Monday, Monday. Again!

Dec. 7, in the year of Covid 19

Woke up early and decided to go out for breakfast after we finished our coffee. It was a hard call with so many great choices at our fingertips but we decided to turn into EZBeach rather than head out to the Yacht Club and have to come back this direction after we ate since we were planning on seeing friends at their Royal Islander penthouse unit. We also considered The Tortuga but it’s so very peaceful at El Zafiro that it fast became our game plan. Good call - French Toast and a cheese omelet with fresh squeezed orange juice and all was very good as was the service.

We finally headed off to Royal Islander to visit with friends and to see the Benners home for their final week here this trip. It is drop dead gorgeous and the views are spectacular. Their penthouse boasts three bedrooms and three and a half baths and a spectacular terrace which is huge, and along with everything else it has its own hot tub (warm tub, maybe?) where you can relax with a glass of whatever your pleasure and enjoy the views of planes coming and going at the airport or you can also look out towards the RI pool, and all of the Sonesta properties there. And if that doesn’t work for you, their penthouse overlooks Maho Beach which was very under-peopled again today. We hadn’t expected to be wined and dined, but thank you guys, the unanticipated lunch was lovely. You guys are the best and you really shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble. But thank you, thank you. It was much appreciated and totally enjoyed!

Home at last to our 4:00 cocktail hour, and as I was making the pina coladas it occurred to me, we’ve yet to have a BBC this trip. Will have to work on that one.

Dinner tonight was at Sublime in the Maho complex. If you’re coming from the Maho Beach area you drive through the shopping area almost to the end and park on your LEFT - the real left this time - in the car park that’s been there almost forever and you go up to the third level and park towards the front, you can walk through and turn to your left and it’s right there. Easy-peazy!

It is very nice and light years removed in atmosphere from the place that used to be in Simpson Bay. This is a get-dressed-up-for-dinner type of atmosphere and while we walked in without reservations, if tourism continues to pick up, you might want to make them jic.

I’ve heard mixed reviews from others regarding food quality - nothing bad for sure - and our experience was very good. We both enjoyed our meals and found the staff to be very attentive. I suspect they may end up giving Jax a real run for their money.

John had what he said was an incredibly good rib-eye steak and I had a grilled lobster tail that was lovely. They have invested some serious money into this venture and it shows in both decor and staff quality and while we are not gourmet type foodies, we did enjoy two very good dinners. The only negative aspect was we felt the prices had gone up considerably from their Simpson Bay days (which we thought at the time was dirt cheap for the quality of the food served....)but just one look at the place and you immediately know why. It was an excellent choice and I’m glad we got there tonight.

Still no BBC but tomorrow is another day......

Sounds like a lovely day! We will have to try Sublime next time...

Keep the reports coming. Sounds like you are having a great vacation. As for the penthouse at RI....it's a whole different level of service up there. I stayed up there a few times when we extended our stay a couple of times. A friend of mine had it for the week after ours, and invited us to stay up there a couple of times. The view is amazing....the size of the place is amazing, and the privacy is great with other people there too. Thanks for bringing back some great memories of the times spent there, and may our friend Nick Rest in Peace.

Sounds like a great day. I have never been that impressed with El Z and am glad you are having good experiences there. Sublime is definitely on my list for June.

Thanks for another update, sounds like a very good day. Good luck to Sublime. We had a very good meal at Jax back in March.

But it's not owned by The Chef, it's owned by The Beirut people.

Lesley,

Given where he was a year ago compared to where he is today, I assumed there had to be involvement of ‘someone’ beyond ONLY the Chef given the very high-end decor and style of the current location. We had a good experience. We thought about dining outside but when we arrived it was HOT, HOT, HOT! with not a breeze to be found so we opted for dining inside and were pleased with our over-all experience.

Linda,

El Zafiro isn’t a beach destination like some we both love (and much as we love one of them in particular, we just haven’t been motivated to make the drive there this trip........) but we’ve always been comfortable and treated well there but honestly, this trip it’s been hard to leave our own beach and pool.

Some pictures of the gardens at BSV







And the view from Todd and MJ's unit

Yes Dear and keep enjoying your vacation.

We'll have to try Sublime next trip. Glad you were out and about.

I have to agree with Linda, both of our dining experiences at El Zafiro were not good. Dinner and lunch on two separate trips.

We have friends who enjoy it so I know we are in the minority but I can only comment on our personal experiences.

I never cared for El Zafiro either, Louise.

I agree, and yes we are in the minority. Dozens of tries with food there, and never got a good meal once. Nice location, nice staff when we were there, but the food was always barely edible.

Just made a mental note to give Sublime a try next May for sure.

Pat,
I like the view from the Towers also!

Thank-you once again for the report!!

The gardens at BSV are spectacular!
Can't wait to see them again.

:0

Re El Zafiro and the experiences of so many, I guess we are just not very sophisticated diners or we are extremely lucky in that we’ve always been pleased with our meals there. John maintains one night last November he had the best scallop appetizer he’s ever had on the island so go figger........

And I still maintain over 48 years of annual trips to St. Martin/Sint Maarten I’ve had ONLY two meals on this island I was not pleased with, and both were at eateries that were and one still is popular with many people here. Different likes and dislikes coupled with the fact that chefs and cooks move around constantly? I don’t know the answer.

At EZ for breakfast yesterday, J ordered French toast and when served, as expected, it was made on store bread as opposed to baguette which was the way we’d always had it back in the day. In speaking with the waitress he asked why nobody makes it from baguette anymore and while she said she didnt know, she did say if we come back again just ask and they’ll be happy to do so. We’ll see.........