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Moderator
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 3,724
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Though we stayed all inclusive at the Tamarijn which also entitled us to the privledge of dining at the sister resort the Divi Aruba, on a few ocassions we chose for variety, to eat outside of the resort.
Gasparito
Since 1995 we have eaten there at least once each and every trip. More often than not it was our first and last meal on the island. We loved this place so much we named one of our cats after it.
This trip, we were just not that excited about the meal. They have a new menu with all of the most popular "old" items. Some of the recipes though have been changed. I had their Mussel soup and it was TOTALLY different and did not finish it. Dh ordered the fish soup and said it tasted like dishwater. Believe me he is not THAT fussy. He ate a piece of swordfish at our resort the first night of our stay which was overcooked and did not say anything to me about it until 10 days later!
For entrees now they are offering half of this entree and half of that...Jerry had half chicken keshi yena and half goat stew. Goat stew was not as good as he remembered. Chicken keshi yena was the same. Dh makes as good at home, so no need for us to go back just for that. Dh's recipe.
For dessert we ALWAYS order the apple/pear strudel, one of our FOREVER favorites. Again another dish totally changed. Not nearly as good.
The last straw for dh came when the bill arrived. He gave the waitress his AMEX and she very snottily told him that they did not accept it and just about threw the card back at him!!!!
Promenade
Another heartbreak of the trip. Food was wonderful, and the service was horrific. Will not be able to convince dh to return in a million years.
Pinchos
Yet another night we should have stayed at the resort. Pincho's was very nice, but the food just okay. Nice romantic ambiance but not to justify a so so meal. More about our experience here.
Passions at the Amsterdam Manor
We ate four meals outside of the Tamarijn/Divi: Promenade, Gasparito, Passions and Pinchos. This was BY FAR the BEST meal we had and will definitely return. The meal pretty much cost nearly the same amount as Gasparito. If we had had more nights this trip we would have eaten there again. More about our experience here. Photos from our dinner at Passions below, click on thumbnails to enlarge.
   
FWIW, once again, we could not find fault with the food at the Tamarijn/Divi. Since Christmas they have added a daily rotating sandwich wrap at lunch as well as "burger of the day" with different types of toppings.
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