So here's what. I have somewhat of a confession to make.
I have become somewhat of a foodie. I've always loved food, but my seriousness for food begun when I decided to do Food and Nutrition when I was in high school. Learning about vitamins and minerals and how it affects your body and how to prepare certain foods was just so fascinating to me. It was cemented when I attended a cooking class hosted by the Wendy Rahamut's School of Cooking for a Mediterranean cuisine. It was so much fun and I had a great time with ma mere!
I have become somewhat of a foodie. I've always loved food, but my seriousness for food begun when I decided to do Food and Nutrition when I was in high school. Learning about vitamins and minerals and how it affects your body and how to prepare certain foods was just so fascinating to me. It was cemented when I attended a cooking class hosted by the Wendy Rahamut's School of Cooking for a Mediterranean cuisine. It was so much fun and I had a great time with ma mere!
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| Mediterranean food: (top/right) Mediterranean flat bread and hummos (literally my new cheese subsitute) (bottom/right: cous cous, taboulleh (my go-to salad now) and rosemary lamb (left-hand side: beautiful San Fernando!) |
Even though I am a semi-foodie at this time, I do not think I would ever become a fan of red meats, like beef, lamb and pork, however I do eat bacon, minced beef and ham occasionally. In the future though, it would be out of my diet for sure.
But let's talk about this epic restaurant visit, followed by my first market visit in ages.
Epic Restaurant Visit
So, this is a restaurant I've wanted to visit since I was attending high school. Do you dare to venture a guess?
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| *Smiles* |
Now what can I say about Chaud apart from the fact that it's the most recommended restaurant to tourists to Trinidad and that the people who've visited always say it's good, consistently? That's pretty much sums up what Chaud is. Owned by Chef Khalid Mohammed, it is the arguably the best locally-owned fine dining restaurant in Trinidad.
We were greeted by smartly dressed staff, who directed us to a table closest to the front, where I can see the savannah (ideally, exactly where I wanted to sit). We were given water (Evian) and garlic bread with tamarind sauce and butter as a starter.
Gosh was it delicious.
We went straight to the main course. My sister and I both had pot-roasted chicken breast (organic) with potatoes and veggies. Great meal.
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| My lovely dinner |
The reason why I just say great, in all honesty, my mom and I season chicken highly, and Chaud's was adjusted to me for their customers, tourists included, so it did not have the burst of flavour I expected. The vegetables were great though (I have a slight veggie fetish these days).
My mom had a crispy snapper dish. And I must say it was perfectly grilled/crispy and the flavour was just right. My mom likes her food dry, and she just loved the flavour and the fact that it was not dripping in sauce.
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| Mi Madre's snapper meal |
Let me mention the juices we ordered. I had a passion fruit juice, in which they mixed in some pineapple juice so the passion flavour was really powerful. It was perfectly sweet. My sister had freshly squeezed orange juice, and she loved it. It was indeed refreshing. Mom had a fruit punch, which was made with fresh fruit; it was just right.
For dessert, my sister ordered a butter caramel pecan ice-cream, I had chocolate chocolate chip and mom had a coconut pistachio sorbet. They were all hand-made and very very delicious.
I can't even begin to express how great the service was, as well as the staff. Perfect evening. Thank you Chaud!
Go to the Market, please!
I swear to you if you want to save money and get fresh goods, may I recommend the market. Tunapuna market is usually my go-to market, so I cannot really speak for the rest.
I can tell you the savings you can have through salmon for now: in the supermarket you will pay close to TT$70 for one slice of filleted salmon fit for one person, but you can get a 4.5 pound salmon for just under TT$100, filleted and all! And everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Bargains galore.
I've never liked the market as a child and I've never understood why my mother would ever venture there, but as I got older, it became clearer to me.
So to recap?
I would definitely recommend Chaud as a restaurant to visit, and of course huge savings are to be realized at the market!
That's all for now.
For dessert, my sister ordered a butter caramel pecan ice-cream, I had chocolate chocolate chip and mom had a coconut pistachio sorbet. They were all hand-made and very very delicious.
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| Chocolate chocolate chip goodness |
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| Butter pecan caramel goodness |
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| Pistachio coconut goodness |
I can't even begin to express how great the service was, as well as the staff. Perfect evening. Thank you Chaud!
Go to the Market, please!
I swear to you if you want to save money and get fresh goods, may I recommend the market. Tunapuna market is usually my go-to market, so I cannot really speak for the rest.
I can tell you the savings you can have through salmon for now: in the supermarket you will pay close to TT$70 for one slice of filleted salmon fit for one person, but you can get a 4.5 pound salmon for just under TT$100, filleted and all! And everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Bargains galore.
I've never liked the market as a child and I've never understood why my mother would ever venture there, but as I got older, it became clearer to me.
So to recap?
I would definitely recommend Chaud as a restaurant to visit, and of course huge savings are to be realized at the market!
That's all for now.
