Le Régal
Four decades of Creole soul in a Corossol fishing village
Why Go
Tucked at the edge of St Barth's last true fishing hamlet, this multigenerational family kitchen has been serving accras and chatrou fricassée since long before the island became a superyacht magnet — and the prices still refuse to notice.
The Experience
Corossol feels like the St Barth of forty years ago: pastel-painted fishermen's cottages, straw-weaving grandmothers on porches, and pelicans dive-bombing the little crescent of sand. Le Régal (locally known as Au Régal) sits right at the entrance of the village on the road down to the beach, an unfussy indoor-outdoor room with plastic chairs, checkered tablecloths and a soundtrack of French chatter and clattering cutlery. It's the kind of place you slip into in flip-flops after a swim, order a cold Carib, and stay for three hours because no one's rushing you. Passed from father to son across several generations, it's one of the oldest bar-restaurants on the island and one of the very few where the menu still reads like a Guadeloupean grandmother wrote it.
What to Try
Start with a plate of accras de morue (feather-light salt-cod fritters) and a ti' punch. For mains, the fricassée de chatrou (octopus stewed in Creole spices) is the house signature, alongside lambi (conch) stew and whatever local fish came off the Corossol boats that morning, served with red beans, pois d'Angole and Creole rice. At breakfast and lunch they also do generous French-style sandwiches and simple plats du jour — a lifesaver on an island where a croque monsieur can cost thirty euros elsewhere.
Insider Tip
Cash goes further here than plastic, and it's closed Sundays and Mondays, so plan around the Tuesday–Saturday window. Come at lunch rather than dinner: the light through the village is prettiest, the fishermen are eating alongside you, and you can walk it off with a stroll around Anse de Corossol and its tiny Inter Oceans Museum next door. Ask what's fresh off the boat before you look at the menu — the day's catch is always the smartest order.
The Practical Stuff
Address: Plage de Corossol, W45V+79V, Gustavia 97133, St Barthélemy · Phone: +590 590 27 85 26 · Hours: Tue–Sat, breakfast 7:30–12:00, lunch 12:00–19:00, dinner 19:00–21:00 (closed Sun & Mon) · Average spend: around €25 per person, one of the best-value sit-down meals on the island · Reservations advised in high season but walk-ins usually fine at lunch · Casual dress, beachwear welcome · A 5-minute drive or 15-minute walk from Gustavia harbour.
Pair It With
- Anse de Corossol & Inter Oceans Museum — Wander the sleepy fishing beach two minutes from the table and drop into the quirky seashell museum — the perfect pre- or post-lunch amble to soak up the village.
- Absolute Hot Yoga (Gustavia) — A morning class in Gustavia followed by the ten-minute drive over the hill to Corossol for a well-earned Creole lunch makes an ideal low-key St Barth day.
- 1493 Lodges St Barth (Colombier) — If you're staying in Colombier, Le Régal is the closest genuinely local restaurant — a five-minute drive down to Corossol beats the trek into Gustavia for a casual meal.
- Shell Beach sunset drink — After lunch, loop back through Gustavia and end the afternoon with a swim and rosé at Shell Beach — the two together capture both the old and the modern face of the island.
