outdoor dining experience. Condé Nast Traveler's 50 Hot New Restaurants of the World, with Anguilla's most photographed violet sunset.
Jacala
Meads Bay's French institution. Chef Alain Laurent's contemporary French-Caribbean cooking with the most reliable mid-tier serious-occasion dinner on the island.
Best for Business Dinner in Anguilla
Power tables, private rooms, considered wine lists. Where the deal gets done.
Veya
Anguilla's institutional fine-dining anchor. Veya's magical 'Indonesian treehouse' setting since 2007 with Jerk-spiced tuna and Moroccan lamb chops.
Blanchards
Anguilla's longest-running luxury beachfront institution. Melinda and Bob Blanchard's Meads Bay dining room since 1994.
The Top Five in Anguilla
Ranked against a single question: if you had one night in Anguilla, where would you go?
Veya
Anguilla's institutional fine-dining anchor. Veya's magical 'Indonesian treehouse' setting since 2007 with Jerk-spiced tuna and Moroccan lamb chops.
Blanchards
Anguilla's longest-running luxury beachfront institution. Melinda and Bob Blanchard's Meads Bay dining room since 1994.
Straw Hat
The quintessential Caribbean outdoor dining experience. Condé Nast Traveler's 50 Hot New Restaurants of the World, with Anguilla's most photographed violet sunset.
Jacala
Meads Bay's French institution. Chef Alain Laurent's contemporary French-Caribbean cooking with the most reliable mid-tier serious-occasion dinner on the island.
Mango's
Cap Juluca's beachfront flagship. Anguilla's most polished resort-fine-dining experience and the canonical Maundays Bay luxury setting.
The Anguilla Dining Guide
Anguilla is a 91-square-kilometre British Overseas Territory in the northeastern Caribbean. Five kilometres north of Saint-Martin, with thirty-three white-sand beaches and a population of about 18,000. The island is the discreet luxury Caribbean destination for the British, American and European set; the cluster of luxury resorts (Cap Juluca, Belmond Cap Juluca, Four Seasons Anguilla, Malliouhana, Zemi Beach) is one of the most concentrated luxury-resort programmes in the Caribbean.
The dining is correspondingly serious. Veya. A fine-dining 'Indonesian treehouse' on Sandy Ground. Is the island's most reliable serious dining. Blanchards Restaurant on Meads Bay (since 1994) is the longest-running luxury Caribbean dining institution. Straw Hat (named one of Condé Nast Traveler's 50 Hot New Restaurants of the World) is the island's seasonal beachfront flagship. Jacala runs the longest-running French institution on the island. Mango's at Cap Juluca runs the canonical resort-flagship dining experience.
Neighbourhoods
Reservations & Practical Notes
Veya, Blanchards and Straw Hat must be booked four to six weeks ahead in peak (American winter, December to April); two to three weeks shoulder. Most resort-restaurants are accessible to non-guests but require advance booking. Dress is Caribbean-relaxed. Linen rather than tailored, sandals are acceptable everywhere. Tipping is American-style (15 to 18 per cent) for exceptional service.
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