This trip to Anguilla was our fifth trip since 2007, but we had never been to Jacala before. For the first couple trips, it was not possible as Jacala opened in 2010 when Jacques Borderon and Alain Laurent left Malliouhana‘s Michel Rostang to start their own restaurant. Despite trips in 2010 and 2014, we had never made it to Jacala. Hearing all the raves, we made a point of making a reservation for dinner upon arrival. We loved it so much, as we left dinner, we immediately made a reservation for lunch a few days later.
Jacala is on Meads Bay, just west of Blanchard’s. Along the beach, there are beach chairs sheltered by red beach umbrellas and palm trees. Although the setting is beautiful, the star here is the food.
For dinner, we all loved our choices. Jacques greets each table and presents the specials, making everything sound irresistible. My husband had the snapper filet a la meunière, and my daughter had the pork tenderloin with mustard sauce. The highlight of the meal was my choice, the lobster risotto special. I asked Jacques to select the wine to accompany my meal, and it was perfect. For dessert, we enjoyed the Jacala chocolate cake with caramel sauce, and vanilla bean ice cream. We also ordered the pot de creme au chocolat, the table favorite.
For lunch, we had another great round of dishes, including the calamari risotto, and the tuna carpaccio with wakame, olive oil, soy sauce, and pickled ginger.
I had a delicious Spanish tortilla with lobster accompanied by lobster sauce.
It was hard to resist ordering everything from the menu, as we saw delicious dishes passing by.
Jacques prepares the Jacala Steak Tartare table side, and provides helpful instruction to those of use who would like to prepare it at home.
I would not hesitate to return to Jacala. It was a highlight of our trip, and clearly one of the best restaurants on Anguilla!
All photographs in this post were shot on film, using the Canon EOS 1v with Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens, on Kodak Ektachrome E100. Processing and scanning by Richard Photo Lab.
For more posts from Anguilla…