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Dining: Non-diver report on dining
Bonaire Talk: Dining: Archives: Archives 2007: Archives - 2007-04-01 to 2007-09-30: Non-diver report on dining
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barbara Lee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Saturday, July 21, 2007 - 11:40 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

For those who haven't read my trip report, I visited Bonaire July 8-15th after a 20-year absence. Back in the 1980's, the dining options were few, but the Green Parrot, Zeezicht, and Den Lamen stood out then. The multitude of good choices recommended here on BT made it difficult for us to decide. It's very difficult to not give glowing reviews to the same places others adore, particularly when the owners and wait staff were ALL wonderfully pleasant and focused on good service. Here's our week's round-up:

Den Lamen-breakfast buffet $12.50 p.p., cool french toast and sausage, made to order omelets, banana bread, fruit, cereals, juices. Filling and ok, but we were glad we didn't take the breakfast plan when renting at Sand Dollar.

City Cafe--this was our favorite dinner meal. Reasonable portions, freshly prepared in a timely manner, flavorful and unusual menu items.

WindSurf lunch at Lac Bay--snacks were fine, view was pleasant watching the windsurfers on turquoise water.

The Lion's Den--dinner was hopping, no tables available so we sat at the bar to order burger and fish 'n" chips. Owner/manager Kurt is great, very funny and hard-working. Burger was good; my partner deemed the fish n chips excellent. There were a few people who were quite lively, shall we say, from their frequent partaking of alcoholic beverages. Amusing, but we prefer quieter dinners.

The Yacht Club--breakfast. Despite having a condo, we went out for another breakfast (it is vacation, afterall). For $10 p.p. we enjoyed their small buffet of cereal, juice, breads/toast, and got to order scrambled eggs with bacon or a pancake, which was a plate-sized crepe. Very tasty. Also got fruit cup (canned fruit salad with fresh melon) and declined offer for yogurt, ham and some other stuff. Pleasant location inside the lush courtyard by the pool. You wouldn't know how nice by looking from the roadside.

Garden Cafe--Middle Eastern lunch--yum! We really enjoyed the hummus with pita, pumpkin kibbe, chicken kebab with rice and salad. The owner has great stories of his travels. He said most people only get the pizza and American food, not the Lebanese items. This is a good place for vegetarians.

Pasa Bon Pizza--After our substantial lunch, we chose to split a medium-sized pie. Sniff, sniff. I wish we had ordered a large. This is fantastic thin-crust pizza. The sauce and mozzarella determine a pizza's quality and they have the right stuff here. A couple from Chicago were not so impressed due to their experience with deep-dish pizzas.

Richard's--we loved the ambience of this place since it is quiet enough to hear the water lapping and two-tiered placement of tables affords everyone a nice water/dock view. The food was very good, but not exceptional for the price. The same menu could be available in a steak and seafood restaurant in NJ--nothing unusual. But oh, that atmosphere is wonderful.

Mambo Jambo--dinner--our other favorite meal. Owned by the same people as The Yacht Club, we decided to try this place. Great Indonesian flavors to chicken and fish dishes. This is the only place that truly offered a nice presentation of the dishes, with delicious sauteed veggies mounded under our entrees and sauces swirled around the plate.

Rum Runners--tried this place for lunch at Captain Don's. We loved seeing the giant tarpon waiting below for a snack. However, they only had pizza and salads at the time we arrived. The salad had onion in it that was so strong it actually burned my taste buds, even after removing it. The pizza had a nice thin crust, but was virtually tasteless (or was that because of the onion?)

Papaya Moon--dinner was somewhat disappointing since we saved this for our last-night treat. I love Tex-Mex food, but my enchiladas were very meager in their filling and size. The rice and black beans were tasty, but no pizazz. A touch of cilantro or a spoonful of guacamole would add some appeal. My partner loved her grouper dish with the same rice and beans. No free chips and salsa offered, which you would automatically get in the States. I would be more apt to give a better review if the prices were reasonable for the dishes served, but I thought they were highly overpriced. However, if we were on Bonaire again, we would give this place a second try for some different dishes.

 


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