Prologue
We're at the point where we've lost track of the exact number of trips we've made to SXM. Our best guess is 14 with the first one back in the mid 80s. Last year, we used up some Marriott points and went to Aruba. While we enjoyed ourselves and our arms would not have to be twisted to return, the wife and I like SXM better.
Unlike many other TTOL trip reports,this one will not feature any pub crawls, trips to Pinel, Anguilla, St. Bart's, etc., snorkeling, or any other kind of strenuous activity. Our goal (it's good to have goals) is to do as little as humanly possible...and we succeed. Until a few years ago, we always tried to do less than the prior visit and generally were successful. However, after so many visits, we can only do so little.
One big exception to our nonactivity is eating. Breakfast is included at the hotel (Radisson) and lunch was usually bread, cheese, tomatoes, etc. picked up at Supermarche.
Dinner is another story. For 10 nights, we forget about diners and chain restaurants and go gourmet. So this trip report (our third) will again be mostly about restaurants with some assorted musings thrown in.
We have fun rating restaurants and continue to use our famous profiterole system, with a 4 profiterole rating the highest obtainable. If you're asking why we use profiteroles to rate restaurants, here are the three main reasons:
1. SXM is pretty much the only place we eat them;
2. We like the way the word sounds; and
3. It's our ratings and we can use anything we want.
Over the years, we've been to several dozen restaurants in SXM and have NEVER (including this trip) encountered a bad meal or poor service. Nevertheless, we like some better than others, hence the importance of the profiteroles.
Day 1
Our Continental flight from Newark, about 2/3 to 3/4 full, leaves a little late but arrives on time. I like everything about the new airport in SXM except for the jet way. One of my little pleasures has been to step off the plane, onto those portable steps, and take those initial breaths of Caribbean air. Oh well, another sacrifice in the name of progress. No significant waits in the airport and we are greeted by Leslie from Kenny's Car Rental. In our last trip report two years ago, we were very pleased with Kenny's and said we would use them again. Our opinion has not changed. Leslie shows us to our Nissan (pre-scratched just the way we like it) and we're on the road. It would be difficult to get us in the car and off on our way any quicker.
The eyesore that is Mullet Bay has not changed in two years and we then come to the construction that is Cupecoy, looking like the lost city of Atlantis rising from the sea.
While we can't add anything new to the comments made on TTOL regarding Mullet and Cupecoy, it's too bad that somehow, the new construction could have been done at Mullet, where it's needed, and leave Cupecoy alone.
We're staying at the Radisson for the first time. We had stayed at L'Habitacion on a few occasions and Radisson has done a good job with its renovations. The new infinity pool is very nice, the place is well maintained, the beach is beautiful and relatively quiet, the staff friendly and we wouldn't have a problem staying there again.
It becomes apparent, fairly quickly, that not too many rooms are occupied (which is fine with us, but we're sure not with management). Our unscientific guess is that a quarter to a third of the rooms are taken. We unpack quickly, don our bathing suits, have a quick lunch, and are on the beach by 3:30.
Our late lunch results in a late dinner (which we do anyway) and we leave the hotel to go gourmet at around 8:45.
Given our location, we anticipate spending many evenings in Grand Case and we start tonight at L'Auberge Gourmande.
This restaurant is the only one where we can say we've dined on every trip we've made to SXM. It is "ole reliable" to us and we're greeted like old friends (which we are) by Christophe.
The wife starts with a baked goat cheese & Roquefort cheese salad and I begin with an appetizer of sea scallops and sweet potatoes. For entrees, the wife has rack of lamb and I have Chilean sea bass.
For dessert...Profiteroles!!!
We're off to a great start as every course is superb. In the past, we've always considered L'Auberge Gourmande to be above average and given them a solid 3 profiteroles. Well, either they've taken it up a notch or we hit them on a really good night, but we're elevating them to 3 1/2 profiteroles.
To further celebrate our arrival on SXM, we leave a small deposit at the Princess Casino.
Day 2
Hit the beach at the crack of 11. Today was a triple nap day for your's truly, tying a personal record. Time is not of the essence for us in SXM and another little pleasure I have is taking off my watch upon arrival and not even looking at it until we leave.
However, we do know that when it gets dark we need to be dining somewhere and that somewhere tonight is Le Cottage. Le Cottage has always been one of our very favorite restaurants and remains so. It's the one we compare other restaurants to. Bruno and his staff are always fun (and knowledgeable) and we enjoy spending time with them.
The wife has a shrimp/crabmeat appetizer and I have lobster soup in a puff pastry.
Entrees for the wife and I are a "touch of tenderloin" and a "touch of lamb" respectively. For dessert, we share a "touch of chocolate" which makes this chocoholic's knees buckle. Our expectations for Le Cottage are high and they are met. Le Cottage has been rated 3 1/2 profiteroles in the past and that rating, we are happy to say, is maintained.
