Whats going on with the food

[Dom]

I just returned from Aruba last week. This was my 32nd year in a row of visiting the island. However, in all that time, this was the 1st time I had problems with many of the restaurants. Although some were very good (Marandi, Prominade, Sole Mare, Chalett Suisse, Wacky Wahoo), many of my old and new favorates (French Steak House, Chefs Table, Giannis) were only fair to poor at best. I also tried the sunset dinner at the Turtles Nest at the Costa Linda and it was horrible. In addition to the food not being as good as past years, the prices this year increased significantly ($31 for a pork chop at Chefs Table and it was not very good). Whats going on? Unfortunately, Madame Janetts was closed for the entire 2 weeks I was on Aruba, and I hope that the quality of their food has not gone down hill. Hopefully, things will be better next year.

[cindyo]

Dom, YOU hit it on the head...I felt the exact same way in April.
The same ole same ole wasnt' the same. We are going with a new strategy next time...all NEW places. And the new ones (this past April) , stunk as well....gambero russo, bingo, mirandi...Yes, hard to believe isn't it. Food was barely good. I will say the highlite of my "eatting" vacation was Casa Tua pizza and fettucine alfredo and Chalet suisse lamb chops. After that, it went downhill.............Well, the good news is it makes us try some new ones that we were afraid to do b4.

[~Amy~®]

I just ate at Chefs Tables last month and it was one of my favorite meals on that trip - my ahi tuna and filet were awesome!

The only restaurant that disappointed me a bit was Gasparito which we've been going to every year (sometimes twice a year) since 1996. We have our favorite dishes there and they've been great year after year but this time around, it was just okay. Made me a little sad.

[Terry Joz]

We were there in May and the only bad meal we had was at Bingo's (it was our first time there). We had good meals at MJ's, Chefs Table, Wacky Wahoo was wonderful.
Terry Joz

[Arubalisa]

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.

[Dom]

We also tried a number of new places this year. By far, the best new restaurant we tried was Wacky Wahoo. Excellent fresh fish at a reasonable price. The Iguana Cantina at the new mall was pretty bad and the margaritas were watered down. Even though I love the hotel, the Turtles nest at the Costa Linda was awful and there were flys all over the table (just disgusting).

[Megan8607]

ArubaLisa, were those pictures taken at the passions? Do they always have those cool bed/tables available at night?

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by Megan8607

ArubaLisa, were those pictures taken at the passions? Do they always have those cool bed/tables available at night?

Yes the photos were taken at Passions. They also had a couple of couches as you enter, closer to the bar. Sorry we did not get photos of the couches. I would think they have them Thursday - Sunday which are the nights that Passions is open.

[Andrea J.]

A year or so ago we too had a miserable meal at Gasparito.
I was embarrassed to post about it in my report (and forgive me) because Lisa and Amy LOVE the place and i was afraid to DIS it.
So, i chose not to remark about it.

Gasparito really was terrible and i, the wimp that does not like to disagree just chose not to write about it.

Funny thing is my husband had the fish stew and called it toilet water stew.
I had keshi yena and it was horrible.the cheese was rancid.
The hostess (owner) was rude to us and we ended up leaving 3/4 of the way thru the meal.

We paid in full and got the heck out of there.

Also too have had more bad than good at BINGO but do not like to report about it as so many of you love it.
When i go there, i now only get the onion soup.
Paul loves their burgers.

remember when~~~~
Old Conucu House Restaurant was fabulous?
When Tabasko was open and busy and delicious?
When BooNooNoos was open and busy and fabulous?
When there was an awesome deli at Alhambra area?
French Steakhouse included the bottle of wine with their Ambassador Special?
Eleanora's Crazy Grill? Was the best meal on island for just 18 months or less.

My old reliables are still
Madam Janette
Tulip (which i have had troubling experiences but continue to love it there)
Alfredos
Rumba

Now i am hungry
andrea

[~Amy~®]

Restaurants are all a matter of personal taste and preference so it's really hard to say what is good and what is not.

My husband and I ate at Matthew's last fall and I hated my meal. But.....I don't like rich foods, cream sauces or butter and my grouper was cooked in a TON of butter (I tried to tell the waiter how I wanted it prepared but it didn't translate well.) Now alot of people would have loved that meal but not me. On the other hand, across the table from me was my husband enjoying a nice piece of tuna which was delicious and I was wishing that's what I had ordered. So sometimes we just don't order correctly! So it's not that the restaurant was bad, it was just that I didn't care for what I ordered because it wasn't my taste. Unless something is really, really wrong, if I don't care for a particular restaurant, I normally don't say too much about it because it might just be that it's not my taste but others will like it.

I do miss the bottle of wine at the French Steakhouse with the Ambassador's special and we really miss Boonoonoonoo's and Three Little Birds.