Coconut French Toast - Waterfront at Hyatt, Trinidad

The best part of work travel is free breakfast, and the travel of course- but the free breakfast is my favourite part. And the best part of free breakfast is free french toast. The best part of french toast is that you can't go wrong with it.

Caribbean travel is especially delicious because the flavour combinations local chefs come up with are always unique and divine.

This was my first visit to Trinidad & Tobago, and as anyone who has been there before, it was beautiful. The people speak in a melodically twanged accent far superior to my own and their welcoming nature was far more than a naturally cynical person such as myself was prepared for.

We had spent three full days working in Trinidad before I was able to sit down for an actual breakfast. We spent the first few days running on coffee and a buffet breakfast supplied by the event. By day four my co-workers and I were able to sit down for a leisurely breakfast and it was glorious. Waterfront is the main restaurant at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, it is the very definition of a busy hotel. Local and International people alike were dining here for breakfast. It is the perfect environment for casual but professional encounters. Brightly lit and set up for a la carte and buffet style dining, it is familiar for frequent hotel stayers, but the layout is roomier, with a more luxurious feel to it.

It took me less than 10 seconds looking at the menu to decide on the french toast, described simply as "Coconut French Toast". I turned down the buffet, excited to try a new flavour combo.

($60 TTD is roughly $9 USD)

I did however wander around and look at the buffet before declining it. It was a full stocked breakfast buffet, including some Trini breakfast favourites like doubles, assorted bakes/tarts and many, many curry dishes, which I snuck a taste from one of my co-worker's plate.

My french toast arrived very quickly and I was not disappointed.

Presentation

Just look at it: It's fancy, but not pretentious, It has the look of being carefully assembled, but the whimsy of something that most definitely has chocolate in it. It looks fluffy and yummy.

Taste

The toast was fluffy, full and delicious. There was no overpowering egg taste, but the berry-compote-jam-garnish was a bit overpowering for my taste and there was a lot of it. The next morning I went back and requested the berries on the side. It was much more enjoyable in a smaller dose. The white chocolate/coconut combo was the real winner in this dish. I would never think that white chocolate on french toast would work, but it does. The sweetness of the white chocolate sprinkled with the coconut flakes gave this french toast dish a beautifully full fresh balance of flavour.

Price

At around $9 US it's not bad for a fancy hotel breakfast french toast. The white chocolate alone makes it worth it.

Overall

I would definitely order this french toast again. The fluffiness of the toast, the flavour combinations are a winning one.