St. Thomas has to be my favorite island because it’s where I was born, but during our trip home our absolute best meal was enjoyed in St. John.

One of the boys from my high school class grew up to be an amazingly cool chef who opened a restaurant in Cruz Bay.  Ocean 362 does modern takes on traditional Caribbean dishes using ingredients that are fresh, local, and sustainably sourced.  It’s a total 10/10.

The space is pretty and open and we got a seat on the patio with a progressively more beautiful view of the sunset.

The setting sun also means that my photos get progressively less lovely!

Adam and I went alone for a date night and ordered a truly ridiculous amount of food for two people.  We started with a local fish dip with citrus, herbs, and cream cheese, served topped with crispy capers, with radishes and crostini on the side.

We also had fresh bread with delightfully sweet butter and the chef sent out an assortment of pickles that were stunning.  The mushrooms were good and the dilled cucumbers were the best I’ve ever tasted.

Cocktails included the Bean-a-colada with pineapple and vanilla infused vodka and pineapple juice.  That dollop on the top is coconut milk and lime foam.

Plus a sparkly Seaplane with cava, orange bitters, and housemade hibiscus flower liquor.  The foam is thanks to vegan “egg” powder.  You can never go wrong ordering a cocktail with egg and especially not ordering one with hibiscus.

Adam said his pork tenderloin was scrumptious, but I’m sure it couldn’t have been better than my duck.  Cast iron seared duck breast / duck confit / buttermilk dumplings / maple glazed carrots / crispy brussels sprout leaves.  The dumplings were perfectly seasoned all the way through but the best bites were obviously confit.

We couldn’t choose so we got two desserts – torched brie with rum raisin conserve and a chocolate tart with a plantain crust, a passionfruit marshmallow, and dulce de leche.

We were swooning from the first bite to the last.  Plus we continued to gush about the meal while we rolled ourselves back down the hill to the ferry!