Restaurant review - QP - West Coast Barbados
- Karen
- Jan 5, 2024
- 4 min read
Location - Highway 1, Derricks, St. James
Overall Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Food - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Drinks - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atmosphere - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you have read any of my other restaurant reviews, then you know I am a true advocate of finding local restaurants, and that you don't have to spend a fortune to have a good meal in Barbados. If you haven't read any of my restaurant reviews I would urge that you do, especially this one as they are all near QP. I champion value-for-money restaurants and bars, but there are some occasions when it is nice to splash out. My mum recently visited and we wanted to go somewhere nice for our 'Christmas' meal. Since we had already had a great meal at The Cliff, we thought we would try its sister restaurant QP Bistro, located immediately next door.
We booked online and then went to the office, which is opposite the restaurant, to pay the deposit.
We had booked for 6:30 pm but went a little early so we could have a drink and watch the sunset. We were greeted at the entrance and taken to the bar area. It has lovely decorations with plants and trees integrated into the restaurant. It is also on two levels so even if you aren't on the front row of tables you can still see over the water, which was really nice.
Food
We decided to have the Prix Fixe menu, as we had the equivalent in The Cliff and thought it was great. You don't get the in-between courses that you get at The Cliff, but it was still very filling and lovely food.
So what did we eat?
Bread
Fresh bread was brought to the table and you could choose which you would like.
Starter
Two of us had Salt and Pepper squid and my mum had a Classic Caesar salad. The salad was huge! It could have been the main course. But everything was nice and tasty and the squid was more like a starter size.
Main
We had three different main courses and all were well cooked and presented.
Parisienne gnocci with herb pesto, squash purée, pickled shallots
Fettuccine bolognese, consisting of fettuccine pasta with a bolognese ragout
Blackened catch of the day with sweet corn & green bean risotto, spicy corn salsa, broccoli
Dessert
Again we had three different desserts and they were a great way to end the meal. We may have expected a bit more from the fruit salad. Maybe sliced fruit rather than the bowl of fruit you might get in a restaurant in the UK but that might reflect more on my expectations than the restaurant itself
Apple crumble bread pudding with vanilla rum sauce
Little sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce, roasted pecan nuts, Madagascar vanilla ice cream (I had it without the nuts)
Tropical fruit salad, a selection of fruits, homemade ice cream
The set menu is $165 BBD per person (approx. £65 each) plus the 12.5% service charge. There was an advertised complimentary glass of Prosecco on our menu that we didn't receive but since we aren't drinkers we didn't say anything. If you want it you might have to give a prompt to the staff.
Drinks
There is a vast choice of drinks to accompany your meal including cocktails, rums, beers and wines. Not being a big drinker I tried a mocktail (fruit punch) which was nice and tangy. You could go crazy and spend over $105 BBD on one measure of very fancy rum, much less than next door, but I still don't make that kind of money.
Service
The girls at the entrance and the bar area were amazing, but if I'm honest I was a bit disappointed in the service for the meal itself. This might be because I was expecting QP to be the step below The Cliff who were so amazing. But the staff at QP were along the level of other restaurants I have been to in Barbados. Having worked in hospitality I might be a bit of a harsh judge, but we weren't offered more drinks after the first glasses were cleared, and the waiter looked rushed. When he was putting plates down he seemed to already be walking away before the plate was fully on the table giving us a few precarious moments. They were fine, but maybe I just wanted more, but I don't think so because we all felt the same way about this.
Atmosphere
The restaurant is stunning maybe even more so than The Cliff. I love the plants and all the views over the water. It is elegant but still has a relaxed atmosphere so is a lovely place for a meal that is just a little bit special.
Overall thoughts
This was a nice evening. The food was lovely and the views were spectacular, but I did feel something was missing. Based on my experience at Qp and The Cliff, I would probably opt to pay a little bit more and eat at The Cliff if it were a special meal. The QP is probably best for an informal lunch with great views.
Find more reviews for the West Coast of Barbados below
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