TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Aloha and Roma

On Monday, we headed over to the French side for lunch. I'm not sure exactly what holiday it was, but apparently Monday was a holiday. As we passed by Hope Estate, we noticed several businesses were not open. And as we passed by Rancho del Sol, the parking lot was PACKED! ...so much for avoiding Sundays, when everyone on the French side goes to the beach!! Even some of the beachside restaurants were closed, like Chez Leandra.

We ended up at Aloha about 1:30, which was packed with what appeared to be all French people, except for us. No problem, except the wait staff was having some problems keeping up, especially with several large tables. No problem, we were in no hurry. They were out of several menu items, like the lamb chops, which was disappointing. In any event, we soon settled on my favorite beach wine, Minuty Cote de Provence and some bottled water.




I ordered a steak kebob special, accompanied by grilled veggies.



The picture doesn't look very appetizing, but it was amazing, especially the peppercorn sauce that was out of this WORLD. Honestly, that pepper sauce was the single BEST thing I have had this trip so far. I almost embarrassed myself, dragging some of their lovely crusty bread through it and stuffing it in my mouth!

Eric ordered the veal melanese, (sp!!), which he thoroughly enjoyed.



It was a lovely meal.



After lunch, we headed back by Super U to stock up on some more wine, as they had a huge wine sale which ended on Monday. We also picked up a quiche for the next morning, and some pastries for dinner, which we ate with some cheese and crackers and leftovers for dinner.

On Tuesday, I wanted pizza, so we headed over to Roma for dinner. Eric ordered the chicken parmesan, which was a huge plate of food.


Unfortunately it was not good. The sauce was flat, tasteless and sweet.

I ended up with a calzone, although I expect perhaps I should have kept with a traditional pizza. It was just kind of blase' and disappointing.



The service was excellent and the a/c works wonderfully there, but overall, we were both extremely disappointed, as we have thoroughly enjoyed our meals there before.

Afterwards, we strolled over to Casino Royale. No $5 blackjack tables, of course, and the $10 table was jammed full. So I played roulette for about an hour, ended up losing only about $10, including tipping heavily whenever my numbers came in, plus a glass of champagne. It was fun. Boring people that we are, we were back "home" by 9 PM.

Enjoying all your reports and pictures. Glad you put the book down and started posting.

+1 for Aloha, thanks for the photos.

Edit: They get the best bread on the island, I think they get it specially baked from a boulangerie.

Whale Tail--only put the book down temporarily. I'm on #5 now..

erb--the bread definitely was good, especially in that sauce!

I've brought the same paperback book with me on the last 4 trips and haven't started it yet
Just looking out at the world on the island is all I need.

Very nice! Nothing embarrassing about dunking bread in sauce...as long as you didn't lick the plate!! Which I've been tempted to do at certain places and times!!😂. Nice to "see" you!! Too bad about your Roma meal with all the good reviews they usually get. Keep up the good "work" and fun!!

Whale Tail--it's funny, I was always an avid reader, growing up. Went to law school and then didn't do any reading for 'fun' for 20 years. And then I rediscovered reading and it is my best escape.

Shelby--we've got a few more days.

Good for you. I hear ya about reading. I'm a paralegal and my escape on weekends is with my Kindle... No legal documents or issues, just fun reading to escape reality!!

Shelby--yeah, although the other day I read a Patterson book (3rd Juror) and was jumping up and down in my head about how wrong things were on the legal end!

Patterson books are quick reads. Usually a 2-3 day read for me pool side.

What a light weight you are! Finished that one in a day and a half!

I have to take time off getting in the pool and fixing my rum drinks. I do occasionally slip into LaLa land after a few which stalls my reading.

Ah, ok. I usually just sit in my chair here, with a view of the ocean.