Prologue
This is our 13th trip to SXM and our second trip report. We were amazed at the number of comments our first trip report received and despite them, we're going to do it again. Partly to keep our vacation going, even though we're home, and partly to return the favor to our fellow TTOL trip reporters whose reports we so much enjoy reading.
As our goal in SXM is to do as little as humanly possible, we can't report on any social events like pub crawls or meeting any of you wonderful people. In addition, since we spent practically every day, all day, on the beach, there's not a lot to report there either.
However, one thing we do a lot of is EAT! Therefore, much of this trip report, among other assorted musings, will be about restaurants. We can say with certainty, that in all of our trips to SXM (including this one), we have NEVER had a bad meal or received poor service. Nevertheless, some are better than others in our humble opinion,which we will gladly share. We rate restaurants by our famous profiterole ranking system with a 4 profiterole rating the highest possible. Why profiteroles as opposed to the usual stars or forks used by most restaurant reviewers you might ask? We ask...why not?
Chapter 1
Flew down from Newark on Continental, non-stop. Left a little late, got in a little early. The flight was uneventful, my favorite kind. This will be our first time in the new airport, and in reading about it, one thing that has bothered me a little is the use of the jetway. When I land in SXM, I really like to step off the plane onto those portable stairs and immediately take warm, deep Caribbean breaths. To my delight, we were greeted by portable stairs and not the jetway. That's the good news. The bad news is that it was raining, not hard, but raining nonetheless. I gladly settled for warm, deep, and wet Caribbean breaths.
We were met by Leslie from Kenny's Car Rental and so as not to be a conspicuous tourist, were placed in a white Toyota Corolla (R-18), pre-scratched just to our liking. We have rented from Kenny's before and will rent from Kenny's again. Drove to La Samanna (SXM brings out the splurge in us) and unpacked. As it kept on raining, drove to Maho, had a couple of burgers at Cheri's and walked around.
Dinner tonight at Uncle Harry's. We hadn't been there before but we'd read and heard good things about the place and, most importantly, I actually had an Uncle Harry. The Mrs. and I had a steroidal lobster grilled just as we like. Came with a baked potato wrapped in aluminum foil. This is not fine dining as offered by so many other SXM restaurants, but it is good dining and we can see why this is a fun place to hang out. I was leaning toward a 2 1/2 profiterole rating when Harry came over and spent a good deal of time with us. He tells great stories, although we think there may be an occasional embellishment. Among other things, he told us that he has the best steak on the island (or was that the world?) and while we have no reason to doubt him, it left us wondering why we just had this huge lobster. We had a great time, a lot of laughs, and our time spent with Harry lifts the restaurant to a 3 profiterole rating.
Our vacation is off to a good start although it is slightly marred by leaving a small deposit at Casino Royale.
Chapter 2
Woke up to sunshine, the way it's supposed to be, and was on the beach by 11. As previously mentioned, our goal is to do as little as possible and on each trip to SXM we try to do less than the previous one. As this is our 13th visit to the island, achieving this has become quite the challenge. But we will make every effort!
Dinner tonight is at Le Cottage which, for us, continues to be the standard-bearer for restaurants on SXM. We enjoy the company of Bruno and Stephane and the food is always top-notch. The Mrs. and I both have delicious crabmeat appetizers with a horseradish dressing and for our main course, the Mrs. has scallops and onion pie and I have monkfish wrapped in bacon on top of eggplant. This was accompanied by a bottle of Sancerre, our official wine of St. Martin. Dessert for the Mrs. was a caramel souffle, light and airy as it should be. I had a "taste of chocolate", a hot chocolate cake with cold chocolate sauce, passion fruit and chocolate egg. A great meal and dining experience and Le Cottage maintains its previously awarded 3 1/2 profiterole rating.
Stopped at the Princess Casino on the way back and didn't lose.
Chapter 3
The good weather continues and so does our beach time. Had to make a midday run to Match for emergency provisions (wine, cheese, assorted snacks) and had a couple of salads at La Vie en Rose. The salads were good but we don't assign profiteroles for lunch. However, during our last visit to SXM, we had dinner here and rated it 3 profiteroles.
