In Grenada, I wandered off the resort to find the country’s true cuisine

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It was a tip from a server at the morning buffet at the Silversands, a sleek hotel in Grenada, that led me to Wall Street. At the Grand Anse Main Road roundabout, a short walk from the hotel, locals had gathered after dark to eat their beloved Grenadian dishes from food trucks. Groups of friends were sitting around chatting (“liming” in Caribbean-speak) while listening to reggae blasting from car stereos.

After sampling some uninspired international food at the local resorts, I was itching to try real Grenadian cuisine. At Wall Street (the roundabout’s nickname, not an actual street), I dived into a punchy goat curry with chickpeas and sampled fried lambi (meat from a conch, a large shelled mollusk) with a wonderful sweet and spicy sauce. The locals warmly offered me recommendations on what to eat and vouched devotion to their favourite dishes.

This lesser-known Caribbean island, with a population of 125,000, located just 160 kilometres north of Venezuela, seamlessly blends luxury and authenticity in a way that appealed to both my self-indulgent side and my adventurous side. At the Silversands resort (developed by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris) I chatted with an American hedge fund manager working remotely from a US$10,000-a-night villa. But I wasn’t isolated on a remote beach: I slipped outside the gates and within a minute I was at a bustling seaside bar and a rickety fish shack.

The 34-km-long island nation, which gained independence from Britain in 1974, isn’t top of mind for most Canadians. Overshadowed by music-mecca Jamaica, carnival-crazy Trinidad and the better-known beaches of Barbados, Grenada’s tourism sector is still gaining strength. The coastline has much to offer, with its turquoise waters and schools of tiny fish, and countless opportunities for snorkelling, diving and boating. However, Grenada’s rich culture and lush rain forest hiking trails give it a unique feel and inspired me to climb the curvy mountain roads to explore. (I learned the hard way that this was easiest by car, as the heavy traffic and rickety sidewalks can make walking a challenge.)

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“It’s a more off-the-beaten-path destination for tourists and it’s very friendly,” explained my hiking guide Simon Green, who was constantly waving to people he knew as he drove up hairpin turns on the steep roads. “Tourism is fairly new here. People describe Grenada as how the Caribbean used to be in an earlier time.”

Grenada is relatively safe, too. “It’s about the size and the kinship,” Green told me. “Almost everybody knows each other. Post-slavery, Grenada had a higher rate of land ownership than Jamaica and Trinidad, so it is relatively harmonious.”

Like many Grenadians, Green once lived in Canada and has close relatives in the country. It quickly became familiar to hear locals in melodious Caribbean accents compare the traffic to Ontario’s Highway 401 or boast about their hockey skills. Direct flights from Toronto to “the Spice Island” help keep the countries connected, although Air Canada only runs the route to the sometimes-chaotic Maurice Bishop International Airport during the tourist season.

On a tour of the co-operative farm Laura Herb & Spice Garden, I breathed in the scent of many of the spices and herbs the country is known for: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, turmeric, bay leaves and nutmeg, which is featured on Grenada’s flag. I learned that many are considered to have medicinal properties: Thyme is used to treat chest colds, rosemary for menopause symptoms, and lemongrass for fever and menstrual pain. “This is our traditional pharmacy,” Green told me. “Before we go to a doctor, our first defence is herbs.”

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Grenada’s food blends the traditions of African slaves and Indian plantation workers, along with influences from the island’s historic French and English colonial elite. I was keen to try oil down, the national dish, but had trouble finding it on my visit, when one of the key ingredients, breadfruit, was out of season. After several failed attempts, Green made some phone calls and discovered that Good Food restaurant in Grenville had the mysterious dish.

Oil down was traditionally cooked outdoors in a large pot. The recipe varies, Good Food’s Shondel Pilgrim explained to me, but typically ingredients are carefully layered into the pot – cuts of meat like pigtail that were available during slavery days, as well as local vegetables like yam, dasheen (taro) and bluggoe (a type of starchy banana). The heavy stew gets its rich flavour from coconut milk, turmeric, chives, peppers and chadon beni, a herb similar to cilantro. “Every oil down is a work of art,” explained Green, who wishes more tourist-oriented restaurants would offer it on their menus. The dish was dense and heavy – one plate at Good Food is enough to feed a small family – with a fantastic currylike sauce. I washed it down with mauby, a strangely appealing bitter beverage made from tree bark.

Grenadians fret their nightlife is sleepy compared to the bigger Caribbean islands, but it’s easy for visitors to navigate, as pretty well anyone can point you to where people are gathering that night. On my first evening on the island, I accidentally stumbled on Thursday night’s hot spot, Coconut Beach Restaurant, while strolling down Grand Anse Beach. The seaside venue was packed for $1 wing night (1 East Caribbean dollar is 50 cents Canadian), and we watched a lively band play reggae, afrobeats and soca favourites.

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On Friday, I sagely escaped the resort entertainment scene – a steelpan band playing the Bee Gees – to check out the happening Friday dance spots, the West Indies Beer Company and the Junction Bar & Grill next door. The packed clubs had a party feel, with energetic music and intense men on the prowl, looking for ladies to test their X-rated pickup lines on. Bouncy, infectiously happy soca music is everywhere on the island, and Grenada has its own spin on it: jab jab, which is associated with a diabolic character from the island’s own carnival. Dancing isn’t only confined to the nightclubs – I smiled while watching a customer gyrate to reggae artist Buju Banton at the cash in the local grocery store.

On the Saturday night, there was much buzz on the island about “Grenadian bad boy” singer V’ghn’s birthday concert at the National Cricket Stadium. I foolishly showed up at 9:30 p.m., 90 minutes after the doors opened, not realizing that Grenadian nightlife starts late – very late. The first act didn’t go on stage until after midnight, kicking off a continuous flow of lively performers from across the Caribbean. It was well after 1 a.m. when the impeccably dressed locals finally started dancing, but with the enthusiastic performers energizing the crowd, and the rhythmic music pulsing into the warm night, I was glad I had waited.

If you go

Air Canada runs direct flights from Toronto to Grenada four days a week beginning Oct. 29.

• The relatively new Silversands in St. George is magazine-chic, with a beachside infinity pool, luxurious rooms and attentive service. Rooms start at around $900 Canadian a night. silversandsgrenada.com
• Good Food restaurant on Gladstone Road in Grenville is known for its local dishes, in particular oil down, which is served on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and costs under $10.
• Chadon Beni in the Grand Anse’s Le Marquis Complex has a lineup of roti lovers out the door. Try the “buss-up-shut roti” – a Trinidad-style flatbread ripped apart like a “busted up shirt” – perfect for soaking up saucy curry.
• Wall Street, a collection of food trucks serving local dishes at the Grand Anse Main road roundabout, gets busy after dark, but it’s also great at dawn, when you can buy doubles – a sloppy sandwich of chickpea curry inside two pieces of fried flatbread – from the back of a van as the sun rises over the mountainous island.

The writer was a guest of the Grenada Tourism Authority and Silversands Grenada. They did not review or approve the story before publication.