Bequia: Where to Eat, Part II – Breakfast

The Fig Tree Restaurant in the thriving metropolis of “the Belmont Sidewalk” (see last posting on the many towns of Bequia) just this week started serving traditional Caribbean breakfasts (see menu above). In what could be called an act of “research for my guidebook” but is more accurately described as “being hungry,” I went yesterday, accompanied by my sidekick Nick, who is always up for a good breakfast.

We had about an hour an a half before an appointment two towns (or one city block) over and knew that was cutting it pretty close, since there was one other customer there and only two waitresses, one of whom I believe was also cooking. One we had had serve us before, and knew that she was a very fastidious drink preparer – like a good half hour to bring bottled water, a lot of the time spent standing stock still in the bar and distressed at all the possible places the water might be. Soon (not really that soon, but I need a transition here) she would bring over a large and a small bottle to make sure we understood our choices (large is fine, we’ll share it). Then she has to return to the bar with BOTH bottles, because, I guess, they were only the demo bottles, and bring back a different large water bottle (“you said, large, right?” – though we might not have, dehydration starting to affect our memory).

Side note: When Nick and I go to the Fig Tree, we often do so because they have the most reliable Internet connection on the island, which is to say, not very but better than most. Because we are taking computers, we will sit at one of the large tables (see picture below, taken on the very day in question). So scene is set – 1000 words saved.

On returning with our actual large bottle of water, and not the demo large bottle of water, she stands with it, again silent and distressed, then (look at the picture again) asks Nick to move his computer because she can’t figure out where else to put the water.   After he does that, because it is better not to argue since there might be some sort of unknown feng shui reason that the water can only sit directly in front of Nick, she waits a couple of beats, then asks: Do you need glasses? No, no, this is great we assure her, we’ll just slug from the huge bottle, being so tight on space here at our enormous table.

So yesterday morning, when we saw the careful drink preparer on duty, I knew that I had to get my coffee order into the other waitress on call. But as she was heading toward us, Nick – damn him – asked, is the Internet working….

…Noooooo, it was like it was happening in slow motion. I moved to clap a hand over his mouth, but without caffeine, was too slow. Our waitress turned in mid-stride and without our coffee order. She wandered silently back toward the router and started checking the connection with her iPhone. Turns out, the Internet WAS working, just not on her iPhone, until about 30 minutes later – at which point she brought us the menus (or Nick tells me that’s what happened. I was face first on the table in coma).

Like a good set of smelling salts, the specter of breakfast with salt cod or boiled fish snapped me out of it in time to hear the blessed words: We don’t have any Caribbean breakfast.  She said both the smelly fish and the breadfruit deliveries were held up, or were never ordered, or were never even contemplated (this is communicated by a vague hand gesture which is the island signal for “something, somewhere, I really have no idea and don’t care”).

For me, this was tremendous news. While I would not say no to a nice bake (like flat rolls, freshly baked to order, and excellent as long as someone doesn’t put a bunch of boiled fish on top of it), I am not big on fish for breakfast, especially fish like salt cod which is preserved for lengthy sea voyages and meant to be eaten with a tankard of rum. And I can’t stand breadfruit, which tastes like neither fruit nor bread and has the consistency of Play-do but without the flavor.

And, in a later rare bit of research, I looked up what bush tea was – and the first entry I find (which means, as I understand, it must be accurate) is from the Jamaican Observer online edition and reads in part:

POPULAR bush remedies, or 'bush teas' widely consumed in Jamaica and other Caribbean nations have been found to be potentially harmful in recent scientific studies and appraisal by the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, St Andrew. Among the bush teas identified by the studies as favourites across the Caribbean are cerassie, annatto, peri-winkle, dandelion, vervine, guaco, cashew bark, coconut shell, aloe vera, and cannabis satira (marijuana). The studies said that although these "bushes" had possible beneficial ingredients, they also had potential toxins which could be harmful to individuals. It noted that use of bush remedies had greatly impacted the health of the region.

Dodged a bullet on that one…

So the menu that was on offer was the same selection found at every other restaurant on Bequia that serves breakfast: Eggs with bacon or not, toast (usually excellent homemade bread), pancakes, or an omelet (vegetarian OR cheese but not both, since I believe there is a law against it). Fruit juice or coffee.

We had omelets, which were quite good, and the rest of breakfast went off smoothly, though Nick asked not to have peppers in his omelet then joked that I could have his peppers. Ordering being a serious business here in the islands, that caused a delay while our waitress tried valiantly to figure out if there were not some sort of policy against pepper swapping (and whether that violated at least the spirit of the vegetable/cheese omelet distinction) and then spent another good while marveling that someone would joke about such a thing. Another brief snag occurred when the coffee showed up, hovered in its Holy-Grail-like silver pot on a tray with our coffee cups (we didn’t even have to ask for them!) right above our table, and then the waitress pull it back and went back to the kitchen because she had forgotten to put the milk on the tray (I don’t take milk! I don’t take milk!). But in the end, all was well, and we were only one half hour late for our appointment.

Note: The Fig Tree serves up some of the best West Indian cooking on the island, it is reasonably priced, and its Friday fish dinners are legendary (fish cooked any way, take out available, which is rare on the island and, if requested, usually leads to a leaky plastic bag of mixed up food some of which is bound to be breadfruit).  In addition, the place is a bit of a local hang-out, because of the good Internet and because owner Cheryl Johnson runs and hosts there the popular BequiaReading Club staffed by volunteers from the ex pat community and visiting yachters.

Other places for breakfast (same menu, without the fishy stuff) include the Gingerbread Restaurant (Belmont), which has a fabulous upstairs covered porch which gets a nice breeze and looks out over the bay (Internet costs $10 EC here, though, and involves a lot of work, a consultation with the manager, a trip for him back to some secret Internet room to get a printed receipt with your multi-character username and password, and that takes several entries to get the thing to work because the receipt printer is almost out of ink); Gingerbread also has a lovely outside area right on the water and under a big tree and a small bakery where you can get specialty coffees, fresh squeezed juices, and all manner of baked goods, including, not surprisingly gingerbread; The Frangipani (Belmont), which serves up the unexceptional standard fare unexceptionally (my next post will be a spot of creative writing about the Frangi); and Maria’s French Terrace (Port Elizabeth) where the omelet just edges out the Fig Tree’s for first place, but that is because the owner is French and really lays on the butter.