At the Princess Casino, I enjoyed a small "touch of winning" at the blackjack table.
Day 3
Decided to combine some shopping with exploring. We had never been to Poulet D'Orleans or Yvette's before so we thought we'd look for them in the daylight. We found the former easily but the latter took a little more effort. At Yvette's we were told that they had been closed for the past couple of days as their building suffered a bit of damage caused by a tourist who mistook the accelerator for the brake. He thought they'd open soon but wasn't sure. He also said they serve dinner between 7:30 and 9:00. Uh-oh.
This presents a problem as our hectic daily schedule doesn't allow for these early-bird specials. We generally GET to restaurants about 9:00. Oh well.
Back to the hotel, the wife hits the beach at 1:00 while my beach arrival is delayed by 45 minutes due to an emergency nap.
Tonight we dine at Sol Y Luna, even more conveniently located to the Radisson than Grand Case. The wife and I each have the same appetizer, monkfish spring rolls. This turns out just fine because if only one of us had ordered it, there could have been a nasty tasting fight. It was that good.
Chilean sea bass for the wife and scallops and shrimp for me were both excellent.
Desserts consisted of vanilla ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream for the wife and a chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream for me. The knees, once again, buckle.
Sol Y Luna has perhaps the nicest decor of any restaurant on the Island. The food is extraordinary, the service friendly. We had rated them at 3 profiteroles in the past and we now upgrade them to 3 1/2.
Won a couple of bucks at the very quiet Westin casino.
Day 4
Thank goodness it's Sunday, a day of rest. I don't know how long we can keep up this torrid pace.
Noticed in the Radisson Marina a St. Martin Naval Patrol Boat (THE St. Martin Naval Patrol Boat?). In any case, it is strategically stationed by the treacherous, pirate-laden seas between Anse Marcel and Anguilla. I now rest with ease.
For dinner, we decide to take a break from French food and have steak at Peg Leg, a new restaurant for us.
We enter Peg Leg armed with a coupon for a free bottle of wine and you can imagine my excitement when I saw a $149 bottle of Stag's Leap on the wine list. Alas, wrong wine list. In fact, there was no free wine list but we were provided (free) with a nice cabernet from Chile.
Appetizers were a fried brie for the wife and potato skins for me, both mediocre. The wife has boneless ribeye and I have the filet mignon. Good steaks: yes; great steaks; no.
The service is pleasant and friendly and the overall experience is nice. However, Peg Leg is not up to our prior 3 dinners and receives a still respectable 2 1/2 profiteroles. (I had considered awarding an extra 1/2 profiterole due to the attractive young waitress who was quite touchy/feely with me. This quickly passed as the wife pointed out that she apparently had taken a liking to all the male patrons there.)
Went next door to the Princess and broke even.
Day 5
Did a lot of nothing all day.
When we left the hotel for dinner, driving up and down the mountain once again, I started wondering how people do this in the winter, what with all the snow.
Not my problem.
Another new restaurant for us tonight, L'Estaminet in Grand Case. We are seated by the very personable co-owner Carole and quickly discover that I'm incorrect in thinking L'Estaminet is French for "just a minute".
Again the wife and I each have the same appetizer, beet ravioli with goat cheese. I'm glad we did because this dish was absolutely delicious in addition to being very creative.
The quality of the food remained just as high with entrees of breast of duck in a cocoa sauce and a shrimp and scallop risotto special.
For dessert, we share a chocolate sampler that included munchkin-like donuts with warm molten chocolate inside, a chocolate fondant, and a hard to describe chocolate served on a large spoon that you feel and hear crackle in your mouth.
Chocoholics, if you're going to have one dessert in SXM, have it here. Not only did my knees buckle but I needed crutches to get back to the car.
A tiramisu flavored after-dinner drink was unique and very good.
Fellow foodies, L'Estaminet(which is not mentioned much on TTOL) is as good as any restaurant in Grand Case, quite the compliment, and a well deserved 3 1/2 profiteroles is assigned.
Later on, at the blackjack table in the Atlantis, still thinking about dessert, it occurs to me that I may have to double down on my cholesterol pills tonight.
Day 6
Woke up to clouds.
Since every SXM vacation includes a mandatory Marigot shopping day, it might as well be a cloudy one. In Marigot, we find (unfortunately for the wife) that shopping doesn't take as long as it used to, what with so many stores and shops permanently closed down.
She sadly notes that both Little Switzerland and Little Europe are gone. I happily note that both Little Richard and Little Anthony are alive and well. She is not consoled.
Our old friend Stephane, the former sommelier from Le Cottage, is now at Bacchus, a wholesale/retail wine business and lunch-only restaurant by the roundabout between Grand Case and Orient.
