The Restaurant at Malliouhana, Anguilla

After visiting the new Malliouhana early in our trip, I was excited to go back for dinner.

The restaurant is set down the hill from the reception area, with a terrace stretching out beyond the open decking of the restaurant, and then a cliff down to the sea.  At night, the lights of the Meads Bay restaurants twinkle below – Blanchards and Jacala, Straw Hat, and finally the Viceroy

It’s quite nautical, with white rattan chairs, blue and white striped cushions, and rope railings – crisp and refreshing after the riotous colors and patterns of the reception area and Sunset Bar.

This restaurant has a different feel from anywhere else we’ve eaten on the island – not in a bad way, but I did get the sense that the expectations of service are a bit different, more US-style (as you might expect now that it’s an Auberge property).  Things are a little more formal, more careful.  I’m sure that as comfort increases, more of the Anguilla charm will come through.  It was a pleasant surprise to see Albert the sommelier, whom we’d last met at Viceroy a couple of years ago, and we had a nice chat.  He’s working to rebuild the wine cellar, though our 2002 Paulliac was quite good (wine does seem to mature faster in the Caribbean!).

The bread service was nicely done – the small sourdough rolls are baked at the hotel, and they’re among the best bread I’ve had in a while.  There was also corn bread with peppers (ok but not my favorite) and two kinds of butter, plain and with lime zest.

First courses – I chose the carrot gazpacho with conch ceviche and vegetables, which was light and fresh.  D went for the West Indian curried goat sausage, with sweet potato and banana puree, “rice and peas”, and kale.  Delicious!  As usual, D’s choice was superior; I loved the Caribbean flavors.

For mains, D had duck and I had pasta – squid ink garganelli with spiny lobster, corn, tomato, a hint of Scotch bonnet pepper, and uni butter.  I just couldn’t resist that list of ingredients, and the combination was as good as it sounds – bright, briny, spicy, and rich all at once.

The dessert menu had lots of tempting options, from a lemon panna cotta to local pumpkin pudding with pineapple.  I wish I could have tried them all… but was quite happy with my chocolate torte, rich dark chocolate ganache over a buckwheat crust, with banana and a “Caribbean cocoa” sorbet that tasted bright and almost fruity, as the best chocolate does.

I liked it so much that we returned to the Malliouhana for dessert on our last night, just to have a final slice of chocolate torte and look at the sparkling view…