Nassau, Bahamas
This guest post was written by Spencer Hope Davis from the Observations from the Road Less Traveled blog.
When I headed off on an extended vacation to Nassau, the capital city and largest city in the Bahamas, I searched the web for places that might be vegan friendly and frankly, I didn’t find a lot of possibilities. Happy Cow didn’t help. No restaurants were listed when I Googled “Nassau vegan.” In fact, the few blog posts on the matter specifically said Nassau had no vegan friendly spots. I was concerned, but not deterred. After all, my blog is about observing the road less traveled, so I was stubbornly certain that I would find what I was looking for by looking hard enough—even in the land of conch (sea snail) fritters.
Plantains, Fries and Rice
However, I didn’t go blindly. As I’ve written about in the past, in posts on my blog about traveling while vegan, I prepare for times I might not be able to find vegan fare. That said, the first two days were still tough. Amazingly, a plate of steamed veggies was very hard to find. I found myself eating the same thing repeatedly those first two days: Plantains (sweet fried mini bananas), fries, and peas & rice.
All three items were very good, and the plantains and peas & rice quickly became my favorites, but one cannot nutritionally survive on this alone. As the days wore on, I began to feel sick and that pushed me to find healthy food with even more urgency.
Let me tell you, Nassau may not be vegan friendly but if you look carefully there are places to fill your belly and nourish your social experience in this unique Caribbean city. Nothing is cheap —vegan or otherwise— so be prepared to spend nearly $20 USD for every entrée. The key is to find entrées that provide the most food for that higher price.
So, in order of the amount of food on the entrée, here are the spots I found:
The Clay Oven
Samosas
Dal Makhani and Rice
At The Clay Oven I found Indian vegan meals in a comfortable sit down setting. The vegetable samosas were fresh and the Dal Makhani (spicy lentils and kidney beans) was made with coconut milk instead of ghee at my request. This was my first real meal after the two days of plantains, rice and fries. I was delirious. The food was excellent. As is the case for vegans, asking for minor changes works.
Clay Oven
100 West Bay St across from British Colonial
Nassau, Bahamas
Tel: 242-325-2525
British Colonial Hilton – Aqua Restaurant
Penne Pasta
Cranberry, Walnut & Mandarin Salad
At the British Colonial Hilton’s Aqua Restaurant, there’s really only one meal that can be adapted for a vegan diet, but at least it’s a good one. They made me a penne pasta dish that came with an exceptional cranberry, walnut and mandarin salad. It was served with a yogurt-based pomegranate dressing (pictured here before I switched it), but after a simple request they returned with a citrus dressing and I was good to go.
British Colonial Hilton – Aqua Restaurant
Website
First level of the hotel
West Bay Street
Nassau, Bahamas
Tel: (242) 322-3301
Other Vegan-Friendly Spots in Nassau, Bahamas
Wyndham Hotel Cable Beach Restaurants
West Bay Street at Cable Beach, Nassau, Bahamas
Restaurants in the Wyndham are what I call “frou frou” fancy. But the restaurants are just an escalator ride away from the casino floor. Lots of fun to be had at the Wyndham. In the hotel you can find Moso, a restaurant with great Thai and Asian fare, including spring rolls, miso soup, Thai green curry with lemongrass and Ma Po Tofu. All of these dishes can be made vegan and are very filling. At the Black Angus Grille you can find coconut peas & rice, roasted garlic mash and penne pasta, all of which are vegan.
Cricket Club Restaurant & Pub
Haynes Oval, West Bay Street, Nassau, Bahamas Tel. (242) 326-4720
At the Cricket Club, you won’t find a lot of food for vegans, but it’s a great atmosphere spot. Here, you can watch rugby on TV and scream and holler with other patrons. Even better, when the weather is right, eat on the balcony and watch a live cricket match on the field right outside the restaurant. This place is known as a great breakfast spot. Here I had grits, fruit, garlic bread, and fresh juices. Sparse but excellent!
Andros – The Fish Fry
Across the street from the Cricket Club
The Fish Fry is a strip of restaurants that are across the street from the Cricket Club. This is where locals gather nightly for fresh seafood, loud and fun conversations, as well as Sky Juice – a quickly intoxicating mix of gin and coconut water served at your table in a styrofoam cup. Sky Juice is made with milk but you can ask if they will make you a glass with the gin, coconut water and a dash of coconut milk. There are about a dozen different restaurants at the Fish Fry. This is a place to enjoy the scenery. It isn’t very vegan friendly because of the fresh conch fritters, snapper, lobster, and other seafood served. But in order to enjoy myself I gladly ate my early staples at Seafood Haven and Twin Bros.
The Fish Fry by r0sss on flickr
At these restaurants I had plantains, fries and a green salad. In Nassau, green salad means chopped iceberg lettuce, green peppers and tomatoes. There wasn’t a dressing I could use; no vinaigrette here. My waitress brought fresh limes over and suggested I squeeze them over my salad and add some salt and pepper. Perhaps it was the Sky Juice, but this simple dressing was a delicious mix I’d never considered before.
