Anyone dined at Patagonia recently? Heard great reports when they first opened.

We ate there last week, although they were busy the service and the food were very good. We wish them well with their new business.

We are big Casablanca fans and when we heard that they were off to Patagonia we made the trek up to Harbour Village their first week and again New Years Day (evening)

The food is better than Casablanca and the service and people are still as welcoming and super. You are advised to book if you want waterside as the new location is simply stunning at sunset. Also they have just announced opening for lunch (not 7 days I hear...)

Prices are slightly more than Casablanca but we did drink more than usual (hic)

Trevor

And those that do wish to book in advance, can now do so online at http://www.patagoniarestaurant.com.

I ate there on a busy night over the christmas week and the food was very good as well as the service. I did not have a harborside table, but still it was a great atmosphere and you could tell that the place is well managed. The menu is varied and medium priced. (disclaimer: I am the editor of the Bonaire Dining Guide)

Is Casablanca still open? Is the food still the same (ie/ the Mixed Grill for 2)? Does Patagonia have a similar item on its menu?

(sorry - I know this was covered a while back, but since I'm down to 20 days, I'm paying more attention to the dining section!)

Casablanca is still open and mixed grill still lives...Patagonia does not do mix grill as yet..

What exactly went on here between Casablanca and Patagonia anyway? What was the impact on Casablanca? I know there's a previous thread on this but it didn't seem that specific to me.

We ate at Patagonia between Christmas and New Year's and were very disappointed in the food and the service was horrible. I don't mind island time at all but when you order one desert and never get it or see the waitress for 30 minutes that's a little long even for island time. The food was nothing to brag about. Casablanca is still high on our list, food was wonderful and service was excellent.
Maybe Patagonia was having a bad night but I probably won't return.

Casablanca is jointly owned by the Palacios family and Lisa Gas people but was run by the Palacios. Pablo felt that Casablanca had become so popular that it was hard to provide any personal attention and that it was becoming more of a production line. So when the lot at Harbour Village came available, they pulled the partners out of sleeping mode to run Casablanca and opened up a 100% owned Palacios Patagonia with the goal of slower more personal service. Their first week was just before Christmas and there were many teething troubles including the credit card machine not working, not enough staff because so many people turned up wanting to eat !!! Anyway they still own half of Casablanca but are no longer involved in the day to day running. We met the new Casablanca operators and they were lovely and friendly and welcoming and will try hard to maintain the same menu as before.

Bonaire has two Meat Fests now !!!

Trevor

Thanks Trevor - good info.

We ate at Patagonia on January 3 and it was wonderful! We had a blast talking with the Palacios. Everything from the food to the service was perfect. And that mushroom sauce...to die for!

Trevor, funny you mention the credit card machine. It worked fine at Patagonia. When we went to Casablanca, that is where we had problems. The machine was being very picky. Food was still great at Casablanca, but the mixed grill was smaller than usual. We didn't even get a full lunch worth of leftover. It was still very yummy.

The credit card machines on Bonaire rely on TELBO for the connection and I have many problems with it not connecting and get the message "no host" Most of the time it takes a few tries, that failing, I just reboot the machine..I do keep the old fashioned machine and forms on hand for electric outages and cranky cc machines.

My understanding from Patagonia is that the start up problems were due to the initialisation of the Patagonia account and the requirement to enter a Username and Access Code for the very first transaction. They were trusting enough to say "come back in a couple of days and pay us then" which is a wonderful way to do business. Trusting the Customer is indeed very rare.... We returned several days later but it was not a problem...

Telbo connections are however indeed very fickle.

Trevor

We ate at Patagonia a week ago, had a seaside table (call for a reservation for one). The meal was excellent, and Pablo, Pablito, and Inez had things working like a machine

What are some of the "must have" items on Patagonia's menu?

Tribs..I've always LOVED the mixed grill at CasaBlanca. Would always get it early in our trip & have left overs for awhile. I find it hard to believe that you couldn't even get a full lunch out of the left overs. It's really that much smaller?

Patagonia has definitely hit there stride and things are working smoothly and the food excellent.

P.S. You can't go wrong with the absolutely perfect: Prime Rib. Our dogs always get along, but were ready to fight to the death over each others half of the bone.

Glad to hear that Patagonia is now open for lunch. We were down over Christmas-New years and unfortunately, only ate there once because we have two small children that go to bed pretty early after a busy day. I know that I will be seeing a lot more of Ines and the family when we return in June.

Cynde,
How was the Filet? No wait..that might be Kelly that shares my love of the perfect Filet from CasaBlanca!

Linda, the filet with the mushroom sauce was TO DIE FOR!

I tried going back last Thursday with Michael, but they are closed on Thursday nights...go figure! I wanted to have a nice seaside table and a romantic dinner...

Hi, there, I was dining on my filet mignon and shrimp (the surf & turf) last night at Patagonia, and learned that starting next week they are going to be closed on Mondays. Therefore, from now on: Dinner Tuesday through Sunday, Lunch Tuesday through Friday. Just wanted you to know they will be open on Thursdays starting next week.

ha ha... Linda, yes that is ME !!! I have been already having dreams about it and I still have three weeks to wait. lol.

My vacation revolves around filet and mushroom sauce. Although I did try the filet/shrimp land and sea combo last time, and I will probably do that again next month.

