Eating the Road: Da Conch Shack, Turks & Caicos

<strong>Ocean Club Resort on the island of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos is one of my favorite getaways.

First, it’s on the secluded end of a long, sparkling beach with the kind of soft, white sand that squishes between your toes when you walk on it, but feels like a giant Temperpedic mattress whey you run on it.

Second, it’s relatively inexpensive; comparable resorts in the area get $400-500 a night, but Ocean Club barely nudges against the $200 mark because the owners don’t seem to mind doling out a good value–most of their guests boomerang back year after year.

Third, Provo Golf Course is right across the street. In a brilliant stroke of genius, a Saudi Arabian sultan took a liking to the island, built Provo Golf Course, then built a water treatment plan right next door to supply the 650,000 gallons a year it takes to irrigate the turf.

But what I really like about Ocean Club is how close it is to Da Conch Shack, the Best Place on Earth to eat fresh cracked conch. Da Conch Shack does it right,  cleaning the conch then cutting it into thin strips,  lightly battering it in seasoned flour, then flash frying it for just a minute, the way you’d cook calamari so it becomes tender.

Then I need a couple of Turks Head amber beers to wash it all down, island style.

Suicide cuisine.

Like most animals, conch doesn’t look so tasty when you harvest it, so I ate first then scooted around the back of the shack afterward, where I shot this video: