With another day in Trinidad and Tobago ahead of me, I decided to go all-out with a food and attractions tour of Tobago! Let’s head out and explore the island!
By boy Chef Jason Peru and I started at Primitive Arts, a small stand where a woman sells handmade wooden crafts. I could see carved wall hangings of turtles, fish, and jaguars, as well as masks made from calabash shells!
I saw a mask that almost looked like a pumpkin, as well as necklaces, cowrie shell earrings, bags, postcards, maracas, and shirts. The calabash shells were all really unique. Everything cost me 400 TTD, or about $65 USD.
From there, we drove through a small, quaint community to the Mystery Tombstone of Plymouth. It’s from 1783 and is known for its baffling inscription, which says the tomb is for a woman named Betty Stiven who “was a mother without knowing it, and a wife without letting her husband know it except by her kind indulgences to him.”
It’s located just 20 minutes from Plymouth Point. Then, we drove across the island, through the interior, to Fort King George in Scarborough. It sits on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on the opposite side of the island.
The fort was built in the early 1770s as a fortification for the newly appointed capital of Scarborough. It was known as Fort Castries during a French occupation from 1781-1793 and then fell under British Control and renamed Fort King George after King George III.
It houses the Tobago Museum and a jailhouse. Below us was the beautiful town of Scarborough and beyond it, the ocean! There were lots of mossy colonial buildings, and some barracks.
The island was very sleepy. We drove to a small tent near the ocean called Wendy’s Taste the Difference. They were selling barbecued pork, blue marlin, stewed pigeon peas, fries, salad, a cheesy garlic potato pie, tamarind sauce, garlic sauce, and barbecue sauce.
I started with the BBQ pork, which was a meaty pork shoulder. I loved the smokiness and the sweet sauce. Next was the provision salad, which contained green figs, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and breadfruit. It was soft and creamy and so tasty!
The cheesy garlic potato pie was like au gratin potatoes. It’s the perfect Sunday meal! I also loved the salad, which was fresh and crunchy. We followed that with the blue marlin, which was insane. I’d never had sauces like this on barbecued fish. It was so meaty and moist!
The stewed pigeon peas with rice and macaroni salad were also amazing. It all went well together and created an amazing food experience! Each plate cost 55 TTD each, or about $8 USD each. It was so good, I couldn’t stop eating it!
Then, we followed the main highway down to Pigeon Point. What an awesome day in Tobago!
My name is David Hoffmann. Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,300 destinations in 88 countries to experience and document unique cultures on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media. I highlight culture and historical sites, but my passion is food! I love to experience and showcase the different flavors each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining.
Where have you been? P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!
Good afternoon guys, David Hoffman here from David's Bin here, coming at you from beautiful
Tobago with my boy Chef Jason Peru.
Today we're going to go on a sightseeing adventure, we're going to see a tomb, castle, arts and
crafts and we're going to have some street food, I'm sure.
We don't know what to expect, we're just going to go from here, which is Black Rock to Plymouth,
then from there to Scarborough.
We just want to basically just take the island by storm, just stopping out, taking pictures,
enjoying the sights.
It's free range, we're not on any agenda, just straight vibes, good fun and of course,
you know, good camaraderie.
Let's do this.
Let's do it, let's do it.
And you guys know me, you know I like to collect masks, it's one of my favorite things on earth.
And right here we have Primitive Arts, always support the locals, always go shopping.
As soon as you walk in, you can see beautiful turtle, you got a jaguar, over here some fish.
Look at this right here.
Just pull this string.
A little macaw.
It's a macaw, yeah.
And then right here we have clothing for kids.
Hey, how you doing?
Hi, I'm good.
So you don't have any Calabash masks, right?
No.
Nothing.
You mean a mask like?
Like they make a hole in it.
Oh, look over here.
Alright, so they got something.
That's some good stuff, really nice stuff.
Bigger ones here, brother.
Check these out.
Look at this one.
Oh, that one's cool.
That one looks like a pumpkin, you know?
Almost like Halloween, right?
Yeah.
Beautiful.
Look at that.
Huge.
You can literally put it on.
