We visited Bonaire a little more than a year ago and stayed at the Sand Dollar. We really enjoyed the Terrace but have since found out that is was replaced with Mangoes. What happened to the owner of the Terrace? He seemed like a really nice guy (can't remember his name). Does he have a new restaurant?

The owner, Gary Weissburg, sold the restaruant to Ruth and Jan van Tilburg. Jan has owned restaraunts on Bonare since I can remember and has one of the most creative kitchens in the Caribbean. Gary's origingal plan when he built the Terrace was to sell it. He is a real estate developer in Fla. and his family started the Sand Dollar Complex almost 20 years ago. I have eaten at Mangoes and rest assured, as good as Terrace was, Jan and Ruth's new place is even better!

I don't know Michael - you must have lower standards than me :-) I found the Terrace to be one of the "Must Avoid" dining establishments in the last year. With the change in management and menu and name, on the other hand, I find Mangos to be one of the best places to go as a family - Linda & I for the food and the kids for the pool. (The food in the "Terrace" days was not enough to justify going there with the kids for the pool.)

Ramblin' Jake :-)

Thanks guys~! Although Stephan might be thinking of Luigi, the Italian chef that Gary had running the place; he was often mistaken as the owner. He too left the island. Jan and I started running it as Mango's on 9/9/02, and have really concentrated on creating a better ambiance and more creative menu-mix, with good-honest food, satisfying portions and affordable prices.

We just returneed from Bonaire two weeks ago (seems like two years ago). We stayed at SandDollar and ate at Mangos three times during our stay. We hung out at the bar on several other occaisions. That's the only problem with Mangos: the riff-raff they allow to hang out at the bar....

I highly recommend it. Great food. And the big challenge at Mangos is to try and get Ruth to crack a smile..... :-)

-dave.

Gary's the owner I was thinking of, I recall talking to him about Fla. Personally, I enjoyed the convenience and atmosphere of the restaurant (never busy). I also thought the "themed" buffet nights were creative. I'm not hard to please! Anyway, I look forward to trying out Mangoes (10 days and counting).

In June, we stopped by a restaurant for a beer at the Sand Dollar, back by the road. Is that Mangos? Or is it near the beach?

We are on the main "hotel" road--if you're heading north from the circle, after you pass the Sand Dollar mini mall (Lover's, Sand Dollar Grocery), and the MCB Hato Branch, you'll see the entrance to Sand Dollar, then the Tennis Courts, then Mango's. Back in June it was "Sand Dollar Terrace Bar & Restaurant;" it was a light green color, with big lettering painted on the wall, and no entrance from the street-side (parking lot yes, entrance no, had to walk around to the resort side to get in)... Now we've got an entrance (blue & white doors), and it's painted bright orange. But Dave figured out that there are no doors on the resort side....true enough, it's hard to keep out the, uh, elements!

We'll be doing our first 'theme' night this Saturday, (and every Saturday from now on, if it goes well)-Antillean Night-with local specialties and local music.

BTW, 'never busy' is not conducive to staying in business--that's one habit we're definitely trying to kick!

Ruth,

What are you doing on the net? Shouldn't you be out doing your afternoon snorkel about now??

In all seriousness, you have a very nice place. We enjoyed the atmosphere, the food, and the owners.

However, my daughter still prefers KFC. But I guess you don't mind......

See you in six months!

-dave.

Right you are Dave-but the windsurfers are taking up all "my" snorkeling territory....besides, it's downright cold here lately-must be only 80 degrees with a wind chill of 76....brrrrr!

BT is my other form of procrastination.

See you in six-thanks--we enjoyed you guys too (and that had nothing to do with the dozen kk's)!

ruth

The water was a brisk 79F on Saturday during our clean-up dive. Brrrr. Should have worn my new tropical drysuit... :-)

Jake

"Only" 80F?? That's cruel... :-P

Jeez..... I don't think my bath water ever gets as warm as 79F!

