Fine Dining - Veni Mange

One thing Georgia wanted to do while she was in Trinidad was to eat genuine Trini food and it just doesn't come much more genuine in Port of Spain than Veni Mange. Mange is pronounced as two syllables "mon-jay." Some of the references like Fodor's consider Veni Mange to be the best restaurant on the island. Based on our experience, it ranks well up there.

Like so many businesses in Trinidad and as opposed to several of the restaurants I've been too lately, Veni Mange looks rather like an old house. Everything around here, it seems has a wall or a fence around it. The restaurant itself is up the stairs you see behind Georgia. So up the stairs and in we go.

When we got there, the restaurant was basically empty. Veni Mange does have some unusual hours. It is open for lunch Monday through Friday and for dinner on just Wednesday and Friday. We took a late lunch on Tuesday which is apparently a very slow time. The interior is brightly colored with painted chairs and tables and an assortment of local art on all the walls.

Georgia studying the menu whichchanges daily and is handed to you on a clipboard.

Georgia's light lunch. Starting from the left and working our way toward the right we have: Lentils and rice Lima Beans with a yummy sauce Creole stewed beef Fried Plantains and Provisions Bok Choy with Pumpkin In fairness, four of these dishes were "our" side dishes and not just Georgia's.

And just in case you doubted whether Veni Mange could serve an elegant dish... this is my "ocean salmon" which turned out to be two filets of some locally caught white fish. In any case, we ate everything except some of the lentils and rice.

We also met the owner who immediately became one of our favorites. As we were leaving she asked if this was our first time in Trinidad and how long we were staying. Being the type I am I responded "I'm only here until April." After that registered, she laughed. As we were heading down the stairs, she came out after us to be sure we had the card.

Veni Mange is definitely on our "Do again" list.