So nice, but very soft, right?
Is it too fragile to like travel with?
No, you should be able to travel with that.
This one is actually a necklace.
They even have the masks printed right here.
Look at that.
So it's fashionable, right?
So it's a little more practical.
You could at least wear this one and go out in public.
Okay, so I think I'm going to take some earrings for my daughters.
So I'm going to take two of these.
So 75 each, right?
For the pair.
75.
So here she has bags, she has necklaces, she has Calabash carvings.
She has huge bags up there.
Look at those bags.
Massive.
She also has some postcards.
I like this one.
This is actually my favorite.
I mean, the size is smaller, but it's cool, right?
Yeah, it's rather unique.
It has a distinct sort of feel to it, you know?
Yeah, I personally don't want to get one of the ones that has like art on it.
I'd rather have something masked that fits my mask collection, right?
Most definitely.
Oh, you collect masks.
Yeah.
There you go.
Yeah.
So what, it's $290?
$290, yeah.
Let's negotiate.
These are like little egg maracas, right?
What's the total price for the earrings and the mask?
Okay, guys.
So the total price is $400.
So $65 for the two earrings and the mask.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
You're welcome.
And it's here.
And then everything's inside?
Yeah.
Okay.
Everything.
I put the earrings inside.
Inside.
Take it back.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
Take care.
Ciao.
I know your kids, they're putting on a lot of those earrings, right?
For sure.
A lot of them charm bracelets.
All right, let's keep going.
You want to see the mysterious tomb?
I've never been there actually.
Plymouth is tiny.
Look at this.
Small houses.
That's it.
So small community.
It's very quaint.
Sleepy village.
So we have a mystery tomb here.
That's it?
Yep.
And this is the mystery tomb.
So the famous tombstone of Plymouth from 1783.
It's mysterious inscription baffles interpretation.
You know this is my first time seeing this, right?
It's a bit macabre, but this is a tourist attraction apparently.
It has an inscription on it.
That's it.
This is the mystery tomb.
It has an inscription on it.
What does it say?
It says, within these walls are depopulated the bodies of Mrs. Betty Stephen and her child.
She was a beloved wife of Alex B. Stephen to the end of his days and will deplore her
debt, which happened on the 25th of November, 1783 in the year of her age.
Wow.
So what was remarkable of it was that she was a mother without knowing it and a wife
without letting her husband know, except by her kind indulgences to him.
No wonder it's a mystery.
I just got mind boggled there, right?
Right?
I mean, 250-year-old tomb here completely alone.
It's surrounded by a tiny gate.
You can come here.
It's only a 20-minute drive from Plymouth Point.
Correct.
Yeah.
And bring the family.
Yeah.
Just pass by, see it, and now we're going to cross from Plymouth all the way over to Scarborough.
Yeah, let's do it.
Let's go.
Now we're crossing through the center of Tobago.
We're basically going from north to south, but it's like northwest to southeast.
Through the hills, yeah.
Yeah, through the hills, right?
Yeah.
So it's very lush, lots of green trees, really beautiful.
Primarily, it's a geography lesson with you right now, because I've never been to some
of these sites nevertheless, and it's beautiful even for locals and myself to explore them.
So northwest heading to the east, I believe, Fort King George is what we're looking for
right now, so we're exploring.
You think we'll find some vendors selling anything, you think?
Oh, definitely.
They're historical sites.
There's probably good snacks, good food, and obviously great people that are doing positive
things for the nation.
Okay, perfect.
I'm sure we'll get good stuff.
David Elliott was telling us that's how Tobago is.
It's almost like it points like a banana.
Top, bottom, middle.
It's crazy.
But we'll get there.
We have good intentions and a positive heart.
That's what it's about.
After a 15-minute drive, we're here at the fort, and right over there, we have the Atlantic
Ocean.
This is the other side of the island.
This is Fort King George.
If you guys don't know about colonial days in the Caribbean, this is how they would build
their fortresses overlooking the sea in case there were some invaders, some pirates, right?
I mean, you can see these cannons here now.
And this is the history of the fort.
It was built in the 1770s.
