I must preface this by saying I am half Armenian and NO ONE can cook like Mom..with that said Dara and Maggie convinced me to try Garden cafe last night..what a GEM!!!

The food was AMAZING..the setting charming, the owner a DOLL..and cheap toooooooooooooo...Please support this biz as he is moving to Sint Maarten if things do not improve..what a loss it would be..he is also a great character (the Santa Claus man)..talk to him...and enjoy..

WOW...YUMMY

Not to sound like an idiot but what is the Armenian food like?

Ditto...

Raja is warm and jolly, and the food is worth every penny.

GOOD question..and to clarify, Garden Cafe's owner is Lebanese but the cuisines in the Middle East are similiar.

Dara had mixed veggie platter which was red pepper spread, hummus, tabouli, baba ganouche (eggplant and garlic) and veggie kibbe which is like a patty of sorts. I had tenderloin kebabs...Maggie had a Venezuelan rice and beans dish and we shared an AMAZING flan covered in Drambui...UGHH..pita bread of course...

IT IS A MUST DO...the owner is also a character..

Annie

Annie,

I agree on Garden Cafe, food and Raja. Next time you go, say 'hello' for me-- he knows me as 'Gabrielle's father'. Hope he finds a way to stay on Bonaire.

Annie,
Did you tell him you're half Armenian? I did (my mom's Armenian too), and he insisted I try a sample of this cured meat which looked beet red (pretty good, actually) I forget the name of it. He even knows a few words in Armenian! He also offered me some cardamom coffee (flavored turkish coffee) which was very good.
I agree, Raja's quite the character!

Sounds great, I'll give it a try.
Thanks,
Ida

I hope Raja doesn't go to Sint Maarten! That would be a horrendous loss -- Garden Cafe is the only restaurant on the island where we can walk in and order a bunch of things off the menu, and not call in advance to line up vegetarian food or be limited to one or two choices. We LOVE the place! And the food is wonderful... It helps that, according to Raja, he himself is vegetarian -- he only cooks the meat-based dishes because he knows the place couldn't survive without them. Though he thinks we're a bit odd for not eating dairy -- says we're missing some great fresh yogurt that way...

Faith

Thanks for telling us about this great place! We enjoyed sitting in their outside terrace on a nice cool evening. The waitress was very sweet as was the owner and they really seemed excited to have us there (which sometimes I didn't feel at other places). The food was nicely prepared and there was alot of it! Highly recommend this restaurant!

Have a wonderful time trying it out!!.

It looks like business is getting better and he is looking for a bit bigger place...on Bonaire!

Raja has been looking at least since June for a larger, better located place; I guess his negotiations for a particular location he mentioned then have not worked out. He wants to stay on Bonaire but is in a low traffic location now. He will do well in better location as anyone who has eaten there kows.

This is great news. There was talk a while back that they might leave the island, which would have been a major loss. I'd love to see them offer roll-up sandwiches in pita bread at lunch time, as they do during Regatta.

Hi Daniel,
Raja does serve the "Pan Falafel" for lunch if you ask for it. I have had it several times.
greetings, Hilde

Yes, I agree a better location would be great. His location is tucked back from the main street, and I almost missed the sign on the street. But he did lead our winding way to the the restaurant with lots of signs. Luckily we were determined to get there. And it was well worth it!!

The restaurant may want to consider writing the menu to better explain the dishes, for those folks who don't know much about this delicious food!

The menus I have seen have color pictures of the plates of food with a listing of the various items on each. ????

I will have a talk with Raja and see what he can do about a more descriptive menu. Yes, Glenn, the picture menu is there but confusing.

Yes, there was a picture menu, but it was hard to decipher what was in the picture. You know how it is, all food looks the same when crammed together on a plate sort of. Also, the pictures are sort of reminiscent of fast food chinese restaurants, and I don't think they really give the menu the classy look that the place really deserves??!! Just trying to help make a fabulous restaurant even better!! Keep eating there - it's wonderful!!