Le Chanteclair in Marigot was tonight's dinner selection. I had a goat cheese in pastry appetizer which was excellent and the Mrs. had an escargot appetizer, also nicely prepared. For our entrees, I had the turbot dish and the Mrs. had steak, which barely needed a knife. We finished with their famous "unammable dessert" which is always terrific but after 11 years, they probably should have figured out a name. Also after 11 years they should have learned the correct English spelling. We enjoyed the people parade on the marina and Le Chanteclair holds onto its 3 profiterole status.
The Mrs. wins $90 at the Princess Casino. Will they let us back in?
Chapter 4
The sandathon continues as that's where we spent the day.
Tonight's dinner is at Le Montmartre. The Mrs. has warm goat cheese in a puff pastry for an appetizer and I have a salad special that has smoked salmon, fois gras, etc. Entrees consist of duck for the Mrs. and lamb chops for me. And for dessert, drum roll please, Profiteroles! The service is impeccable, very friendly and the presentations look amazing. We especially enjoyed talking to Karen.
All the wait staff wore ear pieces and we felt like we were being served dinner by the Secret Service. We thought the ear pieces were a bit much as there were only 6 patrons in the restaurant (including us) and the place isn't that big. While the food was good, we were not blown away like our last visit and the rating drops from 3 1/2 to a still very respectable 3 profiteroles. I point out to the Mrs. that this is the first profiterole downgrade in history. She points out that this is only our second trip report thereby diminishing the historical significance. Oh.
Chapter 5
Did some a.m. shopping in Marigot without much damage done. The Mrs. buys me ice cream to ease the shopping pain (believed to be similar to childbirth). Back on the beach by early p.m.
Went to dinner at L'Auberge Gourmande, one of our old favorites, and was warmly greeted, as usual, by Christophe. The Mrs. had a warm goat cheese salad (goat cheese is a recurring theme) and I had a Caesar salad with crab meat for our appetizers. A scallop and shrimp dish over mushroom risotto for me and Chilean sea bass for the Mrs. were the entrees and we shared a chocolate dessert (chocolate also being a recurring theme).
At no additional charge, between the appetizers and entrees, the lights went out in all of Grand Case and didn't come back on for about 45 minutes. We had a true candlelight dinner. L'Auberge Gourmande, "Old Reliable", maintains its 3 profiterole rating.
A problem has arisen; it has been building but can now be confirmed. The Mrs. has always been, and continues to be, a cheap date. However, she now drinks a bit less and continues to get the same buzz. I, having to pick up the slack, must drink more and therefore get a bigger buzz than accustomed to. At dinner, between the wine, pre-dinner drinks, after-dinner drinks and whatever else we may imbibe, we're having trouble remembering what we ordered to eat. So while we think we had what we reported (here and at other restaurants), for all we know we could have had Happy Meals!
Chapter 6
Hit the beach on time at 11. Watched a St. Martin Navy patrol boat saunter by. Made me feel safe from those war mongers on Saba. Started singing "In The Navy" by the Village People to myself.
Went to Tabba Khady for dinner, our first visit. Sitting by the pool reminded us of the old Paradise Cafe up the hill beyond Casino Royale. Was nice to speak with William and Phillippe and we learn that Tabba Khady means Bon Appetit in Djerma, an African language (Phillippe is from Niger). I receive a swift kick under the table from the Mrs. when I ask what Bon Appetit means.
The appetizers consist of shrimp in a lime chili sauce for her and very crispy Vietnamese egg rolls accompanied by a tasty dipping sauce for me. For entrees, the Mrs. has lamb scallopine (tasty but a little tough) with melted goat cheese topped with grilled tomato, all over mashed potatoes. I had shrimp, scallops, tilapia and grouper in something like a rarebit sauce. We shared a chocolate fondant sauce.
With all the rave reviews we've read about Tabba Khady, our expectations may have been a bit too high. While we certainly wouldn't hesitate to return, we consider Tabba Khady your average good St. Martin restaurant and award it a solid 2 1/2 profiteroles.
Chapter 7
Decided to spend the day at Orient and watch the people parade. Found it very difficult to nap with all the action going on. Being from New Jersey, we looked forward to our first lunch at Baywatch, and we weren't disappointed. Cheryl greeted us like long lost cousins, especially after we gave her a full copy of the June New Jersey Monthly. There is an article and picture of Cheryl and Andy in this issue and while she had received copies of the article, she had never seen the entire magazine. Made us feel good that she was feeling so good.