There was a short-lived French occupation, 1781 through 93, and then in 1793, the British
forces came in, and at the time, it was the British King George III.
That's why they named the fort Fort King George.
Makes sense.
Right now, it houses the Tobago Museum, and there's also a jailhouse, you said, right?
Yeah, that's the barracks.
We could actually head there.
Let's go.
Oh, beautiful views.
Look at that.
That's Scarborough, right?
That's it.
Small town.
Wow, that's great.
Beautiful colonial building, huh?
Incredible.
Nice stones.
You have some of this mossy grass all over it.
This tree's probably here for years and years and years and years, throughout history.
Yeah.
I mean, it's been there forever, right?
Huge tree.
I love this.
Look at this.
It's cool in here, huh?
The barracks is so awesome.
Stonework is really good, but I'm feeling stones in my stomach.
I'm hungry.
Let's go find something to eat.
Let's go on Scarborough side, because that's what the video is all about.
It's just eating Tobago.
Let's go.
It's not sleepy.
Like, no one's here.
Oh, it's the weekend.
I thought it would be, like, more packed.
We're here in Scarborough, right next to the water.
There's a small hut, or a small tent, and it's called Wendy's Taste the Difference.
And here they have amazing food.
So, they got some pork right there.
What is that?
It's actually barbecue pork.
We got some macaroni salad.
We got fries.
I think I'm seeing fried rice underneath there.
Look at the chardonnay sauce, the barbecue sauce, the garlic sauce in it.
Taste the difference with Wendy's, man.
Let's try some of this.
So, that's just barbecue on top?
Barbecue chicken right here.
Looks amazing.
Alright, what's next?
So, what do you have in here?
Green fig?
Green fig, sweet potato, and cassava.
I see purple, white cabbage, lettuce.
Beautiful.
Fresh salad.
There's cheesy garlic, potatoes.
So, you mash the potatoes, you add the cheese, fresh garlic inside there.
You grab some milk and you cream it up nicely.
Put it to bake with cheese on top.
With a nice sauce.
Amazing.
You have a nice barbecue sauce.
Oh, please.
Made by Wendy's.
Taste the difference.
Yeah, of course.
Whatever you think.
Wow, that's the fish.
Okay, perfect.
Thank you so much.
So, we have blue marlin, and then the other one is pork, right?
Barbecue sliced pork.
Wow.
Look at this, guys.
Huge platters.
Okay, so how much is it?
Yeah, you sure?
Thank you so much.
So, you're Wendy, right?
So, when do you guys open?
Every single day or a certain time?
Wednesday to Saturday.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
We'll see you after.
So, you're putting garlic sauce on it.
Yeah.
It's basically loaded.
We're just adding a little more.
Yeah, of course.
Always tamarind.
When it's a baby, always tamarind.
Let's do this.
What do you want to do first?
Slurping to the pork, brother.
Dude, it's like...
Look how beautiful this is.
So soft and tender, right?
Super soft and tender.
Gotta be careful here.
Oh, my God.
So meaty.
I love this.
Love it.
Man.
Nice smokiness.
But, wow.
The sauce.
So it's nice.
There's probably some guava seeds inside it.
Nice and sweet, right?
It's absolutely unreal, man.
I did not expect this.
Here's the cool thing about Trinidad Ants Bagel.
You find small places like this all around the road.
You know?
Take salad and the potato pie.
So good, right?
So, this is the provision salad.
Green fig, sweet potato, potato, breadfruit.
Oh, so creamy.
Nice, soft.
Very clumpy.
Lots of different things in here, right?
Carrots and beans, I think.
That is good.
That's so good.
This is typical Sunday food.
Sunday food, right?
You eat this after lunch and you just lie down and sleep.
And here we have, like, straight up fat, right?
Nice layers.
That's where the love is.
What about the cheese, darling?
I don't know, man.
I have sauce.
She's clearly came with that sauce.
Wow.
The mix, right?
The garlic, tamarind, the barbecue as well.
And this is...
Cheesy garlic potatoes.
It almost reminds me of, like, a...
I don't even know how you would say it.
Like mashed potatoes with this nice crust on top, basically, right?
