El Gaucho, old man and the sea, salt&pepper,Gianni's

[nikko]

OK, so we are at mid-week of our vacation and have loved the food so far. in this post i will talk about El Gaucho, Old Man and the Sea, salt and pepper, and Gianni's.


El Gaucho---finding this reataurant was a bit tricky but well worth it. loved the atmosphere and the few video games in the game room was a godsend for son. he is NOT a steak eater so we knew he probably wouldn't eat much here and we would get him fast food this night. hubby ordered the shrimp cocktail...it was fantastic! i had the garlic shrimp. it was shrimp with a sweet roasted garlic paste. it was very good....different than the usual garlic shrimp i am use to so it was a pleasant surprise! hubby ordered the Gaucho steak and was blown away by it.(the man loves his filet mignon..lol) he is now hooked on chimichurri...which if i remember correctly, i tried to get him to try years ago and he wouldn't. now wants me to make it with all his steak meals.lol i had the T-bone. both were incredible cuts of meat and perfectly cooked. this really is a steakhouse not to be missed! the service was good and we loved this restaurant.


Old Man and the Sea---lately this restaurant has had some iffy reviews. i had booked this before we left and almost cancelled this reservation. i am so thankful i didn't. i went into the night with an open mind and a hopeful spirit! it took a bit to find this restaurant but we finally did. we were a bit late and were a bit nervouse we wouldn't be seated on the water's edge. they were very gracious and told me they were holding the table for me. we were so taken by the simple beauty of this restaurant. the casual elegance and comfort made me excited to see what the meal would be like. our waiter was an amazing young man and really knew his job. this was another restaurant i was wondering if son would eat at. let me say they were VERY accomodating for my son. the waiter and i actually came up with a dish that wasnt on the menu for son. chef was more than happy to make it and all was well in the world again!(i'll get to what it was in a minute...)
hubby started with the most amazing shrimp cocktail, i had the scallops duets, and son ordered the tuna salad in artichoke bottoms. the scallops were very good, served over a perfectly cooked rissoto. one side was creamy and delicous, the other slightly sweet and spicy! son loved the tuna and the artichoke bottoms were perfectly cooked. i also ordered the pear and walnut salad, with bacon and a rasberry vinegarette. it was one of the best salads i have ever had. for dinner i planned on ordering the pasta and vodka for son but it was no longer on the menu. but there was a dish that had an assortment of different things on it and one of the items was a chicken with balsamic glaze. my son's favorite dish is chicken savoy, so i asked the waiter if the chef could make a plate of just the chicken with the balsamic, maybe some rice. the chef was a bit nervouse because most kids would not like the strength of the balsamic syrup, or the contrinou in the sauce. i told him the more balsamic the better and he made an amazing dish for my son and was impressed that son would eat a meal like that. lol son is very spoiled with his chicken savoy and was very impressed with the dish. it was VERY good. i had the red snapper special. it was cooked in foil and seasoned and cooked perfectly. i was so enthralled with my snapper i am having trouble remembering what hubby ordered..lol we did have dessert here and hubby had the tiramisu.(tiramisu is one of my specialties so for him to say it was good i had to try it. it was very good...we usually arent happy with it when we order it out. it was good here. son had ice cream, and i ordered the mint chocolate mousse. i didn't like the mousse--it was too sweet. the mint was perfect and it was a very dark chocolate mousse but it was way to sweet. i wish i had tried the bannas foster. over all the service was amazing, the food fantastic, and the atmoshpere great! we learned at the end of our meal that they were a waiter short that night and i would have never known. everything came when it was supposed to and the service was flawless. hopefully the night we were ther is how it is for everyone that goes.


Salt and Pepper---i was really looking foward to this. i love trying lots of different things so this was great for me! we tried many different tapas and made a dinner out of the tappas alone. the food here was good and i am glad i tried it. the location is busy and fun. some things we liked, other were just ok. the spicy beer battered fried mahi mahi was great. it was not too spicy and would be a good substitute for kids if they like fish and chips. the sauce is spicy so without it kids would be fine. shrimp in garlic was a creamy garlic suace and was good for bread dipping. hubby also had the piri piri chicken and liked that. son loved the chicken teryaki. overall the service was fine and the food good for the money. glad i did it.