I had massive amounts of "fall off the bone" ribs and the Mrs. had a nice salad with grilled scallops. We enjoyed Baywatch immensely.
When dinner time came, and we were still stuffed from lunch, we found ourselves not in the mood for anything fancy and thought we'd try Pizza/Pasta in Maho. As we were walking past Cheri's, the show caught our attention and we thought we'd have a light dinner there. Unfortunately for us, the place was packed and had no tables available. There was a table available next door at Le Moulin fou! so we wound up watching the show (and despite our desperate attempt to do otherwise, had another fancy meal) from the first row balcony seats.
We shared a baked brie flambee with cavalos and served with crisp garlic sticks. Our entrees were a goat cheese fettucine for the Mrs. and a lamb filet mignon in a goat cheese pastry for me. We thought the lamb here was a bit more tender than Tabba Khady's. An enjoyable night at Le Moulin fou! and we rate it 2 1/2 profiteroles.
Chapter 8
We pass on breakfast as we're still full from yesterday and hit the beach early. The eatathon takes a break but the sandathon continues. As lunch time approaches, we decide to go to SSBB to watch the planes (sandus interruptus?). Had some burgers and got a couple of good plane pictures (out of the many attempts made)and we can finally say we've been there.
Back on the beach by 3 and we strike up a conversation with a nearby couple (very rare for us). Turns out they know a cousin of mine, the son of my late Uncle Harry, further validating the 3 profiterole rating of the restaurant by the same name (see Chapter 1).
Tonight's dinner is at Spiga. For appetizers, the Mrs. has asparagus pea soup with a garlic crouton and I have lobster ravioli. We have two salmon entrees, one with scallops and the other encrusted with parmesan over a bed of roasted vegetables. For dessert, we share a zesty lemon chocolate. The entire meal was truly delicious. However, a little something was missing. While the service was efficient and certainly not unfriendly, it wasn't warm and fuzzy either. The restaurant wasn't particularly busy but nobody came over to chat with us like most of the other places we dined. Maybe we've been spoiled. As profiteroles involve the total dining experience, not just the food, Spiga gets 3.
Chapter 9
On the beach by 10:30, and sticking to our strict itinerary, did absolutely nothing all day.
As mentioned in Chapter 2, we try to do less on each SXM visit than the previous one and after so many visits, this has become very difficult. We officially abandon the attempt, not because it couldn't be done, but because the pressure to do so little has become too stressful.
Tonight's dinner is at Bajatzu which I immediately assume means Bon Appetit in some language, a la Tabba Khady. Was disappointed to learn that Bajatzu is the combined name of 2 cats owned by one of the proprietors. We shared a crab meat appetizer which was all crab meat, no filler. The Mrs. has duck which is somewhat overcooked and I have filet mignon, somewhat overcooked as well. A chocolate dessert is shared. Bajatzu is busy and noisy like a big city restaurant but serves good food. Like Tabba Khady, we think it's your average good St. Martin restaurant and 2 1/2 profiteroles are awarded.
Chapter 10
Our last full day. Hit the beach by 10:30 and did the usual.
Dinner at Temptation tonight which, we're sure nobody remembers, was the sole recipient of the coveted 4 profiterole rating in our previous trip report. Appetizers consist of a crab cake (with no filler) for the Mrs. and a butternut squash bisque for yours truly. I continue with a tomato crusted Chilean sea bass and the Mrs. has braised osso bucco. We share desserts of McDino's apple pie with cinnamon ice cream (trust me, this is NOT pie a la mode) and a sinful wet chocolate cobbler. The service is friendly and flawless, the presentations are outstanding and the food is the best on the island. Without keeping you in suspense any longer, Temptation maintains its well-deserved 4 profiteroles.
Epilogue
Traffic on the island wasn't too bad except for some road repair in and around Marigot.
Never had a concern about safety.
After this 10 day feast, the Mrs. had trouble moving and I found my pants had mysteriously shrunk.
As previously mentioned, despite differences in ratings, we would have no qualms about returning to any of the restaurants we went to on this trip or our previous twelve.
Amazed at my growing ability to nap on demand.
Discovered that during our stay, Continental Airlines replaced all their seats with much more narrower ones.
Can't wait for trip number 14.
On our first night home, ate at our favorite Jersey diner.
0 profiteroles.
.
