Not your average fast food joint

Barbados has amazing food at every level: from street food to fine dining there are so many delicious options. These options are (not always, but usually) small, modest and sometimes hard to find. Yesterday I had a late lunch at one of my favourite places. Situated in Eagle Hall, Bridgetown is an extremely popular small bar & rotisserie amongst Bajans. It's called R.A. Mapp (Mapp's for short) and the menu is very simple: rotisserie chicken and chips. You also have the option of tossed salad, macaroni salad or coleslaw but the chicken and chips are the stars of the show and the sweetness is definitely in the sauce. If you haven't had Mapps you haven't lived. Yes, it is really that good. 

Sidenote: If you are reading this and you aren't from Barbados I just want to clear up that we call fries/french fries, chips.

So whats the process when you arrive? Well when its not busy, which is a rare occurrence, you can just walk right up to the counter and place your order. But the words "Mapp's" and "busy" go hand in hand and they have a procedure for everyone to follow. If you aren't a regular it may all seem kind of strange especially since there are no instructions as to what to do. Lucky for you I was paying close attention yesterday so now I'm an expert! 

Ordering at Mapps:

1. Take a number

2. Wait for one of the ladies working to call your number

3. When your hear your number, shout your order

4. The lady will then write down your order on a plastic bag and she or another lady will go get it

5. When your food is ready they put it in the bag and you pay 

If the wait is long like it was yesterday you can enjoy a drink or run across the street and take photos for your blog (I may or may not be be guilty of the latter). 

Mapps has taken something so simple (rotisserie chicken and chips) and perfected it. The food is always fresh, full of the amazing sauce, and generally wonderful. If you haven't had  it make an effort to go because it will not disappoint. I have not tried the salad options but I have heard rave reviews about the coleslaw. Will have to try it next time!

The Best Party Ever

Cropover is a traditional harvest festival celebrated in Barbados annually. There's tonnes of history behind the festival but what's important is that it started as a celebration of the end of the sugar cane harvest and has since evolved into Barbados' biggest national festival similar to Carnival in Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago (muchas gracias, Wikipedia). What we Bajans do is a lot of partying for 2 months prior to the final day of the Cropover festival which is called Grand Kadooment. But that's a post in itself. Today I want to tell you about the party that I attended the day before Grand Kadooment, which is always the first Monday in August, called Booze Premium. It was a party on the beach (can anyone say "island life") and it was absolutely amazing. All of my friends and I agree that it was simply the "best party ever".

It was our first time attending Booze Premium and we arrived around 4pm because doors opened at 2 and we didn't exactly want to open up the place but at the same time we still wanted to make the most of what was promised to be the best party we will ever go to (until next year of course). We were greeted with glasses of champagne and the wonderful Russel gave us a tour of what was in store for us. Premium drinks, an amazing buffet lunch, champagne until the sun set, MASSAGES (yup, you read right), shots, a photobooth fully equipped with fun props, and live entertainment are just some of the things we had to look forward to. After hearing about all of this we were pretty much sold.

We had some champagne and a drink or 2 and then we decided that it would be best to eat while things were relatively calm as the party was still getting started. For the food you had an option of steak, chicken or fish and then there was a whole bunch of sides to choose from including some delicious Bajan Macaroni Pie. The food was fantastic and now it was time to really party.

I could go on and on and on and on and on and on about how phenomenal my night was but that's just selfish. I'll still elaborate a little, though :). We fully utilized the photobooth and even convinced management to let the kind lady stay for the whole night instead of leaving at her scheduled time, we drank shots and fueled up on Redbull when we were feeling tired, we saw the superstar herself: Rihanna (!!!) and we danced under the stars until the last song played around 10pm after which we were devastated that the "best party ever" was over. 

I think what makes the party so top notch is the obvious attention that is paid to detail. Its kinda like, anything you can think of is already handled and being presented to you on a platter and if you're having a problem the organizers are more than ready to rectify it for you. For example, we wanted the photobooth to stay for longer and all we had to do was ask and it was arranged! Sounds pretty magical to me. If you live in Barbados and do the whole Cropover thing or ever plan to come, I can't recommend this party enough. I'm sure you will have the time of your life at Booze Premium. Well, I certainly did!

Hello There

As you can imagine, I'm from and live on the beautiful island we like to call Barbados.
I want to use this space to document the happenings of this amazing place.




Jess xo