Correct, yeah.
Like a...
Oh, yes, yes.
Look at that.
That's good.
It's all good.
My God, this is, like, the perfect Sunday meal.
This reminds me of food I've had in southern parts of the United States.
In Mississippi.
You know, home-cooked meals.
Oh, yeah, and the salad's so fresh.
Crunchy.
Yeah.
Dude, I just mixed everything with the sauce.
Next up, we got the Blue Marlin, right?
Marlin fan?
This is insane.
I'd rather be a Marlin fan than a Miami Dolphin fan.
No, I'm joking.
They're doing so bad this year.
Let's go.
I love the seasoning in that.
It's crazy.
It's so good.
I mean, this is insane.
I never had, like, barbecue and all these sauces on fish.
I like that.
I love it.
Not much of a fish person.
But as you guys could see, a lot of character in that piece of fish.
A lot of character.
Very meaty.
Very thick.
It's lean, too, but not dry.
Not dry at all.
Oh, you're going in for the pigeon peas?
I'm going for pigeon peas.
I'm mixing it up with some of this.
Yeah, rice.
What is this?
Like a macaroni and cheese or something?
Macaroni salad.
What's awesome is that everything starts to blend together, right?
Everything harmonizes.
It's like a symphony.
The sauces work with the macaroni, with the rice, with the peas.
That's how food in the Caribbean is.
You mix everything together really nicely.
Creates a flavor experience for you.
Sorry, I'm so mesmerized by food.
Wow.
One last bite.
I got this, bro.
I love this one.
Wendy's taste.
She's got the taste, though, right?
Taste the difference.
This wasn't bad, right?
$55 for this whole box.
And the two of us could eat from this.
Yeah, $55 for each, so like $8 each.
Pretty much.
Pretty good deal.
I'm going to keep going a little bit.
Dude, amazing food.
Right here.
And that's how it is, especially as you traverse through the island.
I mean, we were going through sites.
We just stopped.
We saw this place.
Thousands of vendors.
A lot of great food establishments doing top quality food.
So, Trinidad and Tobago.
I love this island.
Oh, yeah.
So good.
It's too good.
I can't stop eating this plate.
It is ridiculous.
So good, right?
Who wants this layer of fat?
It's ridiculous.
You know, I hate when people tell me,
you should never mix food.
I'm like, no, you need to mix everything.
That's what you did the other night, right?
Man, sometimes it works.
Dude, it works sometimes, right?
Try everything and then, if you want, start mixing.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate it all.
You guys are amazing.
Thank you.
Tell Wendy thank you.
Hey, thank you so much.
All right.
Let's go, guys.
That was an amazing little litter, I guess.
Little litter.
Like, it's 5.30 right now.
Sun is setting.
Beautiful place.
Now, we're going down to Pigeon Point.
That's where we're staying.
And we're going to see if we see anything on the way.
If not, that'll be it.
I'm hoping we see something.
I think we will.
I think so.
This is the main highway in Tobago.
Pretty much you can't get lost once you find yourself on this.
Pretty much people.
So, we're going to Pigeon Point now.
See what's going on.
See if we get something to eat on the way.
Well, we made it home and we didn't see anything else on the road.
So, that's it.
It's getting a bit late.
So, I guess everybody is tidying up at this point.
My belly is still full, nevertheless.
Yeah, yeah.
No, that was awesome.
So, we saw the Mystery Tomb.
We crossed over.
We saw the Scarborough Fort, which is the fort of King George.
Yeah.
And then, we went to Wendy's Taste the Difference.
That was the best part of the day, right?
Yeah, we had barbecue pork with the cheesy potato pie.
We had the pigeon peas with the marlin.
It was blue marlin grilled with a bunch of barbecue sauce, right?
Yeah.
Phenomenal.
And we had the green seasoning in there, which is so trended out of today.
So trendy.
That's the DNA of it.
So trendy.
Well, guys, I hope you enjoyed this video in Tobago.
If you did, thumbs up, comment below, and I'll see you in the next one here in Tobago.
Let's go.
And look at...
Bye-bye.
