Shaun R.
Yelp
After vacationing in Frederiksted for a few days, my girlfriend and I asked around about good restaurants to try, and Braata was mentioned two or three times. It has only been open for a few months, which might explain why I'm the first to review it, but it deserves many more reviews as it's an essential stop for anyone staying in the area.
First of all, the atmosphere is great. Frederiksted has proven to have a lot of friendly locals, but we felt particularly welcome at Braata, with the manager greeting us and going over the menu before serving us and being generally amicable. We also briefly met the head chef, Digby, and later the bartender, Shaba, who told us of some other good local restaurants to try out. Speaking of drinks, we didn't wind up trying any alcoholic beverages, as we've been trying to go easy on the budget as the trip draws to a close, but we wound up getting a local lemonade that was delicious in a very unique way -- some kind of herb or flavoring makes it a cut above any lemonade we'd ever tried.
But let's face it: the food is the star of the show here, as it should be. The cuisine is a mix of local Caribbean fare and African cuisines, all drawing on Digby's background. The menu has a blend of small and large plates, and we admittedly had a lot of difficulty deciding on what to split, because literally everything looked appetizing. We ultimately chose the crab alcapurrias, which are essentially crab cakes with coconut yogurt, cassava, and a kind of ketchup aioli, and we also tried the North African meatballs, which are cooked in sofrito, and surrounded by a delectable tomato ragu. We absolutely loved both dishes, and while I don't like to whip out pretentious terms like "flavor profiles," I can't deny that what really set these dishes apart from others *are* their flavor profiles. Part of the appeal is that everything is sourced locally which, on an island, means that it's super fresh.
I overheard the patrons behind us inquiring about dessert, and as soon as the proprietor mentioned tapioca (which is also local), I knew I wanted it. The dessert turned out to be called red grout, which I found out afterwards is indeed a dessert specific to St. Croix. It's made with guava, almonds, and tapioca, as well as some vanilla cream. I personally loved it, even though I'm not a huge fan of either guava or almonds. My girlfriend was less enthusiastic about it, but still enjoyed it.
All told, Braata is a can't-miss restaurant in Frederiksted. In fact, even if you're staying in Christiansted, it's really worth the drive. There are certainly other places doing high-end local cuisines on St. Croix, but it's hard to imagine any of them matching Braata for overall quality.
