Tasty’s, Anguilla

Is Tasty’s tasty?  That’s what we wanted to find out.  (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the obvious opening line!)

We’ve driven by the brightly painted house on the main Valley road many times, but had never stopped in.  But I’d noticed a lot of great reviews online, and the story of the chef-owner is very cool – he’s born and raised in Anguilla, started as a dishwasher at the Maillouhana Hotel, worked his way up through the kitchen, studied in France, and finally opened his own restaurant.

Unlike most of the restaurants we go to in Anguilla, Tasty’s isn’t on the beach.  The view outside the shutters is of the road itself, and the cars whizzing by.  It feels different inside, too, – more homey, with what looks like family dining room furniture.

D and I started with soup – pumpkin for me and the lobster and corn bisque for him.  The pumpkin soup was a thick but silky smooth puree, with a pure and sweet flavor.  The bisque was quite intense (I could almost picture the stock being made with untold piles of lobster shells) and just a bit spicy – more deliciously complex than the pumpkin.

For our mains, I had the curried goat stew while D had Tasty’s shrimp.

The goat was tender, in a rich and flavorful sauce that reminded me of boeuf bourguignon – I even found fresh thyme stems!  But I have to say, I prefer a spicy curry, so the one at Straw Hat is still my favorite.  Next time we’re at Tasty’s I think I’ll try Nan’s conch creole, which sounds intriguing.

D loved his shrimp, in a sweet and spicy coconut curry sauce.  I snuck a few bits of the mashed sweet potatoes mixed in with the sauce – tasty indeed!

The chef, Dale Carty, stopped by each table at least once to say hello and make sure we liked everything – you can really tell how much he cares about the food and whether everyone is enjoying themselves.

We were too full for dessert (though the key lime pie was tempting) and headed out into the night for the drive back to the hotel.  Tasty’s is a nice change of pace from our usual restaurant haunts.