TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin La Patrona restaurant

Anyone eat at La Patrona. Paper says fine Mexican food located Simpson Bay Marina Plaza. Maybe near The Stone??

The Stone is no longer there. I haven't eaten there, but La Patrona is basically where Los Gauchos used to be, years ago!

Not what I would describe as fine Mexican by any means. They use mozzarella cheese, not queso fresca or cheddar or asiago.The food was ok, just not really Mexican. No chips and salsa, but bread is served.

It was being hyped as authentic Mexican but I don't have a lot of faith in the hype.

I don't really know, in fine Mexican restaurants, do they serve chips and salsa??

In fine Mexican restaurants you will always find homemade salsa, quacamole(sp?) and chips, especially in Mexico. LOL

OK, I've never been to a FINE Mexican restaurant and most of the Mexican restaurants I have been to have been Tex/Mex, which is kind of a different thing.

We went last night. We all (6) liked our Mexican dishes. We were given chips with black bean dip. The only thing that made it "fine" in my opinion were the cloth table clothes and napkins. Next time I would try steak because I really wasn't impressed with the Mexican food. I have had just as good at Jimbo's.

If it was just as good as jimbos, whats wrong with that?

We ate lunch there one day. It was ok, but portions were small and price was high for lunch time.

Jimbo's is our favorite. We will be going there a lot more than La Patrona during our stay. I guess I was expecting something special since it is fine dining.

On a trip to Mexico we had the very best Mexican food ever. I guess since it was Mexico, it was authentic. I never really liked Mexican foods but everything, right down to the salsa, was delicious.

Have tried restaurants locally and in Texas but nothing has compared to what we had that trip.

You are so right!! The food in Mexico is the best. No comparison to what we get in the US. It's a lot more than tacos. Watch Rick Bayless cook on TV. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/hungry.gif" alt="" />

the Mexican food you usually find in the US is actually Tex-Mex, which can be very different from "authentic" Mexican, although some dishes can be similar <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/chef.gif" alt="" />

i lived in Mexico when younger, and now live in Texas, and i personally don't have a preference...i like it all <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Several in our group ate there after doing a sunset cruise last night. The entire Simpson Bay Resorts area around the marina/Aqua Mania has been remodeled, including La Patrona.

All that ate there reported good food and service. Chips and salsa are included for the table IF you make reservations ahead of time. This is according to the bartender and one of the managers. The place was pretty busy as the evening went on.

I did not personally eat there but did have a margarita. The young bartender really knew what he was doing and included a little showmanship with the hand-crafted drink.

I think with some wine or a drink for others, the bill was around $35pp with tip.

There were seven of us that ate at La Patrona Monday evening. At the table we had fajitas, green enchiladas, red enchiladas and chicken Tampico, two bottles of Malbec and a couple bottles of water. Total bill was $173.00. Everyone enjoyed their meals, with no complaints.
The one funny point was that I asked for some hotsauce, (meaning Tabasco type of hot sauce), and they brought me "hot" sauce. As in the green sauce that was on the enchilada, warm! Once that was clarified, it was smooth sailing!

Glad to hear a good report. I want to try that place next time.

Did they really get chips & salsa or did they each get one big chip with some tasteless black bean dip like we did? The margaritas are very good but they only fill the glass 3/4 full. This must be standard because we where there on three different occasions.

I believe it was black bean dip but I heard no complaints on the chips. It is a Mexican restaurant in the Caribbean. It is not going to be like a national chain or your local Mexican restaurant. I thought the margarita was very good and not out of a pre-mixed bottle.

It was one giant taco chip with black bean salsa in the bowl the chip came in. It was tasty, just not what the American's are used to!

Isn't that what travel is about....new experiences?