Good Taste is the Worst Vice

Blanchard’s, Anguilla

Blanchard’s is the grande dame of Anguilla fine dining – practically a lifestyle empire, with cookbooks and life coaching books, a new ‘beach shack’ cafe, and of course the flagship restaurant.
It might not be the most exciting restaurant on the island, but Blanchard’s delivers a wonderful experience.  We saw the same waiters that we had met the prior year, and they remembered us, making us feel at home.  The family-like closeness among the staff shows – what other restaurant has a webpage dedicated to introducing them?  

I started with the corn chowder, made without cream and not so much a chowder, in my mind, as a nourishing stew – thick with vegetables and very flavorful.  D had the roasted mussels, a generous pile that disappeared quickly (I helped).

Blanchard’s has a good wine list; we had a Chalone pinot noir that I liked a lot, though I do always find it a bit funny to drink California wine that’s travelled farther than we did to get to Anguilla.

For our main courses, D and I both had fresh shellfish – spicy crayfish for me, and jerk shrimp for him.  The jerk seasoning is even spicier than the “spicy” crayfish!

For dessert, the famous ‘cracked coconut’, a trompe l’oeil of coconut ice cream in a dark chocolate shell, with a Bailey’s center.  The thin, crispy shell is particularly delicious.  


As our dinner wound down, we browsed through the extensive rum menu and joked with one of the waiters, Samaro, who was trying to convince us to come jump off the big rock in Little Bay with him – no way!  After a couple of glasses of 15 year El Dorado rum from Guyana, we went with Samaro for a quick tour of the kitchen and to meet the cooks and dishwasher, who were joking around and having a good time together.


When I think back about Blanchard’s, that’s what I remember most – the warm welcome and the comfortable family feel, which really exemplifies the best of Anguilla.


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Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    Love reading about Blanchards. I read their first book years ago and decided to go to Anguilla someday, and now we are getting ready for our third trip. Did you try the new Blanchards beach bar? And sounds like you had a great meal…worth the price point?

    • Jennifer says

      The beach bar opened right after we left – but it sounds great, definitely on the list for next time. I think it's worth the price to have the whole Blanchard's experience, and although the food isn't necessarily the most amazing on the island, it's still really good. Have a wonderful trip!

    • Anonymous says

      I just got back from Anguilla yesterday. We had never been there. 'A Trip to the Beach' was recommended by our travel company. I was glad I got it since it gave me a lot of insight to life on Anguilla. We had lunch twice at the Beach bar. It was great. They had a great variety of choices. It was very reasonably priced and they are opened till 8:30 so you could have a casual dinner there. We also had dinner at Blanchards and loved it. The cracked coconut was fun and yummy.