My two weeks in the Bahamas challenged a lot of my expectations. That is good; travel is meant to take our assumptions and knock them around a bit. Sometimes, those end up being things that don’t live up to what we envisioned. And other times, the realities of an aspect of a destination blow those expectations out of the water.

I was not expecting to be wowed by Bahamian food. I figured I’d try conch (of course), I’d visit the Fish Fry, and then largely find seafood or Caribbean fare that was more to the taste of my palate. I was wrong.

The food in the Bahamas is pretty darned good. It isn’t as diverse as some cuisines out there, and I’d have a hard time – for a few reasons, which I’ll get into in a moment – living on it for extended periods. But what I had was basically all delicious, so much so that I mainly subsisted on local specialties for the trip’s two-week duration.

Today, let’s talk about Bahamian cuisine. We will explore it from both a short term (if you’re on a cruise and you have only one meal to eat, what should it be) perspective and a longer one that discusses the breadth.

The story begins – though it doesn’t quite end – with conch.

Conch is a mollusk, basically a big snail that lives in a large beautiful shell. It is not only the most famous food item in the Bahamas, but the shells are the most popular souvenir. (Note: you cannot bring conch shells home in a carry-on, as they are considered blunt weapons. Don’t buy one, or check your suitcase.)

Conch tastes somewhere between shrimp and squid. It is fishy and a bit briny like shrimp, but has a very chewy texture like squid. Those qualities can be more or less prevalent depending on how it is prepared. During my trip, I ate conch seven different ways.

Let’s start with conch fritters, which is basically the national dish of the Bahamas, and the one thing you must eat (assuming shellfish works for you dietarily) on a trip. Conch fritters, which I had from at least four different places to get a good sample, are golf-ball sized. They can be fried once or twice (twice is crispier), and can have larger pieces of conch in them or mainly be made with tiny conch pieces as part of the batter. All will come served with a slightly spicy (mild on the spice scale but not zero) aioli. Prices tend to run at $5-10 for a platter of 8-10 fritters, so go to town.

Crack conch is conch calimari, pieces of conch that are lightly battered (or just floured and seasoned) and fried. It will be served with that same aioli. My favorite crack conch was at Linda’s, which is inside the shopping area connected to the cruise terminal. (This is probably the only time I’ll ever have a favorite be inside the most touristy part of a place, but hey, it was awesome.)

You might be tempted, as I was, to order a conch burger, which is our third way to eat the creature. You’ll find that it is a portion of crack conch on a bun. You can skip it, unless you like your fried seafood with extra carbs.

Besides fritters, conch salad is the most prevalent way to see it prepared. Here, it is sliced raw (thinly enough so that the chew factor isn’t overwhelming), and marinated with onion, tomato, peppers, and citrus. If you are put off by huge quantities of onion, you may want to instead try a slightly different variety.

That variety, fifth on the list, is tropical conch salad. Halve the onion quantity, and add mango and pineapple, and you’ll have my personal favorite way to each conch. For either version, it tends to be about $20-22 for a serving that will easily feed two people. (At some restaurants at the Fish Fry, conch salad is prepared and served at a separate window or bar area inside or just outside of the main eatery. Just ask.)

There is also scorch conch. What is scorch conch? It is pretty much the normal conch salad, but cooked (or at least heated). I wasn’t a huge fan.

Finally, conch chowder. It is not cream based, coming off more as a gumbo with conch and root veggies. A few places at Fish Fry had it on their menus, but none actually served it. So I found my bowl across the street at Cricket Club – an excellent place to eat – served with a perfect Johnny cake (cross between a biscuit and sweet cornbread).

Wow, that is a lot of conch. But what if you don’t eat it, or didn’t like it? Fortunately, Bahamian cuisine does have some other things to look forward to.

Let’s start with seafood. Snapper – fried or grilled – is incredibly popular here, and can be found all over. It will be served whole (with head and bones) so be prepared for that. In addition, one can find other seafood, from barracuda to lobster and crab. But snapper is most common, especially at Fish Fry. (Note: if you want grilled snapper, go instead to the aforementioned Cricket Club, where it is much better.)

I’ve mentioned Fish Fry a few times, so this is a good place to talk about it. Fish Fry is an area just west of Junkanoo Beach, so about a 15-20 minute walk from the Nassau cruise terminal, with a couple dozen eateries, most of which specialize in seafood. Fried seafood, to be specific, hence the name. If you have only a single day in Nassau, come here to have your lunch experience if you can. If you have longer, you’ll likely be here regularly, as I was.

Is one place at Fish Fry any better than another? To be honest, I didn’t find a ton of difference, and chose restaurants based on volume of music playing and seating availability. Note: most places here are cash only.

There is also another area that is similar to Fish Fry. Known as “under the bridge,” it sits – literally – under the Paradise Island bridge, the further east of the two. It is a long walk from downtown, but if you are staying on Paradise Island and want a similar vibe as Fish Fry but with more locals than tourists, give it a try. The rays swimming outside help!

If you don’t want seafood, most restaurants offer fried chicken wings, fried pork ribs (see the pattern?) or burgers. But you’d be better off at the eastern edge of Fish Fry at a tiny shack called Sonia’s Jerk for jerk chicken, ribs, or pork. It is $25 for a platter that will easily feed two, although you’ll have to navigate bones. Get it with rice and peas (the Caribbean equivalent of beans and rice, and baked macaroni.)

If you are in the mood for sweets, or eat sweets for breakfast, you might want to try a guava duff. It is basically a biscuit stuffed with guava. But head just west of Fish Fry to a place called The New Duff – my favorite breakfast spot in Nassau – and get theirs. It is a steamed Chinese bun filled with guava and topped with guava butter. (They also have a pina colada version with pineapple inside and coconut butter on top.) In two weeks in Nassau, I went to The New Duff at least six or seven times; it is that good.

Finally, no intro to Bahamian cuisine would be complete without talking about beverages. Here, the drinks of choice are beer and rum. For beer, the locals are Sands and Kalik. Kalik also makes tropical radlers, beer mixed with juice, in both mango and guava. They are delightful.

One can easily find pina coladas, rum punch, and other iconic drinks, but the “official” rum drink here is the Bahama Mama, a mix of juice, rum, and grenadine. (To read more about rum in the Bahamas, click here.)

I was honestly surprised how much I enjoyed the food in the Bahamas. I did, however, crave non-fried items as the trip went on, despite my love for conch fritters. (Apologies to my doctor for what I’m sure will be an elevated cholesterol test, sadly timed for the week after I get back. Update: my cholesterol was DOWN! I credit this to the amount of walking I did between fried fish meals.)

I’m sure you’ll like the food as well. So whether you are here for an extended period and can try all of it, or just for a quick conch fritters platter and a Bahama Mama, enjoy a really tasty cuisine on your trip to the Bahamas.

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