Food on Orient

Need advise on best food on Orient. We are tired of La Playa Don't need "best" beach bar, etc., just best food? Going tomorrow or Wed.

Sandy

Aloha is one of our favorites. "Best" is a relative term though. Best Pizza? Best ambiance?
All in all though, I'd give Aloha a try for its location and great food & great staff. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Cheryl's next to Pedro, grilled, bbq and also italian dishes. Wonderful food. Also Chez Leandra - great wraps, so big you can share. Both are toward Pedro's/Club O.

Palm Beach....

Best food is a really subjective thing, but in my opinion, Kakao has the best food on Orient. We often have our main meal there at lunchtime and just have a light snack in the evening.

Well, I've never eaten "Ambiance" - tee hee. I've also eaten @ Cheryl & Andy's but not last time & admit it was good way back. Okay, Thanks to all of you - I now have a good list. Tonight tho. it's Captain Oliver's for HH & maybe Mama's Pizza or a Swarma on the way home! Must write down my list - memory not what it used to be!
Thanks again Sandy

We agree about Kakao. Have never been disappointed. And we do like Cheryl's for breakfast. Kon Tiki is nice and new, but in February a cheeseburger was $8 higher than Kakao.

Are you getting the swarma at the place in Orleans? If so, how are they? I've been wanting to try it.

Wait, a burger was $8 HIGHER at Kon Tiki than Kakao? How much was the burger at Kon Tiki??

We love L'Orange, look for the Orange Beach chairs.

Will do, thanks! It's added to my list. BTW, my fav. swarma was in the corner parking lot of Fresh Market when it was just a snack wagon & they used to carve thin slices off a cone shaped hanging mass. Now it's burger type meat, still delish & the sauce is the best in the world. Had it once, but tonight we might try the "Swarma/Pizza" place close to Greenhouse/Point Blance road. Pass it every day & curious.

That was my question as well! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

At Kakao a cheeseburger is 12.50 Euro

Are you saying at KonTiki it's a $20 hamburger?!!!

Aloha! You won't regret it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Another plus for Orange Fever... Andy and Chery's, Sun Beach, Palm Beach and Aloha.

Our new favorite is Aloha. Service is always with a smile...just the warmest staff and they always remember your name. Food was very good not to mention drinks. Think we'll had back tomorrow or Wednesday...! (Also, liked Sun Beach).

If I remember correctly Kakao was 13 euros and Kon Tiki was 19 euros. I think the exchange rate then was a little over 1.2. So would have $7,20 higher at 1.2.
We went back to KT to look again and confirmed. Maybe they have gone down - I think Kakao is pretty much in line with other places, maybe a little higher, but it is worth a little more. And just so so I don't get shot - IMHO!

Try the Perch Bar for lunch time. Great burgers, pizza, grilled fish. Great scenery too !!

Sorry, that's way too much money for a burger, in my book..

I totally agree, even if you do get to sit in a swing at the bar instead of a barstool. I looked up the menus to be sure I wasn't dreaming. The Kakao menu was for 2013, and as Beachkitten said, a cheeseburger was 12.5 euros at Kakao (I still remember 13E in January) The snack menu at KT I couldn't read - but the regular menu did show the cost of a mozzarella/tomato salad at 19 euros, and we had that at Kakao for 13 euros, which the menu confirmed. Nice place but you pay for it.

And I must agree with the Perch. And they have a great hot dog (hey, it's only a couple of time a year).
My most disappointing burger has been at Pedro's - would have rather had a McD quarter pounder with cheese.

We have always enjoyed Ethnic

We have had several meals at Pedro's. Ribs the first time, burgers the next two times. Did not enjoy anything we had there. Ribs were tough, rice with beans very dry, and on a later visit the Burgers were dry and overcooked.
We now walk a few steps further to Ethnic or Chez Leandra before stopping at Pedro's.

My only bad burger in St Maarten came from Pedro's. Never again.

If you don't necessarily need to eat on the beach you should consider La Piment in the village. A very quick walk and more like a restaurant than casual beach bar.

Papagayo has very good burgers, Cuban's and onion rings.
The Perch has good burgers and grilled shrimp.
Andy and Cheryl's has the best bacon cheeseburger on the Island.

I love Le Piment, but they don't serve lunch only evening meals so you can't compare it to the Orient Beach bars and restaurants. I also think they have the best pizza we've had on the island, (which you can order to go) you can get them with a white sauce or red base. I can't honestly say we had a stand-out lunch on the Orient this year. But I had consistently good, strong pina coladas from Ethnic (and not a bad burger as well). For most of our lunches on Orient we packed our own baguette sandwiches. (There are so many good charcuterie meats to choose from in any of the French grocery stores that we HAD to make sandwiches!)