The Marley Resort
Cable Beach, Nassau, Bahamas
The Marley Resort, which is owned by the Bob Marley Estate, is an expensive hotel that boasts an even more expensive Simmer Down Restaurant with food based in the Rastafarian Ital tradition. If you just want to feel close to “the man” and don’t care if you’re paying $20 for a small amount of food, knock yourself out. The restaurant is beautiful and sits facing the ocean. Here you can enjoy entrées of steamed veggies with boiled bananas and sweet plantains. Or how about the spinach, coconut and vegetable ragout with a side of black bean corn fritters while listening to reggae and chatting with some of the Rastafarian locals.
Flickr photo by a440
So, fellow vegans, head confidently to Nassau and enjoy yourselves. Stay vegan while connecting with the culture in many other ways beyond that of their seafood heritage. Stop by some of the spots I’ve mentioned and your grumbling stomach will thank you!
16 Comments »
Nassau looks so beautiful. Sadly, it doesn’t sound like the kind of place where you can eat on a backpacker’s budget!
sad there aren’t more options!
I find that a lot — when there’s only one vegan/vegan-adaptable option, but it’s good. I wonder if she found any markets to get fresh fruit/veg to supplement the fries and expensive meals? Nassau is still a dream vacation spot for me!
Hi, If you can swing it, it’s a beautiful place to go to and explore. Yes. Food is VERY expensive but luckily we have family there that we had not seen in 6 yrs. It was still a vacation visit but we had no lodging costs as we stayed in their rental properties. LUCKY i know! If not, we would have had a much shorter trip! We were hanging out for 10 days, but there are good cruise packages out there at good prices. Did have the opportunity to cook our own food, but the groceries were crazy. $5 for a green pepper will give you an idea. Didn’t cook at all! Too expensive. Have no idea how people live with those high grocery items. Wow! Also couldnt find a block of fresh looking tofu to save my life so I’m thinking I might try to travel with some next time. So…. it was cheaper and more vegan safe to eat out, which is what most visitors do anyway. Youtube video blog of the trip: http://bit.ly/fGMHGs
The Bahamas is not vegan friendly at all.
I live in Freeport, on Grand Bahama Island and finding anything vegan is pretty hard & expensive! The grocery stores are horrible at the veggie prices…yes, 5 dollars for a red or yellow pepper, $4 for the green ones! Tofu is $6! I really have to compare prices at different stores to find the best bargain.
Great post though!!
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Nassau has a large seventh day adventist community which runs several veg*n eateries:http://www.bahamasconference.org/adventisthealthstores.htm
The cranberry salad and samosas look terrific!! (I come from the country of samosas, I’m from India.)
As I prepare for my travel to Nassau next summer as a strict vegan, this information was very helpful. We plan on buying food at the market and cooking in much of the time but do plan on eating out. I figured we would be able to get some veggies and rice as a basic.
I moved to Nassau recently and am vegetarian (not vegan). I agree that Nassau is by no means a vegan mecca, but there are a couple more options out there I could share that come to mind. Olive’s Greek restaurant downtown has some nice salads, a vegetable of the day (like fried zucchini) and delicious hummus. There’s one other Indian restaurant, several Chinese restaurants, and a Thai restaurant, all of which have vegan options. It looks like Luciano’s Italian has some vegan or vegan adaptable items on their menu (especially for lunch) but I haven’t been there yet. Lastly, it’s a bit tricky to get to and has specific meal times (10 am and 6 pm), but the Sivananda Ashram on Paradise Island serves a cheap vegetarian (and I think vegan) meal twice a day! If I find any more gems I will share them too.
PS I love Clay Oven!
Hey, you should have asked around! For anyone visiting Nassau, for one, you have to get out of the tourist circuit. Cheap, delicious food abounds. I recommend The Glass Kitchen on Hawkin’s Hill (E. side of downtown). They always have vegan and vegetarian fare, homemade. The proprietor, Erica, is absolutely wonderful.
Great information and blog. I live on one of the “out” or “family” islands, San Salvador. I’ve been a vegetarian, not vegan, for 40 years and I feel your pain! I have to have a lot of food shipped in from Fort Lauderdale, very expensive. There are a few grocery stores in Nassau that “occasionally” have vegan options but it seems to be very random. I’ve been able to find tofu and tofurky sauages at City Markets on some occasions and the next time I go….no luck. There are also a few gourmet markets (one close to Orange Hill hotel in the Village Caves shopping center,) very expensive, that will sometimes carry vegan food.
I love the Clay Oven too! Also, I agree with John, explore off the main drag. We go to Nassau a few times a year and I will check out some of your recommendations tho I have had enough rice and beans for a lifetime.
Sivanadabahamas do vegetarian food it’s a yoga centre
Try King Alpha on Elizabeth Street, and tell Ras Benji Zebulun the bassie said hello
Yep, I’ve lived here all my life and I have several friends that are vegan and a sister-in-law that’s vegan. The key is to ask around. We have a hugeee Seventh Day Adventists community and they offer many vegan offerenings in their restaurants as well as their grocery stores. There are also several gourmet markets that carry vegan offerings. Really where were you doing your grocery shopping I have never paid $5 for a green pepper LOL!!! Sometimes you have to go off the beaten path and ask the locals. BTW only at the Fish Fry and takeaways is a salad iceberg lettuce and tomatoes not on the whole island…just saying…
Thanks for this post! I’m going on Thursday and it’s a little sad to only see mostly starches for a vegan option but I am buying some granola bars tomorrow! Thanks again.
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