Perhaps our trips to St. Martin differ from those of others in that ours are goal-oriented. The goal is to do less on the current visit than the prior one. This being our 12th visit to the Island, achieving this goal has become quite a challenge. There is virtually no margin for error.
Our major activities include, and are pretty much limited to, lying on the beach, eating, drinking, napping, and jotting down some notes for this report. Since we so much enjoy our daily dose of TTOL, we'd like to return the favor with a report on the vital subjects mentioned above.
Most of this report will be about restaurants, and we can truthfully say that in all our visits, including this one, we have never had a bad meal or received poor service. Nevertheless, some are better than others and we thought we'd rate the restaurants: for our own amusement; to possibly be of some help to fellow travelers; and to have something to do on the plane ride home instead of sulk. You might ask what are our qualifications to rate restaurants. Answer: We like to eat!
But we did want to differentiate our rating from those of others and needed to come up with something other than stars, forks, wine bottles, etc. For us, this was a major activity in and of itself and after minute upon minute of pondering, we frinally came up with the perfect rating.... Profiteroles! Not that we have them every night on the Island, but we NEVER have them anywhere else.
In the interests of full disclosure, we have the deepest respect
for Ed and Sandra's policy of not accepting free meals. We want to make it absolutely clear that our policy is the exact opposite, we WILL accept any and all free meals, or any part thereof, and such free meal, or any part thereof, may very well guarantee the coveted four Profiterole rating. So without further ado:
7/29 - Arrived on Continental's non-stop from Newark, on time and uneventful (our favorite kind of flight). Weather upon our arrival was overcast and very windy and it was evident that it had rained hard with no imminent clearing. Met Leslie from Kenny's and took off in our white Corolla. After checking in, we ideally would have plunked down immediately on the beach. However, due to the weather conditions, and our early rising to catch our plane, the perfect opportunity arose to take the first of many naps.
Upon wakening, we had to decide where to have dinner and as the weather still hadn't changed, we thought eating in an "indoor" restaurant made sense. We deecided to dine at Le Montmartre, a new one for us, but with an excellent pedigree (Pascal and Karen also own L' Aberge Gourmande in Grand Case). Our table by the window gave us an excellent view of the torrential rains, as well as the lightning and thunder, outside. And while we were congratulating ourselves on what a good idea this was to eat inside, we were enjoyng our first bottle of Sancerre (our official St. Martin wine), and a fabulous meal of duck breast in honey and rasberry vinegar for the Mrs. and a turbot with shrimp special for me. For dessert we shared the profiteroles that were swimming in chocolate sauce. The service and presentation were excellent and we're off to a good start as Le Montmartre is awarded a strong 3 1/2 Profiteroles. As if this wasn't good enough, we went next door and won $5 at the Atlantis.
7/30 - Woke up to sunny skies although still very windy. Spent the day on the beach as scheduled but it rained again in mid-afternoon and forced an unscheduled nap. We awakened and quickly realized that we had been on the Island for over 24 hours and still had not been to Le Cottage. While we were getting ready, the power went out with the Mrs. in the shower and yours truly with a face full of shaving cream. While driving to Grand Case we experienced severe flooding in Marigot from the day's rains. The Corolla navigated the waters fine (I was concerned) and we arrived to a very quiet and desolate Garan Case (some flooding there too). We overheard another diner saying it took him 1 1/4 hours to get there from Little Bay.
However, the rains did not prevent the expected magnificient meal at Le Cottage, courtesy of Bruno and Stephane, our favorite restauranteurs. Scallops for me and beef, barely needing a knife, for the Mrs. Another 3 1/2 Profiterole performance.
Drove to the Princess Casino afterwards, only to find it closed due to weather-related problems. Made it back to the Atlantis and lost $20 for our efforts.
7/31 - Woke up to cloudy, rainy skies which delayed our beach arrival by about 1/2 hour. But ... life goes on. Once we got on the beach, the weather was ideal until around 4 when it started raining again, nothing serious this time. We returned to Grand Case for dinner at L' Auberge Gourmande. The flooding had subsided so there were no problems getting there. This restaurant is a sentimental favorite of ours as it was our introduction to French food and was the first "fine" restaurant we ate in during our initial visit to the Island many years ago. Got us reminiscing about eating in Ma Chance's house in Grand Case and the old Paradise Cafe on the hill beyond the Casino Royale.
The Mrs. had rack of lamb and I had the Chilean Sea Bass, both tastily propared and delivered. While L' Auberge Gourmande may be a half step below some others, including it's sister, Le Montmartre, Christophe always makes it a delightful evening. A solid three Profiteroles for L' Auberge Gourmande.
