We really haven’t been to St Martin for 2 ½ years due to health issues – we tried last year but only made it for 4 days. So this year I was determined to revisit some old favorite restaurants and add some new ones onto our list. Because I think it must be terribly difficult to start a new restaurant on the island I thought I would report separately on the new ones (new to us anyway – I think a couple of them have been around for a bit of time) just to highlight them.

Basilico – Italian restaurant at the Atlantis casino located where the old Bella Napoli once was and opened for about 4 months. We thought this was the best of them all – and we usually don’t do Italian when we travel so I was happy we broke our routine. The décor is clean & modern, with inside & courtyard seating. We opted for the inside as I was really intrigued with what they had done with the space. Service (from Gaber) was timely & discrete – and very helpful. We had the bruschetta as an appetizer – tomatoes were a bit large but the flavoring was excellent. I might mention that the bread was not the ubiquitous baguette but sweeter, denser Italian bread. I had the Scallop & Asparagus Risotto & Don had the Ravioli Shrimp Gambetta - $25 & $24 respectively. Both dishes were outstanding! They had an extensive wine list (which we did not use) with most pricing between $40 – 100 a bottle & a single glass from $8-10. Dessert was a Tiramisu served in a mini mason jar – very unusual presentation that I was told was “traditional” – and the Tiramisu was a fitting end to a very fine meal. Tip is included at $15% and we added a bit more as I really appreciated our server - $115 total. I hope they will still be there next year.

Charter House 1863 is the old Saratoga. Decor changed a bit but seating was similar. Another excellent choice for a restaurant opened only a short time. We sat waterside with excellent and friendly service. They have “signature” martinis on the menu & I sampled a couple that were quite good. Don had lobster bisque & I the house salad – bisque was awesome. We both had a filet – done exactly as we ordered. And we closed the meal with a fabulous chocolate lava cake - although it’s not labeled as such on the menu – I had to whine about how I couldn’t find a chocolate dessert & our server (whose name I forgot, much to my dismay) had to point it out to me. $157 included the tip. We wish Jason well and I think he has a winner here.

Moomba in Maho (the old Granducca) is a great place to meet for Tapas & drinks. Happy hour from 5-7 has ½ price tapas every day, and on Tuesdays they are ½ price the whole night. We met friends there at 5:30 and the place was pretty empty but by the time we left many of the inside tables were full. We really enjoyed the Tapas – they have about 12 cold and 12 hot tapas on the menu – along with a full dinner menu. But if you order 4-5 tapas for 2 that is more than enough food. Martinis were good also.

Fig was what everyone said it was – we enjoyed our meal of a rib eye steak and some kind of shrimp dish. Fig is on the smaller side so I was glad we made reservations as most tables were full – they do have some outside (on the road) seating. Menu is a bit limited but there were several dishes I could have ordered. The eggplant “caviar” they serve with the bread I wanted to bottle & take home. And I loved the artwork they had hanging. No dessert or alcohol for us this night.

The Palms in Simpson Bay was not my favorite which is quite contrary to what a lot of folks have reported. I just couldn’t get into the roadside seating and dog walking around the tables. Plus I had the last piece of lasagna at a 7pm reservation which says to me it was reheated from the day before. They were out of ribs also. The appetizers however were very good, and my brother had a special for the day that he really liked also – a stuffed chicken breast.

C Lounge is where I think the old Bamboo Bernie’s was close to the SSB&G. We stopped in there one day for a couple of drinks and quite enjoyed the location & friendliness of the staff. Looking at a menu dinners were in the $25-35 range. Nicely decorated with a big comfortable lounge area by the water.

MB