Iggie's at Bolongo Bay

When it’s time for dinner, a major difference between a cruise and resort vacation becomes obvious. At the Marriott, we had to confront the frightening prospect of menus with prices. Resorts generally recognize they have captive audiences and charge according to this. To get to the town of Charlotte Amalie is a $6 per person taxi or ferry ride from Frenchman’s Reef each way. As such, you have to factor in $12 additional for the privilege of eating in town. $9.95 all-you-can-eat hot wings, for example, become $21.95 with the taxi included. In addition, the ferry stops running before the sun goes down. If you don’t have the expense and hassle of taking a taxi into town, $17 for fish and chips in the pub called Captain’s Cafe or $15 for a hamburger at Coco Joe’s on the beach starts sounding reasonable, especially because the food really is excellent and served in large proportions. Paying two or three times that much for a meal at the deluxe Havana Blue is still hard to swallow for someone like me.

On our first night, however, we had a car rented, so we headed for a place called Iggie’s Beach Bar, which had all-you-can-eat barbecue that night. We asked for directions and set off along the winding roads that dip up and down like a roller coaster to Bolongo Bay, where we found what they humbly call the Best Beach Bar in the Caribbean.

The setting is perfect, right on the beach with beautiful panoramic ocean views from the rustic restaurant. Iggie’s structure and furnishings look exactly like what you would want a Caribbean beach bar to be.

The all-you-can-eat barbecued ribs, chicken and brisket turned out to be $25 per person, but they also had an a la carte menu. Julie zoomed in on exactly what she wanted: Caribbean BBQ Pork Sandwich in a rum and Coke infused barbecue sauce for $9.75. As soon as she saw the bar, she flashed on the Hula Grill in Maui, where we have enjoyed the Hawaiian version (sans rum and Coke sauce) on many occasions. My taste buds were set for BBQ pork too. Drinks were reasonable, with Bud Light for only $3.25 each and rum and Diet Coke for $5.

The sandwiches and French fries were so good we ended up paying for the taxi ride to eat this same meal two more times. On the second visit, we were on our way back from Tortola via the more distant ferry stop of Red Hook, so we ended up getting to Iggie’s around 5:30 and discovered they had a happy hour with half price mixed drinks and $1 off beer from 4 to 6. I tried the Virgin Islands Pale Ale (normally $4.25, but $3.25 for happy hour), and while it was a decent brew, it didn’t seem better than Bud Light. I was disappointed to read that Virgin Islands Pale Ale was brewed in Portland, Maine. Then again, the all-American Budweiser brand is now owned by a Belgian company, so I guess I should be used to these misleading labels.

Our third trip to Iggie’s was for their Carnival Night, a sort of Caribbean luau priced at $29 including a “West Indian Buffet.” It smelled good, but when we found out we could get those great BBQ Pork Sandwiches off the a la carte menu instead, that’s what we had. The show included everything advertised, including some impressive limbo. When the Limbo King from Antigua jumped on broken and burning glass, however, it was one of those can’t stand to watch/have to see it kind of things. The lead guitarist/singer in the band was terrific, as were his percussion accompanists, but some of the other instruments were canned for this night. Still, they put on a good show.

I recommend Iggie’s to anyone visiting St. Thomas.