8/1 - The Mrs. wants to make a rare (for us) trip to Phillipsburg. I want to take advantage of the good weather and spend the whole day on the beach. Off we go to Phillipsburg. It's Monday, late morning, no ships in port, so the traffic isn't horrible. The bad news is we did hit some traffic and it took quite a while to park. The good news is Oasis 96.3 plays oldies on Monday mornings. We know we're ageng ourselves, but hearing Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Do Wop, etc. in St. Martin ... just when we thought it couldn't get any better ...
Anyway, the Mrs. finds the souvenir ring she wants at Trident/Shiva and I find the beer I want, and need, at L' Escargot during lunch. Both of us had salads, nothing special. We did, as required by law, stop at DK Gems. Unfortunately, the Mrs. knew exactly what she wanted and they didn't have it.
Stopped at Mary's Boon on the way back because we had read so many nice comments about it on TTOL. Found out they serve dinner at 7:30 each night, much to eary for us given our hectic schedule. Our loss. Finally hit the beach about 3:30 and experiences intermittent rain. Made vow to make for lost beach time in coming days.
Being that we spent a fair amount of time in the car during the day and we had three consecutive nights of French food, a nearby Italian like La Gondola, a new one for us, was in order. The staff, led by David, was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. When David was describing the Osso Buco special, he admitted to tears welling in his eyes because it was so good. Message to David: I like my Osso Buco too, but you really need to get out more.
I had the Osso Buco (how couldn't I) and the Mrs. had a veal dish. Everything was fine but for us, La Gondola doesn't make the "A" list. In fact, we would put it in the same category as other Italian restaurants we've eaten at on the Island like Sebastiano's, Rainbow, Il Nettuno and Don Camillo; good food, good service, nothing memorable. Spiga is a notable exception. 2 Profiteroles for La Gondola. After dinner, walked around Maho for a little while and then left a small deposit at Casino Royale.
8/2 - Woke up to the clearest weather yet and was on the beach by 10:30. A nap, lunch, and another nap later, it was time for dinner. However, the big excitement of the day was learning that Mario's Bistro was reopening that night. We hadn't been there in years as they are typically closed for the entire summer. It was just as we remembered, a nice setting with excellent food and service. The Mrs. had delicious scallops and I had an equally delicious pistachio-crusted mahi-mahi special. Had a nice chat with Martine and with 3 1/2 Profiteroles, Mario's quickly returns to our "A" list.
8/3 - Partly cloudy skies in the morning but on the beach again by 10:30. Another goal-achieving day as we did absolutely nothing. We decided on Le Vie En Rose for dinner, another restaurant we hadn't been to in many years, although the taste of a lemon crepe with raspberry sauce had stayed with the Mrs. for all that time. We called to make reservations (not that they were needed) and to make sure the lemon crepe was still on the menu. It wasn't but they said they would make it for us. We sat on the balcony and I had salmon and the Mrs. had mahi-mahi. We had a good meal in a very nice and somewhat unique setting. A strong 2 1/2 Profiteroles for the food and an extra 1/2 Profiterole for making the special dessert, the setting, and for Le Vie En Rose just being around so long.
8/4 - Woke up to partly cloudy skies and a dead battery...in the car. Called Leslie and he was over in 20 minutes with a new battery. Let the car charge for 30 minutes and then called Leslie again as the problem persisted. He returned again in 20 minutes with a different white Corolla. No problem, @#$% happens.
Hit the beach around 11 and then made the major decision to have lunch at Loterir Farms, another new place for us and a rare trip "inland". A lovely setting and we enjoyed 2 salads. No Profiteroles assigned for such a limited meal but suffice it to say it's a nice place for lunch (and almost certainly for dinner).
On leaving, instead of making a left, we made a right to drive up to Pic Paradise, where we hadn't been since our first visit to the Island. Upon arriving at the top, we remembered why we hadn't been there for so long... it really isn't worth it. Once was enough. To make matters worse, we have now done more than we did last year and our goal is doomed to failure.
On a more serious sour note, a tourist's car was broken into shortly before we arrived with a camera and other items stolen. While we were hiking, the alarm went off in another car that arrived when we did. Strange feeling to know we were being watched by a thief.
Returned to the beach about 3:30 and would have seen a nice sunset but a nap got in the way. On Monday, while we were at the Princess Casino, we made reservations at Le Baccara for tonight's dinner and show. Got there at 9 with the show, consisting of a singer and then dancers, to start about 9:30. I had a shrimp and scallop cassolette and the Mrs. had Chilean sea bass. Both dishes were good, not extraordinary. John and his waitstaff were attentive and nice to talk to. The singer was a nice touch but midway through the meal, John very apologetically told us the dancing portion had been cancelled. Dessert was on the house and we were brought two glasses of champagne. All in all, a pleasant 2 1/2 Profiterole evening. As an aside, the tabe was, by far, the least expensive of the week. I considered adding a half Profiterole for that but the Mrs. vetoed saying it would cheapen our already cheap rating system. Valid point.
