Its stylish. Its a celebration of international and local fusion cooking and it is simply not to be missed if you are in St. Lucia. The Palms restaurant is located at The Landings Resort and Spa in the north of the island on Pigeon Island causeway, Rodney Bay.
The causeway is significant because it was built (when I was a child) joining Pigeon island to the mainland. There was an important fort established by Admiral Rodney (English) at Pigeon island who fought off the French many times. St. Lucia changed hands 14 times between the French and the English so this is a spot of great historic importance.
The Palms is situated in the Viscount Lounge just off the main lobby and opens onto the shady courtyard with the beautiful private marina in sight.
The chic modern design gives you the choice of indoor dining or sitting amid the palms of the secluded courtyard lit by flambeaux and natural candles. It can lend itself to either a romantic interlude or a big family get together. We’ve done both!
The photo below shows the view from the cool interior through to the courtyard shaded by palm trees and onto the private marina in the distance.
When you visit, its likely that either Tim (standing) or Kirby (sitting) will guide you through the evening with their understated style of respectful banter accompanied by a comprehensive knowledge of the menu and wine list (which is good!)
Stephanie had the “Tuna Tatami ‘Niçoise’ you can see below as her starter, while I had the fishcakes shown below that.
The chefs at The Palms have succeeded in designing a menu which celebrates fresh local flavours presented with a quirky international flair. The fishcakes above for example, are made with saltfish and green fig (green bananas) both national dishes but not traditionally combined into a fishcake. These are breaded, deep-fried and finished in the oven. The result is a light explosion of pure St. Lucia.
Sous chef Jean Marc and his colleague Emmerly welcomed me into the actual kitchen at The Palms. I have to say I felt privileged as I always think of a restaurant’s kitchen as the nerve centre of operations so I quickly snapped the above photo and then got out of their way. They were busy preparing the lamb you see below. The royal arch soars above a mille feuille of different varieties of potato…yes including the blue one.
Red snapper is caught in local waters and delivered as fresh as fresh can be to your plate. In this case it is paired with saffron rice, vanilla scented cauliflower, black bean purée and pistachios. Again…very Sun Temple-esque…..
The philosophy at The Palms is: “to serve fresh local ingredients whenever possible and to create classically inspired dishes served in a contemporary style”…………They succeeded and guess what? Their philosophy fits with mine!
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