There’s nothing better than eating outdoors (I think) – bits of dirt and grime add just that lil’ som-som to your meal. And there’s definitely nothing better than eating on a sandy beach after a salty dip in the ocean.
Richard’s Bake and Shark is the best kind of beach meal, too. And at TT$25 (or US$4) there’s simply nothing better.
Richard. I tink.
On Trinidad’s Maracas Beach there’s really only one thing to eat. A Bake and Shark burger. The ‘bake’ means fry-bake and it looks like a deep fried bun slivered in half and the ‘shark’ is exactly that, battered and deep fried.
What makes Richard’s stand out from the rest of the beach’s ‘bake and shark’ is the type of toppings you are invited to drown your burger with.
Under Richard’s bright red canopy lie several metal dishes containing a variety of toppings with your standard lettuce, tomatoes, onions, ketchup and mustard but then ingenious others like tamarind sauce, cilantro/coriander (Chadon Bene perhaps?) sauce, garlic sauce, spiced pineapples, cabbage, mango chutney, a thousand island type of sauce and…..the mother of all hot sauces.
(On a side note: What I learned is, if you want to try the hot sauce in Trini, you may as well eat it IN the bathroom…’cause that would save a lot of time, really).
Er…aaaanyway…if you’re still reading this and weren’t repulsed by my toilet banter…. basically you come away (after it’s wrapped and placed into a cardboard box for you by the gentleman at the head of the condiment table) with your bake and shark looking like this:
And it is simply the. best. thing. ever.
It’s worth the trip to Trinidad.
Foodhogger 
I had a bake and shark at Richard’s on Wednesday 23rd nov 2011 but it sure was not shark. I’m a born trini man and I know the taste of shark, it tasted like white/catfish. There were 4 other trini’s with me and they all agreed that we did not get shark. One person even got sick after eating the sandwich.
Posted by lynette | November 27, 2011, 17:10I dont’t think you got sick from the sndwich. Maybe you had something to eat or drink before that did not mesh with the fish or probably the condiments.
Posted by essy | March 10, 2012, 14:42It’s now $30.00 tt, had one today 10/09/2001, it still taste great,!
Posted by robert | September 10, 2011, 22:39re. Bake and Shark.
Please check out the excellent documentary Sharkwater. It will change your mind (as it did mine) about buying another shark-related item. Please spread the word about the slaughter of sharks and the danger sharkmeat poses to children and pregnant women (as it is extremely high in mercury). Even if you don’t care about the animal, you owe it to yourself and future generations to protect the sharks. When they get wiped out (and they are being killed at a dangerously high rate), our oxygen supply (and obviously, health) will be messed up, as well. There are plenty of other things for us to eat without threatening our environment and future.
Posted by mika | August 11, 2008, 10:08great pics… i missed the mark, but had 3 of those sandwiches… one of the best i’ve ever had!
Posted by FlaNboyantEats | July 27, 2008, 12:19ooooh. Yum!!! Your photos as soooo yummy I could almost taste the Bake & Shark!
Posted by Alicia | June 17, 2008, 06:51Oh yeah? You’re in Trinidad, my homeland.
I hate you back!
(not really my homeland)
Posted by akim_hobo | May 30, 2008, 16:35