8/5 - The weather has been improving but the temperature and humidity seem to be a bit higher than usual. This has necessitated additional trips into the water. Just something we have to deal with in our own way. Those additional trips constituted the major activity of the day as, once again, the gravitational pull of the sand could not be overcome. Dinner tonight at Sol E Luna in Mont Vernon, a true family affair with father in the kitchen and mother and daughter handling the guests. Last year was our first visit to this restaurant and we were blown away by the food and what we think is the prettiest setting on the Island. This year, the setting was even nicer than we remembered but the food was just good, not superb. The appetizers of monkfish rolls for me and a vegetable tart with goat cheese for the Mrs. were very good and very creative. The roast duck entree was good but not nearly as good as it was at Le Montmartre. My lambshank was as good as the Osso Buco at La Gondola but thankfully, was not presented with tear-filled eyes. I was prepared to give 3 1/2 Profiteroles to Sol E Luna; a solid 3 for the food and setting and an extra 1/2 for the incredible French eye candy sitting at several tables nearby. Once again the veto of the Mrs. Is invoked. 3 Profiteroles for Sol E Luna it is.
8/6 - Was on the beach once again by 10:30. Time does fly when you're doing nothing and it was lunch time in no time. There used to be a restaurant in Grand Case called the Lobster Shack or Lobster Shanty or something like that. It's been closed for several years but it served the best lobster salad we have ever tasted. Thought we'd go to Uncle Harry's for lunch as it looks like a place that would have a good lobster salad and I actually had an Uncle Harry. Unfortunately, upon our arrival, we learned they only served dinner. Stopped at Turtle Pier for sandwiches, no big deal and back on the beach by 3:30.
Anyone have any lobster salad recommendations?
We thought Saturday night would be a good night for people watching and Marina Royale in Marigot would be a good place to do it. Le Chanteclaire has always been a favorite so off to dinner we go. Got a table outside as hoped for and I had the lobster special, as usual. The Mrs. had the duck (the Mrs. likes duck) which was better the Sol E Luna but not quite as good as Le Montmartre. The lobster special continues to be a good prix fixe meal and comes with the famous "unnameable dessert" which is still yummy but the novelty has worn off a bit (I have it all the time). A very nice 3 Profiterole evening from Cecile. To complete the day, won $75 at the Princess.
8/7 - Our last full day on the Island. Still haven't tired of the beach and hit it right on schedule at 10:30. The Mrs. wants to go jet skiing but I hesitate remembering our goal of doing less. However, that goal was blown on our ill-advised trip to Pic Paradise, so on with the safety jackets and away we go. After all this activity I see a nap in my immediate future. Stayed (and napped) on the beach til sunset and then got ready for dinner at Temptation. This is our third visit to Temptation and it has been a member of our "must eat" list since the first one. During the week, a couple told us they were eating there the previous Saturday night, and because of the heavy rains, were not able to get a taxi back to their hotel, La Samanna. One of the owners of Temptation drove them back.
We had appetizers of lump crab apple tart and warm goat cheese salad, both superb. For entrees, the Mrs. had an excellent salmon dish and I had scallops that were, well, perfect. I am tempted to give Temptation 3 1/2 Profiteroles only because this is the debut of our ratings and maybe I just shouldn't give out 4. On review of this silliness, I am proud to announce that Temptation has received the first ever 4 Profiterole rating. Congartulations are in order and we can only hope that this award will not cause them to rest on their laurels. No veto from the Mrs. on this one.
Went next door to the Atlantis to celebrate this momentous event and promptly lost $90.
We would have liked to be one of the first to dine at Dare To Be Rare, their sister restaurant, but it's not scheduled to open until later this month. Of course, last August when we inquired as to the opening, they said December. We could see the interior and it looks just as visually pleasing as Temptation itself.
8/8 - Started feeling a little like Cinderella with midnight approaching. Our plane leaves at 2 and tonight will be a no Profiterole night at our favorite Jersey diner. Also wondering why my entire wardrobe has shrunk over the last 10 days.
General Observations:
* A shame that some of the construction energy all over Cupecoy can't overflow onto the Mullet eyesore.
* We have always gone at this time of year but thought this off season was more off than usual. Just seemed to be less people.
*Island definitely greener than it's been in several years. Fine with us as long as it rains at the right times.
* Stayed at La Samanna again. Have seen the rooms at L' Escapade and thought they were a bit nicer. However, we're beach people and while La Samanna ain't cheap, we're willing to pay up for our room right on a beautiful and very quiet beach.
*Other than the episode at Pic Paradise, wasn't aware of any difference crime-wise. While I'm certainly aware of the increase, I'll be damned if a few morons are going to keep us from coming back.
* So many restaurants, so little time.
*Can't wait to return.
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