The restaurants along the waterfront in Grande-Anse and the other villages are the real reason to eat on La Désirade. These are simple Creole lolos — plastic chairs, basic tables, handwritten menus, and fish that arrived that morning. The cooking is the cooking of the French Caribbean: court-bouillon de poisson (fish in a tomato and herb sauce), grilled langouste (spiny lobster), lambi (conch) stewed in sauce chien or stuffed, accras de morue (salt cod fritters) as a starter, riz collé and plantains alongside.
Langouste on La Désirade costs considerably less than it would anywhere that has packaged itself as a seafood destination. Order it grilled with butter and garlic and do not complicate it further. The catch of the day is whatever was caught — ask before you decide.
Book ahead for weekend lunches, especially during French school holidays, when day-trippers from Guadeloupe make the island briefly busier than usual. On a weekday, walk in and find a table.