From the June 16, 1999 issue of the Bonaire E-News:

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Amadeus Steakhouse Opens

When the Mangerie de la Mer restaurant closed a couple of months ago, it wasn't clear what type of dining establishment would replace them. While we at the E-News joked about it being a McDonalds in our April Fool's issue, reality is far removed from fiction this time around.

On Monday, June 7th, the Amadeus Steakhouse opened its doors on the well trafficked corner of Kaya Bonaire and Kaya J.N.E. Craane, right by the downtown seaside promenade-in-progress. We had a chance to dine at Amadeus a few days after they opened.

As the name implies, Amadeus is a restaurant that specializes in meat. The menu is perhaps the largest we've ever seen, measuring almost a meter across, and not much less in height, and while filled with options, is an inhibitor in speaking with one's dinner companion (you can't see each other because the menus are in the way).

The menu offers a wide variety of hot and cold appetizers, and a noteworthy selection of main courses, mostly steak, pork, and fish. Average price of an appetizer is around NAFl. 12, while for main courses it's around NAFl. 35.00 (starting at NAFl. 26.50 and running as high as NAFl. 44.50). Main courses come with tasty pan fried potatoes, but not much else. If you want side orders of things like french fries, salad, or even plain bread, it will cost you - anywhere from NAFl. 4.50 to 8.50. For a restaurant that is already charging heady prices for its meals, this presents a feel of being nickel and dimed (i.e. being charged for every little thing no matter how minor). The fact that the English translation for the Dutch "Vis van dag" (Fish of the Day) was "Rip-off of the Day" as listed in the menu didn't do much to change our opinion on this matter.

A children's portion of the menu exists, but based on content (like ribs), we'd suspect that the target audience would be the 6 and older crowd. The restaurant has no high chairs for younger children, which further supports this assumption.

The wine selection is limited to three choices: white, red, and rose. All are apparently from Chilean vineyards. The choices are limited because of the way the Amadeus Steakhouse charges for wine. One or more full (and measured) bottles of each diner's wine color of choice is left at the table, and you are charged by how much you consume (we believe that based on the condition of the bottles, which did not have any residual marks of being recently opened, that they pour out the wine into a measuring vessel when you are done with your meal to measure the level of consumption). While this may be good way for the proprietor to sell more wine (after all, if the bottle is available, why not have a little more?), we found it annoying, since all we wanted was a single glass of wine. Even after pouring what we thought were the same amounts of wine from two different colors into two different glasses (actually they were the size of water goblets), we were charged different amounts because the measuring method indicated that slightly more white wine was poured into one glass than red wine into the other. Net result: NAFl. 10 for the glass of white, NAFl. 8 for the single glass of red.

Those somewhat negative points aside, the food at the Amadeus Steakhouse was quite good. We started with their Greek Salad, which was loaded with olives, feta, and several other vegetables (notably, no lettuce, unlike American Greek salads) and an order of their Buffalo Wings. The salad was tasty and well balanced, while the wings were appropriately flavorful and piquant (spicy). We accompanied the appetizers with an order of garlic bread, which was in fact a warmed roll and garlic butter - not quite what we had expected.

Our main courses consisted of the Steak Amadeus, a rump steak slathered with sauteed onions, and a Spicy Pork Tenderloin. The steak was cooked as request to medium rare, and was exceedingly tender and tasty. The Spicy Pork Tenderloin was also very tender, and seasoned with a spice rub that added great flavor during the grilling process. Each of the two main courses was accompanied by a small helping of potato salad and some garnish. We also asked to have the pan fried potatoes with the steak replaced with a baked potato and this was done at no charge. The side of corn on the cob I ordered was less satisfying, as the corn was rubbery as a result of having previously been frozen (prior to cooking).

Dessert was a reasonable chocolate mousse and coffee.

Service was quite good, and for having only been opened for a matter of a few days, we noticed no real confusion or mix-ups during our dinner.

A 10% service charge is added to the bill automatically, but there was no indication that the NAOB sales tax was being charged extra, leading us to believe it was already in the price. After our wine was measured, our bill came to NAFl. 136.40, and with additional tip, it rounded it out to an even NAFl. 150 (approximately US$86).

In summary, while the meal was quite good, it came at a high price, with a small share of procedural quirks (like the wine bottles) that we would have rather not had to deal with. However, if you're looking for a good steak or meat dinner, as well as good Buffalo wings, you'll certainly enjoy the food (and the location - great for sunsets!). If you're on a budget or have a more vegetarian leaning, you may want to look elsewhere.

We should add that the owners of the new Amadeus Steakhouse are already successful restaurateurs in their own right, operating the original Amadeus Steakhouse in the town of Ede in the Netherlands.

Bonaire's Amadeus Steakhouse accepts all major credit cards, and is open only for dinner, 5pm-11pm, Sunday through Friday (closed Saturdays). Phone 2888.

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