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Re: La Cabana Beach & Racquet Club
Larry,
I hope I can help...we are in our early 40's so hopefully our recommendations will be on the same level and my husband is not a seafood lover either.
If you like fish, the best on the island is Driftwood. It is not a fancy or expensive place but very popular with the locals and outstanding fish. They go out and catch their own fish. Three different ways they make it and you decide. The nicest restaurant,overall, was Flying Fishbone. The only drawback is it is far if you are going by taxi. It will be your most expensive taxi ride as most places are a $10 cab fare. However, this place is just wonderful. The tables sit right on the ocean's edge(the backyard of this "house") and the tables are in sand. The sunset is beautiful so time it so you can see the sunset. The food prices are on par with other places in the island but we found many of the appetizers expensive. Marandi's is new and also very good and lots of atmosphere. Italian was mixed for us. We went to Valentino's which we find very good for pasta but the service tends to be more "abrupt" by that I mean they were not overly friendly but in no way rude. Hostario da Vittoria is in a more trendy area and we didn't find the pasta great but the veal dishes were good. We didn't do a lot of Italian because we eat so much of it at home. El Gaucho is always good for steak but try an earlier reservation otherwise you will spend a lot of time waiting for a table. Perhaps 6:30pm is a good time. Also ask for a table downstairs. Two places we have yet to try but are highly recommended are LeDome (check out their website) and Chalet Suisse (which is walking distance from LaCabana). Papiamento is also very nice and again is outside around a pool side. Oh my gosh I almost forgot...we loved eating at the restaurant at the Tierra del Sol Golf course, called Ventannas del Mar. You must go there and MAKE SURE you get a table outside. It was beautiful. Great food and fantastic service. I just remembered another Italian restaurant that was very good which was at the Lighthouse (I forget the name but anyone there will be able to tell you it). It had a fantastic view of the whole island as it was obviously up on a hill. We also found a new restaurant that was very good called Blossoms. The restaurant is divided into two sections, Japanese and Chinese. We had the most wonderful Chineese meal with unbelievable service. We went their at the end of our trip but if we had tried it sooner we would have gone back again to the Japenese side, the cooking at the grill and the whole works. We are quite picky about our Chinese food and it was fresh, very tasty and execellent presentation. Ruinas del Mar is in the Hyatt hotel and is also very nice is you go early and get an outside table which overlooks the waterfalls and pool area. Very tropical and swans are swimming around. You are going to be there only one week but you will have great places to go every night. We too are not drinkers but enjoyed different tropical drinks every afternoon. In terms of nightlife, we were there with our kids so we did go out but a little more limited. Our nightlife was dinner, and we are early risers (we love the sun) so we didn't stay out to late. We went over to the Hyatt for a drink and they have music there, went to the Crystal Casino to see Let's Go Latin (very good), had dessert and coffee at a little place called Amici's at the high rise section. A lot of the restaurants in the high rise district you can get to by bus otherwise taxi is usually $10, downtown or pretty well anywhere. Some of the restaurants are very deceiving as you arrive outside and wonder where am I eating? You walk inside and its a tropical paradise. If I can be of any other help I will keep checking even if your posting gets pushed back. If you contact guest services at the hotel, they can make all your reservations beforehand for you. Nice to have them done a head of time.
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