I'm guessing that that was Orange Fever, and if so, we highly recommend.

GREAT Burger and cheap cold beer.

gary

Etnic is one of our favourites as well. Philippe and Eve go out of their way to please. Their grilled sardines with sauteed potatoes and salad are delicious. We also enjoy the service provided by Olivier and Luc at Orange Fever. Their grilled grouper is delicious and very good value. Another suggestion is the foot long fish sandwich at Chez Leandra. One sandwich is more than enough for two people.

I rarely eat burgers, and would never order one at Kakao, when there are so many other delicious meals available. Their daily specials are always fabulous, and on Friday and Saturday they have fresh fish preparations that are phenomenal. If we want a lighter meal we share a pizza and a salad. Their endive and pear salad is delicious, and we love the Pizza Especiale.

Kakao is never going to be the cheapest option on Orient.

Another vote for Kakao. I eat lunch there 5-7 times every visit to the island and am never disappointed by their specials (recently had an amazing Dover Sole, triggerfish, lobster stew, and goat cheese/proscuitto tart, all as specials). Their pizzas, salads, charcuterie platter, and regular fish dishes are all excellent, too. Given that the quality is similar to what many of the better restaurants serve on the island, for me a lunch at Kakao frequently is my main meal of the day and represents an overall savings on daily food since I save on dinner.

Oh my gosh, so many suggestions; thanks. We go to Loterie tonight; Orient tomorrow. I don't usually eat burgers in the Caribbean - Swarmas yes! The grilled sardines @ Ethnic sounds enticing.
Important question as I am confused. Is Orange Fever & L'Orange with the orange chairs the same place? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/hungry.gif" alt="" />

Agreed that Kakao has many great items on their menu, but sometimes some of us just gotta have a Cheeseburger in Paradise!

If we keep this thread going long enough, every restaurant will eventually be recommended, LOL! Ok, gotta vote for Orange fever myself,but have to say when the sand gravity is especially strong the burger or ribs from the Perch are great.

I had excellent grilled sardines at Le Piment, if you're around there in the evening.
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I haven't seen those since Spain last fall. we always had those for free with a glass of wine. Gotta love those Tapas!

So how do the eat. I have only had the ones in a can. Are they like smelt or small mackerel? They look tasty.

delicious, completely different then a can.

Boney, greasy?

They look a lot bigger than the anchovies on my breakfast pizza <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

My (Portugese) grandmother used to make them in season. Delicious.

Ethnic had them yesterday as a lunch special, but I was in the mood for a burger and didn't try them.

OMG Joy; I am drooling. I will be walking the beach in 1/2 hr. looking for all those places & checking menus. I haven't had grilled sardines for a long time - Brooklyn. And haven't had anchovies since Greece & Italy. Fish sounds good for lunch!

They were delicious Sandysnow! I now wish I'd tried the ones at Ethic. If anyone on the island would like to do so and report to us feel free! If you're lucky enough to have access to fresh sardines, here is a recipe from my food guru (Mark Bittman) for quick and easy "grilled" sardines. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/dining/29mini.html

The grilled sardines at Ethnic were excellent! I had them one day last month.

Okay, any day or meal in St. Maarten is better than the best day or meal @ home. I walked the whole darn beach & looked @ all the menus but at least now we know where Le Piment is & it is on the top of my list for next visit. Because my husband needs a hip replaced & we parked by Kakao's, that is where we ate. We ordered the Sampler Platter. It was just okay, our waiter was grumpy, only gave us 2 pats of butter & the other waiters were serving 4. We had to ask for our rum shot & other waiters were leaving bottles on other table & having patrons sample up to 3. I think for lunch I'll give La Playa another go! Sorry KaKao fans, just wasn't working today. I will keep everyone's tips for later dates tho. Thanks!

It's a people buisness. Owners and managers need to be fully engaged.

And a smile goes a long way!

Just curious what "sampler platter" you had at Kakao? I can't recall one other than an appetizer of fried calamari, accras, and spring rolls. Just wondering if the menu changed a bit or if it was a special.

Orange Fever. Never understood the appeal of Andy and Cheryl's outside of an occasional breakfast. I can get that same food down the street at home. To each his own I guess

We tried the spring rolls at Kakao and at Coco and both were very good. Enjoy your self.

We are just back from a week on Orient. Had two great dinners at Coco Beach. And the caramel rum there is so good that we bought a bottle to bring home.