Both Jade Mountain and Sugar Beach are located in Soufrière, an absolutely stunning town in the West Coast of St Lucia.
I loved the beautifully colourful town nestled in the hillside with the vibrant blue and red rooftops interspersed with lush tropical trees. Soufrière is actually St Lucia’s oldest town and as it stands in the shadow of the majestic Pitons, it’s also one of the most popular towns to visit. It’s a small fishing village, but one that’s getting bigger with a population of around 8,000.
What I loved most about this town was that it hadn’t been commercialised. Not a Starbucks in sights but rows of colonial buildings in pastel colours including shops selling local products, rum shacks and cafes. Soufrière was actually the capital of St Lucia back when the French controlled the island but when it became a British colony in 1803, the town of Castries became the capital. There’s not much to see around town but I loved just soaking up the atmosphere and taking in the local colour.
There’s a number of restaurants located on waterfront and I was keen to get out of the hotel and try some of the local food. Petit Peak was a restaurant I’d read about during my research and that was the destination of choice.
I did love the rustic interior of the restaurant and the traditional Caribbean feel but everyone else dining there was English so it didn’t *quite* have the local charm that I was hoping for as I was surrounded by my native accent!
But still, the view from the window was gorgeous and we could see out to the harbour and beyond. 
And Mr S was very happy with his pint of Piton in hand! Like the culture, St Lucian cuisine is a patchwork of African, Indian, British and French influences which make use of the ingredients grown in the island fertile soil and in the local waters.
At Petit Peak we once again tried accra, or battered salt fish, a popular starter in St Lucia. They are a little heavy but a great starter to share and we loved dipping them in the hot sauce that became a staple part of our diet for the week that we were in St Lucia. 
Our main course of choice was obvious as we’d already fallen in love with rotis after trying one at The Jungle Restaurant at Jade Mountain. The delicious street food reflects the Indian influence on St Lucian cuisine as they are a kind of flatbread full with a delicious spicy, buttery curry. We both went for the option of a fish filling but chicken and vegetarian are options too.
Just look at that golden curry filling… the perfect street food prepared in the local fashion.
