10 of us went Suisse Chalet and 6 we not impressed by the smaller portions than normal served.
It was disappointing because we always found this restaurant great. I ordered the Chilean Seabass and the portion was very small compared to the recent past yrs. Also two people's Lobster Tail also was a very small tail in comparsion.

Hostaria Di Italiano serves everything ala carte! This is the Italian restaurant across from the Hyatt.

If you order a $32 veal dish or any other dish and want a side order of pasta, its $8.00 more. How cheap is pasta not to at least provide a side dish with a main dinner?
Solamare always serves a pasta side order with any dinner if desired at no extra charge.

We didnt get to El;Gauchos but we heard their Churascho signature steak was also not as large as in the past.
Hostaria is a prime example of price gouging and they care not because people keep buying it????

I find it hard to believe that El Gaucho's steak would be smaller, the menu lists the ounces of each cut of meat.

I never liked Chalet Suisse anyway except for their chocolate fondue. I didn't feel like I was in an island in the restaurant - it didn't have that "islandy" atmosphere. I remember liking Hostaria when we ate there 2 years ago. I live in the tri state area so to me I just get my Italian fix at home.

We went to Chalet Suisse this December for the first time. We had steak and it was fantastic. Actually, it was better than the steak we had at El Gaucho! The portions were HUGE.

complain, complain... You are on vacation and complaining about restaurants portions?? Maybe Aruba should open some Old Country Buffets or Ponderosa's to keep you happy!

Marc

Another restaurant to beware of prices is Valentino's
One night my husband and I went there and I wasn't to hungry for an entree so we both got a salad, I got soup and an eggplant appetizer (that was plenty for me) My husband ordered and entree and we had a bottle of wine.
When the bill came they charged $15.00 extra as a surcharge because I didn't get an entree. Oh I was mad but the Manager wouldn't take it off the bill. Sorry, that's the last time we'll go there.

I just got back on February 25 and I thought Suisse Chalet was great. First of all, the maitre d's keep those waiters jumping. The woman who takes drinks orders moves around so fast! She actually runs from table to table. I was actually amazed watching her. Second of all, the food was excellent. We started off with caesar salads. Then I had the Black Angus steak, my wife had the filet mignon with bearnaise sauce, and my daughter had jumbo coconut shrimp and homemade raviolis. For dessert we had the chocolate Toblerone fondue and it was awesome. I didn't find the portions smaller at all.
Forget the Hostaria Italian place. Go to Bella Luna. It is next door to Sole Mare. The food is delicious and the prices aren't astronomical. See the guy Rocky, and he will take care of you! He gave us Bella Luna T-shirts. He even came to La Cabana one afternoon to give out discount cards to everyone and to drum up business. We ate there last year for the first time. We went back this year and we were not disappointed at all.
We tried a new place by the windmill called Eleonora's. The food wasn't too bad, but the service was SOOOOOOOOO slow. The waitress brought pasta. By the time she brought grated cheese, the pasta was already eaten.

Here, Here Marc, I fully agree with you! I am so tired of hearing people complain about food prices and portions. If you don't have the money, don't go on a vacation because all you are going to do is worry about what it will cost to eat. But I wonder how many complain about the cost of all the alcohol they drink!

Why are some of you guys jumping on cal?? This is a message board and its his opinion. And i dont care what anybody says but im not going to be to happy paying $40 for a kids meal.....and that apply to any place i go..

Danny H. applauds to you for your comments. I do not accept negative opinions to mine as an insult. As you said, everyone has their opinions about everything and anything. If someone gets downright insulting and sometimes uses profanity, I skip over their comments and do not address them. People who need to vent with profanity or inappropriate wording that is unearned have personal problems, beyond this message board.

Lynn and Marc as well have their opinions about complaining. Sometimes however I feel it is informative to warn people about price gouging beyond the norm.
Hostaria is a price gouging restaurant that is supported by people who care not how they are getting taken advantage of.
Personally I welcome the likes and dislikes and reasons why a resturant of choice is vented.
Randi's comments will entice me to order their meat dishes at Chalet rather than what I ordered next time, so different opinions are interesting and valued. I did speak to several Churascho steak lovers at El G's and they also thought it was smaller in size than in the past.
It never fails to read what some feel is great others do not enjoy.
Like the woman described at Chalet Suisse who rushes and hustles around taking the drink orders quickly and talking fast etc. To our crowd she is annoying and makes you feel kinda edgy. She wants in reality for people to get in and get out as soon as they can accept her speed without a verbal battle. A slow wound down dinner pace is not encouraged and she is instructed to keep things moving, (quickly).

So people keep the opinions coming and remember you will get opposite views concerning everything. Buying jewelry is another very opinionated subject.
Ask 100 people where to eat, receive 100 different opinions and another 100 on what to choose off the menu. We stay for 5 wks so the Italian itch needs to be scratched long before we leave at least twice, sometimes more.

Solamare works fine, over booked and noisy but good selections on the menu. Thats provokes a thought about opinions, some people totally love the Formaggio Cooking in the large cheese hollowed out bowl where the pasta is swirled and mixed in the cheese bowl. I tasted it and it was so salty tasting and all you tasted was a powerful cheese taste.
Hey, I well realize that you gonna pay a lot more for food and drinks in Aruba than home but there also is a factor that extremely "overly" high prices should at least be made known to unexpecting vacationers.
Two friends had lunch at the pool bar at the Hyatt. Two beers, two cheeseburgers cost them $55.00!
As long as the people dont care and continue to support these type of prices that are at many eateries, they will continue to gouge people.
When all the pluses and minuses are posted, then people can make up their own minds as to what they will tolerate.
Compliments and complaints, educate!
Just another opinion.

MFC, we love Bella Luna as well. You can eat their tomate sauce with a spoon if you wanted. Sandor the piano player has been a good friend of ours for a long time. He's from Cuba. His full name is Sandor Saint Hill. Great recommendation!