One of the things that has changed most since retirement — and since we swapped holidays for longer stays travelling abroad — is the way we eat.
Back home our days are quite simple. Breakfast, our main meal sometime between 1 and 3pm, and then maybe a piece of fruit or a slice of toast later if we are hungry.
We don’t eat out very often. Partly it’s about keeping to a budget, but also because we genuinely enjoy cooking and sometimes find ourselves thinking, “we could probably make this better ourselves.”
It always makes me smile when I think back to our very first overseas trip to Santorini in 2016. We ate breakfast, bought baguettes and crisps for lunch or stopped for a bowl of Greek salad, and then headed out every evening for a three-course meal by the sea.
How on earth did we eat that much?
Somewhere along the way, travelling changed our habits. When holidays became longer adventures, our budget needed to stretch further, and cooking became part of the experience. We started buying fresh local ingredients, wandering around markets, and creating meals wherever we were staying.
Eating out became a treat rather than an everyday occurrence.
And here in Antigua we have discovered something interesting. Sometimes, especially if you are only cooking for one or two people, buying food at local eateries can be cheaper than actually buying the ingredients and making it yourself.
We have enjoyed cooking with the fresh produce we find here, but we have also enjoyed exploring the local food scene.
Home cooking with Antiguan ingredients
An English roast dinner (well you have to don’t you!)
Fried eggs in a multi pan (we want to take this pan home!)
Pasta bolognese (but for some reason cheese doesn’t melt in Antigua 🤷♀️)
Using up some rolls, some bacon and leftover mince to make bacon, cheese burgers!
Local Food In Antigua:
If you refer back to my post from when we were here in February entitled Affordable Dining in Antigua, you will see that we had already discovered some of the cheaper places to eat. This included supermarkets with hot food counters where you can pick up freshly prepared Caribbean and Asian dishes. We have done this a couple of times while shopping and paid around £15 for both of us.
We also returned to the Green Apple near the University, another place where we found ourselves surrounded by local people rather than tourists. For us, that is always a good sign.
But during this stay we have also found a couple of new favourites.
Roti King:
Roti King sits in the centre of St John’s, just a short walk from the cruise terminal and Redcliffe Quay. When we arrived, the queue was already stretching outside — always encouraging.
This wasn’t a place full of visitors stopping by for a holiday lunch. It was families, workers grabbing something after work, and locals who clearly knew exactly where to go. If local people are choosing to spend their own money somewhere, it usually tells you something!
Inside there are simple tables with traditional plastic tablecloths, and outside a few picnic benches. Nothing fancy — just good, honest food.
The staff were wonderful. Friendly, welcoming and genuinely pleased to see us.
Roti is a popular Caribbean comfort food consisting of curried or stewed meats and vegetables wrapped inside a soft, flaky flatbread. We ordered a fish roti, a beef roti, chips and plantain. We were directed to a table while everyone else waited for their food, and then something happened that really stayed with me.
Our drinks were brought over.
Our food arrived on plates with cutlery, (everyone else was eating from takeaway containers).
I would happily have eaten from a container too, but the effort they made to make us feel looked after was such a lovely gesture. It was one of those small moments when you remember that travelling isn’t just about places — it’s about people.
Including the tip, we paid just under £35 for two huge meals, and every mouthful was delicious.
Firehouse Grill:
Another day, after our usual supermarket trip, we decided to drive a little further north and explore somewhere different.
We found ourselves at Firehouse Grill in Bay Gardens, sitting outside on brightly painted picnic benches under umbrellas — a welcome change from cooking back at our duplex.
The menu had burgers, wraps, salads and daily specials. Our server, Theo, was brilliant. He was happy to answer our questions and clearly took pride in the family business.
It was just a simple lunch, but those are often the moments we enjoy most when travelling.
Two meals, a nice setting, and a chance to chat with someone local.
The cost for both of us? Around £27.
Restaurant Week — a different side of dining in Antigua:
While we were here we also noticed that Antigua was celebrating its annual Culinary Month, which included Restaurant Week.
It sounded like a lovely opportunity to explore some of the island’s restaurants and perhaps try somewhere new. The idea is that participating restaurants offer special menus during the event, giving visitors the chance to experience Antigua’s food scene.
We looked through the options, but in the end the prices were beyond what we usually spend on a meal out which made me stop and think.
Restaurant Week is clearly aimed at a different market, perhaps visitors looking for a more traditional holiday dining experience. There is nothing wrong with that, but it was interesting to see the contrast between the Antigua experienced through tourism and the Antigua we have been discovering day by day.
FABFest — when expectations and reality don’t quite meet:
While we were here, we discovered that Antigua’s Culinary Month also included the FABFest (Food Art & Beverage Festival).
It sounded exactly like the sort of thing we would enjoy — local food, culture, music and a chance to experience another side of the island.
So we went along.
The event was held at Cedar Valley Golf Club and we arrived mid-afternoon. The car park was already full, so we joined the other cars heading onto the golf course and made our way in.
The entrance fee was around £23.50 each and included a small goodie bag. To buy food, you purchased chits which were then used with the vendors.
The advertising had painted a picture of a lively food village, with local experiences, demonstrations, tastings and entertainment.
Maybe our expectations were too high. The reality felt much smaller than we imagined.
Stilt Walkers in Traditional Costumes were a Highlight
There were a few craft stalls and an interactive painting wall, but we didn’t find the food tastings we had expected. The chef demonstrations required a different entrance ticket at a cost of £100 each and the music was only really getting started later in the day.
The “Eat Like A Local Village” had around a dozen vendors, and we walked around it surprisingly quickly.
We chose two local food stalls and found somewhere to sit.
Unfortunately, my meal arrived cold and was nowhere near the standard of the food we had enjoyed elsewhere on the island. Half of it ended up in the bin, which was disappointing.
We still had chits left, but when we asked about using them, we discovered they couldn’t be refunded — they became a souvenir instead.
£93 lighter in pocket, after just over an hour, we left!
For us, the most interesting part wasn’t actually the event itself, but what it highlighted.
The Antigua we have loved discovering, whilst living here for a month is found in small cafes, market stalls, conversations with shop owners, and places where locals eat every day. It isn’t always polished, and it doesn’t always match the picture created for visitors — but those everyday experiences are often where the real character of a place lives.
The best meals we’ve had here haven’t necessarily been the most expensive or the most advertised.
They have been the ones where someone smiled, took a little extra time, and made us feel welcome.
Final Thoughts
Food has a funny way of telling you a lot about a place.
When we first started travelling for longer periods, we thought we would miss eating out more often. Instead, we found ourselves enjoying the simple things — wandering around local markets, picking up fresh ingredients, cooking with whatever was available, and occasionally treating ourselves to a meal we didn’t have to prepare.
Antigua has reminded us that some of the best experiences don’t always come from the places designed to impress visitors.
They come from sitting at a small table, chatting with someone who lives there, watching families pick up their lunch, or being welcomed like a regular even when you’re clearly not.
Of course, not every experience is perfect. Some places will exceed your expectations and others won’t quite live up to the picture painted beforehand. But perhaps that is part of travelling — seeing the good, the disappointing and everything in between.
For us, the highlights have been the everyday moments: a great roti, a friendly conversation, a helpful smile, and those little reminders that we are guests in someone else’s home.
Have you discovered a hidden food gem while travelling, or had an experience that surprised you (good or bad)? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
If you’ve enjoyed following along with our adventures, please feel free to leave a comment, share the post, or give it a like — it really helps and we love knowing who is travelling along with us.
A Midlife Adventure 