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Cacao Cuisine at Boucan Restaurant, Saint Lucia

Boucan Restaurant, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Saint Lucia’s Hotel Chocolat sits on the lush grounds of the Rabot Estate where Jorge and I also took a tour of their cacao plantation. As I said before, they grow a ton of fruits that they can use in Boucan Restaurant – bananas, mangoes, soupsop – for cocktails and fresh juice but, combimed with fresh local produce, the theme of the restaurant and its menu is chocolate.

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Besides Marina’s breadfruit pie, this (in my opinion anyway) was the best meal we ate in Saint Lucia: flavourful, chocolate-laced and in a setting with open walls which gave us most stunning view of one of the island’s famous Pitons.

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Directly below our seats was the hotel’s infinity pool. Birds were bathing on the edges, flapping their wings to splash in the water. The sun sparkled on the surface until halfway through our meal when we had a short rain shower. We sat and watched the drops bounce and ripple therapeutically, palm trees and papaya trees dripping water from their leaves in the lush vegetation beyond the pool.

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

The waiters brought bread to start and three choices for dipping: chocolate vinegar, chocolate butter and chocolate olive oil. Jorge’s favourite was the olive oil and mine was the vinegar, but they were all very tasty.

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

While we were munching away on our bread, we noticed that the usual salt and pepper shakers were accompanied by a third: powdered chocolate to sprinkle over anything you want – yum!

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

For a main, I chose the locally sourced kingfish served in a broth with potatoes, onions and a type of algae. It was makes my mouth water thinking back on the flavour of it all. It was so tasty.

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Jorge chose a chicken roti, cooked up Caribbean style which he also very much enjoyed. I had a taste but my spicy tollerence of pretty much zero wasn’t such a fan (which is why I didn’t order it in the first place). It was well-presented though!

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Although we usually chose something to share, it’s extremely rare that we skip dessert when we go to a restaurant. We both have too much of a sweet tooth for that, and usually it’s chocolate. The dessert menu here was pretty intense and it was hard to choose just one, but in tribute to the volcano we were looking at from our seats, we decided to go with “The Magnificent Piton”: “a dramatic soft meringue peak, surrounded by Rabot Estate chocolate soup with sliced local banana, caramel and toasted almond.”

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

We didn’t regret it. The chef also sent out some complimentary truffles which was a lovely gesture but so rich at that point we just couldn’t eat more than a bite each!

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

A few hours after we arrived, we rolled ourselves outside into the sun and plants.

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

Restaurant Boucan, Hotel Chocolat, Saint Lucia by Stephanie Sadler

From there, we headed for Sugar Beach to while away the afternoon. More on that (and the coconut man) later!

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