Mouth is watering now. ;)

THE perfect steak ! That's what I told Pablo last year. In fact, I remember telling him...if I could have only one more meal....It'd be his Filet. The sad thing is...there are no leftovers like the mixed grill.
Yummmmmy

Vince...yes, it was that small. It looked like they gave us the mixed grill for two instead of four. We always go early in the trip as well, just so we have lunch for a few days. That didn't work out this last trip. We are guessing that maybe they did bring us the wrong mixed grill. Who knows... Will I go back, of course!

Susan, thanks for the days/hours update

Linda, I am also a huge fan of the fliet and mushroom sauce I could eat that stuff like soup

The night we went, Pablito was a crack up...he is so cute

(Message edited by cyndelee on January 29, 2007)

Susan, do they have ribs?

Yes, they do and they are wonderful!!!

omg how funny is this... I went back to my trip report in the archives from 2003 w/ Cynde, and almost every meal I ate was filet with mushroom sauce. It got to be a huge joke. Apparently, in 10 days, I had only ONE meal that was not filet and mushroom sauce. Three weeks from today and I'll be there ! Linda, you're right, it's the best meal on the planet! When is YOUR next trip?

Just a quick recap from 2003: lol
(I don't know why in the archives there are question marks everywhere and a few japanese letters thrown in. I have no idea why this happened)

Food
Casablanca Argentinean Grill ? filet mignon with mushroom sauce. Very good, we ate here twice.

Capriccios ? Kelly: filet mignon again?. it was a great meal, and the largest filet I?ve ever had

City CafKelly: I had pork in ? you guessed it ? mushroom sauce. My only non-filet mignon of the trip, and it was very good.

Capt. Don?s. Kelly- Filet Mignon. It was good.

Crocantino?s ? Dinner with Dara. Kelly - Very good filet ? with mushroom sauce

thanks for pointing that out Kelly we will ask Martini what is up with that .. My only thought is that you prepared the report in Word and then cut and pasted it into the posting area.. Hummmm
You all will have a great time just wish I had the time to be with you as well.. Soon?? Next time??? We'll see...

Maybe it was a cut and paste, I don't remember, been too long ago!

Yes, Freddie, I would love to vacation with you. Maybe soon and maybe next time!

Can't wait to get Riley to Bonaire.

Just as I suspected It does have something to do with the way it was put in the posting box.. Probably a word program..

You guys are making me starving with all this talk about the filet with mushroom sauce! What do they serve with the filet, baked potato? fries? We usually get the filet with the bernaise sauce at Richard's which is Excellent, but can't wait to try this famous mushroom sauce, do they have the filet with the sauce at both Patagonia and Casablanca? I think we will love the seaside tables at Patagonia instead of the "roadside" view at Casablanca. Does Patagonia offer some fish entrees as well or more specialized in steak and shrimp?

Casablanca used to have and I assume still do, the filet with mushroom sauce, served with fries and rice, and a little salad. It is phenomenal. I will be trying the equivalent at Patagonia in a few weeks.

Richard's also has a very good mushroom sauce. I use the sauce for everything from the steak to the rice, to the fries and shrimp! Everything is good dredged in the mushroom sauce!

Kelly,
We leave March 14th but have a long layover in Curacao at Habitat. We will arrive on Bonaire the 18th.
Sorry we'll miss you by a few weeks. We need to incorporate Megan's Spring Break into our travels and she refuses to go anywhere 'cept Bonaire! (Good Girl)

They have the mushroom sauce at Patagonia and it is wonderful! I also had a lobster bisque type soup that was excellent. Just great...here goes the PBD and no future date set yet.

Yes, at Patagonia, most entrees come with fries, rice, and the vegetable of the day. If you're ordering steaks, there are several sauces to choose from, but the mushroom sauce is my personal favorite. Although Patagonia specializes in steaks (and there is pretty much any type of steak to be had!), they also serve nice grilled fish (which also comes with about three different sauces), and I've seen chicken, shrimp, and pasta meals on the menu, too--just haven't had a chance to try them all yet. Ines did tell me that they are now looking at adding new specialty items to the menu, such as paella, mariscos del mar (sort of like a "fruit of the sea" stew), and other Argentinean favorites, so I'm sure the menu will continue to evolve until they feel it's just perfect.

Thanks, Susan
As you do your taste tests...please share with all of us. Looks like I need to lose about 10 lbs before March as I'm sure to gain that 10 lbs back !!!

So this is the resort's restaurant, right? We are going there next week and hadn't thought we'd need reservations since last year it was almost empty most nights. The dinner on the beach was SOOO romantic. Now add to it that the food is excellent. WOW! Can't wait. And thank goodness it is open for lunch!

Hi Kelly

Slight correction for your post. Patagonia is a new restaurant opened up at Harbour Village by the family from Casablanca Restaurant. It is not actually the "Resort" restaurant to which you might refer, though judging from this thread, it might be regarded as "THE" Bonaire Restaurant LOL

Have a wonderful time next week and don't forget to post your experiences for us all to share.

Trevor

Kelly, it is just South of HVR. It is in the "lighthouse" that is in the strip mall center. You only need reservations if you want a seaside table (which I would recommend)...but if it is busy on island, you may want to make reservations anyway We got there at 7PM on a Friday night, and by 8:00 they were full.

Thanks for the feedback. It's nice to know we have such great options within walking distance of the resort.

I had the mixed grill at Casa Feb 15 for the third time and it did not seem smaller. We had 3 people on it and there was lots to eat, even the next day,