Gianni's---this night we decided we were gonna do italian so son would have more of a choice. i know....italians from new jersey looking for good italian on an island...lol we originally went off to find La Dolce Vita....finally found the restaurant and at 9pm the place looked like it had been abandoned. there wasn't a car around and we really weren't even sure they were still open. so we left and figured we would go uptown and just walk around till we found someplace for son. i had driven past gianni's numerous times during the week and said lets stop and look at the menu. i didn't remember reading anything about them here but figured what the heck....i really didn't expect to find amazing italian anyway. lol well when we looked at the menu i knew we were gonna have a problem....there were at least 25 different dishes i knew hubby and i just had to try!!! if the food was 1/2 as good as the menu looked i knew we were good. i swear to god it took us forever to decide what we were having! son started with the buffalo mozzarella and a bowl of minestrone soup. the cheese plate he had was amazing. it was truely some of the best mozzarelle he has ever had. he also enjoyed the soup. hubby had the ceasar salad and fried calamari. he said it was one of the best salads he has ever eaten. there wasn't a crumb of calamari left so i have to say he enjoyed that also! i ordered the artichoke special. it was done with olive oil and garlic. i am known for my stuffed artichokes so to impress me with an artichoke you had better be good! it was perfect! perfectly cooked and the most amazing olive oil was used on it. i could have eaten more of that alone for dinner---i didnt want it to end! for dinner son asked if they could make him pasta and vodka....i was a bit surprised that of over 25 different pasta dishes they didnt have a vodka sauce. chef was more than happy to make it and he ate every ounce of it!! it is a favorite of his and he was very pleased with it. hubby finally decided on scampi gianni....big plump fresh shrimp, in a tomatoe and cream sauce over pasta. he was in heaven!!! i, when i go to an italian restaurant always do either a scampi, marsala or francaise dish. these are the basics and i figure if you cant do that amazingly.....so i ordered the scampi aglio e olio. it was shrimp with olive oil, garlic and white wine. i also asked the waitress if they could do lobster in there for me and she said of course! it was fantastic. one of the best dishes i have ever had. they use the finest simple ingredients and let the food and flavors speak for themselves. this was by far an amazing italian restaurant. it isn't cheap by any means but well worth every penny. and as an added bonus they had my favorite dessert....profitteroles! small cream puffs with ice cream and fudge!!! i was a happy camper after this meal....i will look foward to going back and ordering the things i didnt order this time!

i have to say that we enjoyed all the restaurants we picked and you guys and this forum were a big part in that...thank you!

[Lickcity]

great report...heading down next week...do you think you need to make reservations at OMAS if you go during the week.

[Kenny Maine]

Great report. Thanks

[nikko]

i made our reservations in advance to make sure we were seated right on the waters edge. that was important to me so i did it in advance. there were people seated not on the water thursday night when i went so if being on the water is important i would let them know in advance. they responded in a day to my e-mail and were very accomodating.

[Randi]

Originally Posted by Lickcity

great report...heading down next week...do you think you need to make reservations at OMAS if you go during the week.

When in Aruba, every day is a weekend! Yes, make a reservation ahead of time to avoid disappointment.

[Andrea J.]

my only comment is your report is making me hungry.

glad OMATS was terrific.

now it is time for you to get to the beach.

enjoy i am envious
andrea

Originally Posted by nikko

OK, so we are at mid-week of our vacation and have loved the food so far. in this post i will talk about El Gaucho, Old Man and the Sea, salt and pepper, and Gianni's.


El Gaucho---finding this reataurant was a bit tricky but well worth it. loved the atmosphere and the few video games in the game room was a godsend for son. he is NOT a steak eater so we knew he probably wouldn't eat much here and we would get him fast food this night. hubby ordered the shrimp cocktail...it was fantastic! i had the garlic shrimp. it was shrimp with a sweet roasted garlic paste. it was very good....different than the usual garlic shrimp i am use to so it was a pleasant surprise! hubby ordered the Gaucho steak and was blown away by it.(the man loves his filet mignon..lol) he is now hooked on chimichurri...which if i remember correctly, i tried to get him to try years ago and he wouldn't. now wants me to make it with all his steak meals.lol i had the T-bone. both were incredible cuts of meat and perfectly cooked. this really is a steakhouse not to be missed! the service was good and we loved this restaurant.


Old Man and the Sea---lately this restaurant has had some iffy reviews. i had booked this before we left and almost cancelled this reservation. i am so thankful i didn't. i went into the night with an open mind and a hopeful spirit! it took a bit to find this restaurant but we finally did. we were a bit late and were a bit nervouse we wouldn't be seated on the water's edge. they were very gracious and told me they were holding the table for me. we were so taken by the simple beauty of this restaurant. the casual elegance and comfort made me excited to see what the meal would be like. our waiter was an amazing young man and really knew his job. this was another restaurant i was wondering if son would eat at. let me say they were VERY accomodating for my son. the waiter and i actually came up with a dish that wasnt on the menu for son. chef was more than happy to make it and all was well in the world again!(i'll get to what it was in a minute...)
hubby started with the most amazing shrimp cocktail, i had the scallops duets, and son ordered the tuna salad in artichoke bottoms. the scallops were very good, served over a perfectly cooked rissoto. one side was creamy and delicous, the other slightly sweet and spicy! son loved the tuna and the artichoke bottoms were perfectly cooked. i also ordered the pear and walnut salad, with bacon and a rasberry vinegarette. it was one of the best salads i have ever had. for dinner i planned on ordering the pasta and vodka for son but it was no longer on the menu. but there was a dish that had an assortment of different things on it and one of the items was a chicken with balsamic glaze. my son's favorite dish is chicken savoy, so i asked the waiter if the chef could make a plate of just the chicken with the balsamic, maybe some rice. the chef was a bit nervouse because most kids would not like the strength of the balsamic syrup, or the contrinou in the sauce. i told him the more balsamic the better and he made an amazing dish for my son and was impressed that son would eat a meal like that. lol son is very spoiled with his chicken savoy and was very impressed with the dish. it was VERY good. i had the red snapper special. it was cooked in foil and seasoned and cooked perfectly. i was so enthralled with my snapper i am having trouble remembering what hubby ordered..lol we did have dessert here and hubby had the tiramisu.(tiramisu is one of my specialties so for him to say it was good i had to try it. it was very good...we usually arent happy with it when we order it out. it was good here. son had ice cream, and i ordered the mint chocolate mousse. i didn't like the mousse--it was too sweet. the mint was perfect and it was a very dark chocolate mousse but it was way to sweet. i wish i had tried the bannas foster. over all the service was amazing, the food fantastic, and the atmoshpere great! we learned at the end of our meal that they were a waiter short that night and i would have never known. everything came when it was supposed to and the service was flawless. hopefully the night we were ther is how it is for everyone that goes.