We stopped in and the place looks like a nicely decorated wine cellar. We don't assign profiteroles for lunch but if you want to have a very nice lunch (at dinner prices), you'll do very well at Bacchus.
Hit the beach for a few hours and after such a big and late lunch, we weren't in the mood for a fancy dinner. Went to Pizza Pasta in Maho and had some nice simple Italian food. It wouldn’t be fair to compare this restaurant with the others, but it's good for what it is and easy on the wallet.
Actually won some money at Casino Royale.
Day 7
The beach was waiting for us as we arrived promptly at 11:20. We incurred a major change in our routine, as the wife spent the entire day lounging to the left of me instead of the much more familiar right.
Did absolutely nothing all day other than deciding where to have dinner. Tonight's choice - our debut at Spicy in Grand Case.
We were met and taken care of by the very friendly Sophie. For appetizers, the wife had a roasted pepper brie with a mixed salad and I had sea scallops; both very tasty.
Entrees included a roast duck breast in peppercorn sauce for her and I had a snapper special. These two were also very tasty.
We enjoyed Spicy a lot and feel like we have a new friend in Sophie. It's not quite up to some of the other restaurants but gets a solid 3 profiteroles.
Came out even at the Princess.
Day 8
If this vacation were a movie, it would be "Ground Hog Day". Once again, we succumbed to the gravitational pull of the sand and spent the entire day on it.
Regarding restaurants in Grand Case, it has been our opinion that foodwise, those restaurants with a water view are not as good as those without. We decided to test this opinion by dining, for the first time, at Restaurant Le Soleil, a water-view restaurant with new ownership. Our opinion has not changed.
Our hostess and co-owner, Myriam, was very pleasant. Appetizers of shepherdess salad (warm goat cheese on toasted bread with honey) and a Caribbean salad (breaded shrimp, grilled fish, squid) were ok. Entrees of duck breast and the fish special were ok as well.
Unfortunately, in Grand Case, with the bar set so high, ok just isn't good enough.
Additionally, while we're hardly wine snobs, even we know that a white wine should not be brought to the table unchilled. Far worse, they were out of their one and only chocolate dessert.
A disappointing two profiteroles for Restaurant de Soleil.
There is good news though, we won a little at the Princess.
Day 9
The previously mentioned "Ground Hog Day" analogy makes so much sense that I expect to see Bill Murray walk by at any moment.
We decide on Le Taitu for dinner tonight, a first time visit for us.
We're greeted and waited on by Jean who we find difficult not to like.
We share a good and large seafood sampler appetizer. The wife has a Shrimp Taitu and I have Snapper for entrees, both good.
As the calorie count for the trip approaches six figures, we order desert and share two giant...Profiteroles!!!
Le Taitu is a good, if unassuming restaurant, and pleasing to the wallet. It is also convenient to the Radisson. We rate it a solid 2 1/2 profiteroles.
Day 10
Our last full day. What to do? How about spending it on the beach? OK.
We save our last dinner for Temptation. If anyone remembers our last trip report in 2007 (and we can't imagine why anyone would), Temptation is the only recipient of the coveted fourth profiterole.
The wife orders a crispy goat cheese salad with figs and honey that makes her knees buckle, and I have a lump crabcake with mustard sauce and a bacon-celery salad. Both outstanding.
The entree for the wife is a crispy skinless duck breast and I have a fall-off-the-bone osso bucco with a cinnamon polenta. Both perfect.
We share the wet chocolate cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. I can't say I needed crutches to get back to the car, but I can say that tears formed in this chocoholic's eyes.
To go with the food, the service is impeccable.
We have eaten at many of St. Martin's best restaurants. We continue to think Temptation is the best of the best, although the gap has narrowed. Temptation (are you ready AP, Reuters, Michelin, Zagat) retains its 4 profiteroles.
Epilogue
On checking out of the Radisson, we learn that next week, the hotel will be very crowded with over 100 teenagers included. Just when you think our vacation can't get any better...
A little fuss at the airport as Ric Ocasek of the Cars is escorted through security. If by our day 6 reference to Little Richard and Little Anthony you think we can't name any Cars songs, you are correct.
Our flight home lands a little early but once again, Continental has pulled a fast one. As they've done before, they use narrower seats on the return flights, causing much discomfort. The FAA will be notified.
We dine at our favorite Jersey diner and feel like Cinderella after the clock struck midnight.
Miscellaneous
The weather was great, the little rain occurred at night. Doesn't seem they've been getting much rain as the Island looked browner than usual.
We consumed a bottle of wine with each dinner not to mention rum and other drinks forced upon us. So while we think we were accurate in reporting what we ate, we are not staking our unprofessional reputation on it.
We never felt threatened or even uncomfortable during our entire stay.
We Shall Return!
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