In addition to allowing me to burn off a few calories, the three-hour, 1.3-mile Bites of Nassau Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour with Tru Bahamian Food Tours I took in Nassau last month offered me a glimpse at what makes Bahamian cuisine and cocktails special.
Led by our tour guide, Lelly Smith, our group started at the Bahamian Cookin’ restaurant, which was opened in 1986 by Mena Wallace (known as Grammy to the locals) and is today run by Grammy along with her daughter and granddaughter. The first meal, in this instance being the most sizable of the tour, consisted of steamed chicken, rice and peas, plantains and Bahamian-style macaroni and cheese, which locals refer to simply as macaroni).
On this tour we sampled chocolates at the Graycliff Chocolatier and were treated to fish tacos and cocktails made with small-batch rums at the John Watling’s Distillery, and learned that it was the location where the opening of the 2006 James Bond movie “Casino Royale” was filmed.
Other stops included the Towne Hotel, where an uncaged macaw greeted our group in the front and a Bahama Mama cocktail awaited us in the pool courtyard in the back, and the Art District Lounge, where we sampled a plantain bowl and a Goombay Smash cocktail.
But it’s not just about consuming calories; the tour also offer a cultural glimpse into Nassau. It was during our walk that I learned that many buildings in Nassau are color coded. Government offices are pink and schools are yellow, for example. We strolled downtown past locations including the Christ Church Cathedral (established in 1676), the Villa Doyle 19th-century mansion (where the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas is housed today) and the Graycliff Hotel, whose origins go back to 1740, built by the pirate John Howard Graysmith.
Tours operate five times daily from Mondays through Saturdays and start at $79 per person for the Bites of Nassau Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour. Five other tours are available, as are private tour options. Tru Bahamian Food Tours occasionally rotates partner restaurants and food and drink offerings. Special dietary requests must be made in advance.