Salt and Pepper---i was really looking foward to this. i love trying lots of different things so this was great for me! we tried many different tapas and made a dinner out of the tappas alone. the food here was good and i am glad i tried it. the location is busy and fun. some things we liked, other were just ok. the spicy beer battered fried mahi mahi was great. it was not too spicy and would be a good substitute for kids if they like fish and chips. the sauce is spicy so without it kids would be fine. shrimp in garlic was a creamy garlic suace and was good for bread dipping. hubby also had the piri piri chicken and liked that. son loved the chicken teryaki. overall the service was fine and the food good for the money. glad i did it.


Gianni's---this night we decided we were gonna do italian so son would have more of a choice. i know....italians from new jersey looking for good italian on an island...lol we originally went off to find La Dolce Vita....finally found the restaurant and at 9pm the place looked like it had been abandoned. there wasn't a car around and we really weren't even sure they were still open. so we left and figured we would go uptown and just walk around till we found someplace for son. i had driven past gianni's numerous times during the week and said lets stop and look at the menu. i didn't remember reading anything about them here but figured what the heck....i really didn't expect to find amazing italian anyway. lol well when we looked at the menu i knew we were gonna have a problem....there were at least 25 different dishes i knew hubby and i just had to try!!! if the food was 1/2 as good as the menu looked i knew we were good. i swear to god it took us forever to decide what we were having! son started with the buffalo mozzarella and a bowl of minestrone soup. the cheese plate he had was amazing. it was truely some of the best mozzarelle he has ever had. he also enjoyed the soup. hubby had the ceasar salad and fried calamari. he said it was one of the best salads he has ever eaten. there wasn't a crumb of calamari left so i have to say he enjoyed that also! i ordered the artichoke special. it was done with olive oil and garlic. i am known for my stuffed artichokes so to impress me with an artichoke you had better be good! it was perfect! perfectly cooked and the most amazing olive oil was used on it. i could have eaten more of that alone for dinner---i didnt want it to end! for dinner son asked if they could make him pasta and vodka....i was a bit surprised that of over 25 different pasta dishes they didnt have a vodka sauce. chef was more than happy to make it and he ate every ounce of it!! it is a favorite of his and he was very pleased with it. hubby finally decided on scampi gianni....big plump fresh shrimp, in a tomatoe and cream sauce over pasta. he was in heaven!!! i, when i go to an italian restaurant always do either a scampi, marsala or francaise dish. these are the basics and i figure if you cant do that amazingly.....so i ordered the scampi aglio e olio. it was shrimp with olive oil, garlic and white wine. i also asked the waitress if they could do lobster in there for me and she said of course! it was fantastic. one of the best dishes i have ever had. they use the finest simple ingredients and let the food and flavors speak for themselves. this was by far an amazing italian restaurant. it isn't cheap by any means but well worth every penny. and as an added bonus they had my favorite dessert....profitteroles! small cream puffs with ice cream and fudge!!! i was a happy camper after this meal....i will look foward to going back and ordering the things i didnt order this time!

i have to say that we enjoyed all the restaurants we picked and you guys and this forum were a big part in that...thank you!

[mattnewhampshire]

Glad to hear the good review of OMATS, I'm looking forward to going there again.

[nikko]

andrea---i am home now---that review was from mid week----last week...

i spent everyday at the beach and loved it!!! it was fantastic. we loved it and are allready trying to figure out how to move there!!! i can honestly say that other than the mis up at dinner the first night our vacation was perfect....we had no issues or problems. we did have almost one full day of rain...that was the day i went riding...i actually appreciated the rain, i think the horses did also! hubby and son were shopping that day so it wasnt bad...cleared up late afternoon so we went to the pool.

[Shnyda]

Excellent report - don't just post it here - get it up on dinearuba.com as well!

[Jarubian]

Nikko, great to hear that Food in Aruba is good. I know what you mean about Italian food, I am full blooded Italian, and I am always picky when I go to an Italian restaurant and they can not make the easy dishes.

Glad all of the restaurants worked out. I have been at La Dolce VIta, and it was great but also was 4 years ago. In September I am going to try Gianni.

Where in Jersey are you from?