Ken’s Pork and the Valley, Anguilla

Anguilla is blessed with a fantastic restaurant scene.  You can find fish prepared a hundred ways (all delicious), handmade pastas, aged Armagnac, and lobster galore, served up in a luxurious beachfront setting.

So I was surprised to see that TripAdvisor’s top rated restaurant in Anguilla is a roadside barbecue stand in the dusty inland “downtown” area known as the Valley.

Ken’s Pork comes to life Thursday-Sunday only, serving ribs, chicken, and garlic bread straight from the grill. Look for the place with a crowd!

D got ribs and I went for a combo (ribs and chicken).  We snagged seats at one of the big wooden tables under the tarp roof and dug in.

The ribs are good, but the chicken is fantastic – so moist and flavorful, especially when dragged through the homemade barbecue sauce.  It’s nothing like the dark, thick stuff you might expect; instead it’s almost delicate – thin, orange-red, and slightly sweet with honey.

It’s a messy experience – billowing smoke, a few too many flies, and sticky hands – but really fun and definitely worth doing as a counterpoint to the “fancy” restaurant scene.

The AARF thrift shop is also in the Valley, quite close to Ken’s, at Wallblake House / St Geraud’s Church – we dropped off some things and looked around a bit, as we’d driven by many times but never stopped.  The history is interesting (dating to the late 1700s) and the buildings themselves are charming.

Much as Ken’s is a counterpoint to beach restaurants, Wallblake House and the Valley are counterpoints to the beach – must-do for a well-rounded Anguilla experience!