With another day dawning bright and early in Bridgetown, Barbados, my friends and I set out to have a Bajan street food breakfast and tour of the capital city!
Craig, Nerissa, and I started at some outdoor craft vendors near the bridge that connects the two halves of the city. There was a nice man named Nigel selling lots of handmade sandals, belts, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and hats! They used lots of local materials like coconut and cowrie shells, as well as beads!
I bought three anklets for my two daughters and my niece for 25 BBD/$12.50 USD each, and a coconut bracelet. Past that is a square where they honor the national hero, Errol Walton Barrow, who led the fight for Barbados’ independence and was the first Prime Minister of Barbados.
Nearby, on the coast of Bridgetown, Barbados is a harbor for boats. It’s beautiful! Across the bridge, we saw the Parliament building, a colonial building that was built between 1870 and 1874. Then, we headed down Broad Street to get some pastries. The buildings were colorful!
We arrived at Crumbz Bakery in Bridgetown, Barbados, which doesn’t have a sign outside. They have several pastries, but we decided to go with three: the beef patty, currant slice, and meat roll, which came to 25.75 BBD, or about $13 USD.
The meat roll was flaky and reminded me of a pastel. I loved the buttery, flaky layers. The beef was really nice and it had some tasty spices in it. It was really unique!
The currant slice was a dense, rolled-up pastry containing lots of currants. It had lots of layers and also contained cinnamon and raisins. It was very filling and tasty! And finally, the beef patty was large and flaky with tons of meat inside. It had a curry-like flavor but also had a sweetness to it.
Adding my David’s Been Here Hot Sauce added a nice kick of tropical sweetness from the pineapple and guava, and a small amount of heat!
From there, we continued our exploration of Bridgetown, Barbados. We walked to a street market on Swan Street one street over. There are swans in the mosaic-like designs on the ground. I could see vendors selling clothing, produce, jewelry, sandals, and more.
I tried a Bajan cherry from a vendor. They didn’t have much meat on them, but they were very sweet and tasty!
We walked to the end of the street and turned around and got some snow cones sold by a man named Tyson. They add lots of fruit flavors and condensed milk. It was like a creamy alcoholic snow cone for only 5 BBD/$2.50 USD. The Baileys and nutmeg in it blew me away! It was my favorite snow cone I’ve ever had!
From there, we headed over to Cheapside Market, which is a farmer’s market in Bridgetown, Barbados! You can buy produce, juices, meat, clothes, and more. Saturdays are the best days to visit, but they’ve mostly closed during the week. There were only a few vegetable vendors open, but the butchers were open!
There were eight or nine butchers open, selling beef, cow heel, lamb neck, pig feet, pig ears, tongue, brain, and more. They have an amazing saw that can cut straight through the bone! It was so cool to see!
Back outside, we met a woman named Sheryl selling bottled sugarcane juice and coconut water, as well as pepper sauces! Her pepper sauces are 10 BBD/$5 USD each. She also makes tamarind balls. Some of them contain fresh cayenne pepper! It was very sticky and had a real spicy kick to it!
The sugarcane juice was very sweet and refreshing! It was exactly what I needed on a hot day. She also sells seasonal juices!
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