Anguilla Restaurants
Hibernia Putting On the Ritz

Found all the way out on the east end, looking out over Island Harbour, rests one of the quaintest, yet ritziest, Anguilla restaurants. The name?

Hibernia.

The restaurant is run by Rauol Rodriguez (chef and husband) and Mary Pat O'Hanlon (hostess and wife). They specialize in French and Asian ("Indochinese") dishes containing mostly seafood. Beef, chicken and duck are also on the menu.

Many of the recipes for these dishes are found by the two during their travels to (usually) Asia in the low tourist season in Anguilla.

However, they collect more than just unique recipes. Fine china and artwork are also passions, and it all comes together beautifully in their 5 Star (?6) Anguilla restaurant.

The most recent addition to the restaurant has been an art gallery to house their finds from Asia and Eastern Europe. It is in the same building as their restaurant, which is a sweet West Indian style house.

We first ate at Hibernia during our March 2003 trip. An anguilla-beaches.com visitor, had written to rave about their rum & raisin ice cream! We couldn't pass it up! (Well, my dad couldn't!)

(P.S. I would love to hear about your favorite finds. Please click here and send me a great story about Anguilla.)

So, on our last night of that vacation (we try to save the last night for something special) we had made arrived for dinner promptly at our reserved time (which is a good idea - the small restaurant fills up fast!).

It was a warm night (as Anguilla evenings usually are), made comfortable by a gentle trade wind passing through.

The restaurant was lit up elegantly with candles and smiling faces. Even my little sister looked elegant!

We were seated by the kind hostess Mary Pat O'Hanlon and took a look at the menu...

The soup & starters menu varied from Asian mushrooms soup to Thai style crab & fish cakes to Pate of Foie Gras. Their main courses ranged equally widely, going from Thai casserole with crayfish to chicken breast and squid to grilled black angus beef tenderloin. And the desserts followed suit, ranging from french cheeses, to ice cream and sorbet, to apple and ginger crumble.

It definitley was tricky to make up our mind. But, in the end I chose a selection of Caribbean fish (mahi mahi, kingfish, tuna) which was smoked on their premises, and served with ginger, horseradish cream cheese and toast. It was delicious!

Mary Pat O'Hanlon is a most gracious hostess, gentle and pleasant.

But when the crowning moment arrived for dessert... we couldn't eat another bite.

"Next time," my dad said to Mary... "We start with the rum and raisin ice cream."

The overall experience was definitely a joy, for the eye as well as the taste... and yummy! But there are a few things to keep in mind when planning for Hibernia...

#1) Make reservations - tables go fast!

#2) Be ready for a big bill. This is "5 Star Anguilla Restaurant" all the way.

#3) Don't make the same mistake we did - save room for dessert!