Michael and I attended the re-opening of Toucan's restaurant tonight. If you haven't tried Toucan's restaurant lately, you haven't tried Toucan's.
I had spoken to the new executive chef, Iwan at the two manager's parties. He told us of this grand opening tonight and we decided to give it a try.
First, the menu is Italian. The menu is small right now but there is something for everyone. I had the strip steak with barolo sauce and Michael had the braised lamb shank on polenta.
We declared both absolutely DELICIOUS! What a difference from the other times we have eaten at Toucan's. My steak was cooked perfectly. The barolo sauce was rich and dark. A perfect accompaniment to the steak. The pommes frites that accompanied the steak were good but I would prefer less truffle oil on mine.
Michael declared his polenta the best he has ever had. And the lamb shank was LOVELY.
The service still needs some ironing out however, it is head and shoulders above previous service we have gotten at the restaurant.
We finished the evening with a hazel nut topped panna cotta and tiramisu. Both desserts were phenomenal.
I hope that Iwan will stay and continue to turn these restaurants around. Based on our experience tonight, this restaurant can EASILY compete with other restaurants on the island. Considering that in a review on TripAdvisor I said I would have to be paid to eat there again, you can imagine the surprise.
What a welcome change! And the prices were VERY REASONABLE! Two glasses of wine, dinner and dessert came to $103....and by the way, there was no 15% added to the bill. WE could choose the correct amount for the tip.

How refreshing! It's great to hear this, and I hope the good food and reasonable prices continue. I, too, have said "never again," but I may have to eat those words in June.

Jazzgal, I was hoping you would see this. DEFINITELY give it a try. It is REALLY REALLY good and worth the trip. The executive chef really wants to do a good job and he appears to be making a BIG difference!

We are flying in this coming Wednesday and staying at the Divi for the first three nights before moving to Royal palm for the week so we will give the place a try next Wednesday evening and hoping it's a good as you say. Thanks for the idea.

We were there in November and tried Toucan's then and found it quite good. I find it disappointing though that they have stuck to the Italian theme as this can become quite tiring over the course of the stay where either themed nights or a general menu might be more enticing to try more often. If they are still planning on being an all inclusive resort then the Italian over the course of one week will definitely be a turn off. (Of course as an owner A/I is a turn off no matter how you look at it)

I agree on the italian thing. Where we live there are 3 italian place for every one of another so the last thing I want when in down there is italian

Listen, it is better than the food they were serving. Let him start small with Italian and perhaps once people start eating there, he can expand the menu! Right now, that restaurant is empty most of the time.

if its only italian, sorry to say one of the empty seats will be where i might have sat. I do appreciate they are trying to improve things though. To be honest i thought the food was pretty decent and the service fine last year. It was something that Walter had been working on for a long time and i guess he is finally seeing his wish even if it is from above!

I don't consider lamb and steak to be predominantly Italian. If it is prepared well, whatever is on the menu, I certainly want to give them a try.

It is the preparation that is what makes it italian and the sauce on the steak as well as the polenta with the lamb shank lend themselves to italian. You can have morrocan lamb, irish lamb stew etc that are prepared completely different from italian food