Local specialities:

• Fresh fruit - Dominica grows all sorts of fruit, including bananas, coconuts, papayas, guavas and pineapples, and mangoes so plentiful they litter the roadside in places.

• Sea moss - Nonalcoholic beverage made from seaweed mixed with sugar and spices and sometimes with evaporated milk. It’s sold in supermarkets and cafes.

As far as restaurants go, your best bet is Roseau, where you can find affordable Caribbean cuisine, as well as some standard European fare. Many of the best spots to grab a bite are hole-in-the-wall eateries scattered throughout Roseau. The downtown market sells freshly caught seafood, including conch, a type of snail that is a favourite Dominican dish. Other specialties include tee-tee-ree (small fish cakes) and crab backs as well as pumpkin soup, fried plantains and goat water, a rich stew made from goat meat.

These dishes can be found across the Caribbean:

• Callaloo - A creamy thick soup or stew blending a variety of vegetables (eg spinach, kale, onions, carrots, eggplant, garlic, okra) with coconut milk and sometimes crab or ham. The base can be spinach-like.

• Roti - Fiery chutney sets off the curried chicken, beef, conch or vegetable fillings in these burrito-like flat-bread wraps.

• Conch - Look for farm-raised versions as conch in the wild are endangered. This large pink mollusk is cooked with onion and spices in a stew, fried up as fritters, or sliced raw and served with a lime marinade.

Take time to meet the locals by doing what they do – you’ll enjoy a more affordable and authentic experience.

• Eat at lunch wagons or stalls. The local fare is cheap and often incredibly good.

• Drop by a local bar – often the de facto community center. Besides a drink, you’ll get all sorts of useful – or wonderfully frivolous – advice.

• Look for community fish fries or barbecues in the Eastern Caribbean.