If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I recently spent a week in St. Lucia with my family. It was our first international family vacation and I had a blast! It was also a much-needed break from work and a great way to kick off my 2021 travels. I stayed at the Stonefield Villa Resort in Soufriere, St. Lucia, and highly recommend both the resort and the country overall. Beautiful views, amazing people, relaxing vibes, fun adventures, and of course, great food!
One of my favorite things about St. Lucia is that it is not overly industrialized which means the food is way fresher than in America. Farm to table is a very common selling point around the island, including at Stonefield's onsite restaurant, The Mango Tree. There are farming villages all over the island where local fishermen catch fresh seafood for their family, friends, and nearby restaurants. It's also common to see goats, chickens, cows, etc. (typically freely roaming or tied to a tree) that belong to the residents of the island. While driving around, we could see mangos, bananas, nutmeg, cocoa, guava, cinnamon, pineapple and so much more growing on the trees and plants right on the side of the road. And the Mango Tree restaurant uses organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs often grown right there on Stonefield Villa's resort property!
Here's everything we ate!
Breakfast
Breakfast options are free during your stay at Stonefield. We ate from this menu most days, which included a mix of the following:
A bread basket (toast, bagels, muffins, and croissants)
French toast, pancakes, or eggs with a side of bacon, sausage, potatoes, etc.,
A fruit plate, cereal, or oatmeal
Coffee or tea
A local juice or orange juice
Out of the main entrees, the eggs were definitely our favorite and what we ordered most often. I think because the chickens are often truly free-range and probably eat more natural foods than in America, the eggs seemed fresher and tasted really good. I would also highly recommend trying the local juice of the day. We tried passionfruit juice, lime juice, and sour orange/bitter orange juice. The juices are freshly squeezed and they give you a bottle of some kind of simple syrup to sweeten the drink to your liking. Everything else was also good! Feel free to click through!
Stonefield also offers an expanded breakfast menu should you want to try something new. These options are not free but prices range from about $8 - $16 USD and include:
Omelets
Codfish creole
Salmon eggs benedict
Smoothie bowls
Please see their website for the full expanded menu. I tried a smoothie bowl with yogurt, dates, bananas, and oats. It was also good.
Lunch
I think our common theme for lunch was sandwiches LOL. I think we all rotated between chicken quesadillas, burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna melts, and jerk chicken sandwiches each day. The jerk chicken sandwich (without the grilled pineapple for me) was my favorite by far! I probably ate it 3 different days, my aunt ordered it 2 or 3 times, and everyone else had it at least once. My mother was the only one who had any complaints as her tolerance for spiciness is extremely low. So if you are not a fan of anything spicy, this is probably not the sandwich for you. But for people like me whose tolerance is pretty high, I honestly don't remember thinking anything of the spiciness at all. In fact, when she said it was too hot for her, my thought was "It was spicy??? I can't recall..." LOL!
Dinner
Dinner at the Mango Tree resort was also delicious! We tried a variety of different meals throughout our stay. One of our favorite nights was their Island Grill Night, which had a buffet of all types of food, including a few local dishes. My aunt loved their creole pot fish. It was good but it had way too many small bones for me. I was struggling to separate the meat from the bones and even stabbed my gums at one point. It was worth trying once but that's probably the only thing I would definitely not try again.
Another really interesting local item we tried during the Island Grill Night was provision balls. I believe provision in St Lucia refers to a few varieties of fruits and root vegetables, including sweet potato, yams, dasheen, bananas, plantains, and breadfruit to name a few. The best way I can describe the provision ball (comparing to American food) would probably be by saying it's like a fruit/vegetable hushpuppy LOL. The look and texture reminded me of a hushpuppy but it definitely tasted different. I wouldn't say I didn't like it because it was okay. But I think it was something that confused my brain and tastebuds and would therefore require multiple chances before I could get used to it LOL. I took at least 4 or 5 bites but every bite ended in me staring at my hand feeling unsure of what to do next (Should I take another bite or put it down? Do I like it?).
Things to Consider
The Mango Tree Restaurant is a good and convenient option if you are staying at Stonefield Villa Resort but it is not cheap. Dinner and a drink are typically going to cost at least $30 per person per night. Our tab for 4 people, including 3 entrees, 4 drinks, tax, and tip, reached $150 USD multiple times easily. Moral of the story: make sure to factor food into your budget.
Our chicken thighs from the Island Grill Night caught us off guard because they were way smaller than what we are used to here in America. But that's because, as I mentioned earlier, these chickens are healthier and this is honestly probably normal. They are free to roam, eat unprocessed food, do not receive extra hormones, and do not need to be rapidly bred. Don't be surprised if all of your food isn't supersized.
Make sure to give yourself at least 1.5 hours to dine at the restaurant. Order ahead when you are in a rush! People in the U.S. are typically on go mode so restaurants are set up with speed in mind. Of course, there are exceptions but typically in America, we are used to getting in, ordering immediately, getting our food relatively quickly, and getting up when we are done. In St. Lucia, everything and everyone is much slower-paced. You will often see people casually strolling along the roads, sitting around seemingly doing nothing, even people who are working are able to stop and have 30+ minute conversations with you. It's a much more relaxed environment. So restaurants can operate the same way. Our food would typically take at least 30 minutes to 1 hour to arrive after being ordered. So when planning any excursions or time-sensitive activities, make sure to give yourself a very generous grace period at the restaurant.
Ordering the same menu item multiple days does not necessarily equate to receiving the dish the exact same way. You may have noticed from some pictures above but sometimes the french toast, burgers, and jerk chicken sandwiches would come with varying types of bread. And we liked some types more than others. The quesadillas were also made differently on different days. So while nothing was bad, be open to the possibility that your meals may not look the same day after day.
Okay, so the heads up about order time was very useful since I am definitely one to get hangry. Also, it's interesting that a single item on the menu is like a snowflake in that it not prepared like the one before it.