How do you stand it? I would hate to sweat underwater while doing a dive..... :-)

You see what happens to a good New England diver after a while on Bonaire???!!?? 'Tropical drysuit', indeed. He'll be using a heated suit up here next summer!!! If he will dive in summer water here at all. Not sure the Rovers will associate with him anymore! :–)

Jake...I guess my standards for fod are a bit lower than yours, however, Gary did have some good moments any way how do you ruin a rare steak? As for Manogoes, they will set the bar for hotel row and even if it Ruth does not smile, just think about her "reezing" in 79 degree water. Some of us are down right spoiled...I have vowed never to go any further north than Miami and then only between Jume and Oct.

Michael, Based on your "vow" I guess that means you're never coming up north to visit us and Joan's baking.

right you are but she can continue to bring goodies when you visit!

Jake,

tropical drysuite???? Isn't that an oxymoron (sp)??

Ruth,

Ya'll sure can cook! We enjoyed your place immensely. Best Pina Collettas (not to sure of that spelling)in the Caribbean. But Dave is right ya'll need to smile more. Have a beer on me hope to see you and Jan next year.

Ed Komada

Well Ed, that really did make me smile-me, cooking? Ha! I can organize everything so that a nice menu can be cooked......but I leave the difficult stuff up to the experts-like Gregory making your Pina Coladas and Noel cooking your red snapper. I can however (due to years of practice...), open a beer with ease. Ah, my Irish ancestors must be smiling now-their girl's got a BAR! Say "hi" to Jeff for me, and come back soon (even though it is so cold here now...). ;-)

Well Ruth, BT just went to the dogs...... the Texans are now on-board. Yee-Ha!

Well shoot, Dave, if we-uns down here could figure out internet, then fer-sure the Texans could! Those guys were great fun, and if I remember correctly, you did find a like mind re: the NY Times....eh?

I wish ya-all were back here already, to teach the newbies the ropes!

Party on!

The newbies???

People "new" to Bonaire.....like Ed & Jeff were.

You know what they say great mind think alike.
N.Y Times? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I would'nt hang that rag in the head. Gives me the red butt just thinkin on it............

Ruth, I hope your theme night went well last night. Kathi and I will be in tomorrow. Maybe we can come up for dinner, as we get in about 5:30 PM. Looking forward to meeting you.

Jim McPeak

Ruth,

Like Jim, how'd the first "theme" night go? Are you going to have it this coming up Saturday? If so, you'll see us (Melissa and I) there! Can you post a sample of what the Anitllean menu looks like? Thanks!

Stephen

Hi Guys--well, maybe we were more "island style" than planned.....due to many situations out of our control (by that point anyway), we didn't actually do Antillean Night on 12/21. We are still planning to do it as a permanent feature for Sat. nights-hopefully we can start with 12/28. If we get our act together, I'll post here again, and have the Antillean menu added to our website.

However, we do always have "Keshi Yena" on the menu (available every day), and usually have Kabrito Stoba (goat stew), as a special. From our menu, Keshi Yena is: "A traditional Bonairean Dish, made with shredded & seasoned chicken, olives, raisins, capers, mushrooms & onions, baked in Gouda cheese. Served with our vegetable of the day and Bonairean Funchi Hasa (that's our type of cornbread/polenta, lightly grilled so that the outside is crisp). Besides the 'catch of the day,' this is probably our top seller.

I'll see you all soon-thanks!
Ruth

So where is the kabes ku higra and the yambo? umm umm good!

Michael, do you actually *really* like the kabes ku higra? Wow...
Yambo is okay, though I really need to prepare myself before eating it. I do like the yambo/okra plain much better (jake had a jar with spicy pickled okra when we were there in september). I am not a yambo ssssoup fan

Actually Michael, we do plan to have those specialties-our own chef, together with 'guest chefs' from Rincon will be preparing the dishes.

Keshi Yena started out as a 'vanity dish' (what we call an owner's favorite, not necessarily something that will sell) on the menu. I've always loved it, and finally had people to prepare it for me. It's much easier to eat than yambo..... (which I still cannot bring myself to eat-although Jan loves it).

Mangos was great. Ruth and Jan are very friendly. We enjoyed the fresh fish and the specialties, the good "American" lunches and the great drinks. Everything we tried was great and the servers are very friendly.
It's a great place for family groups or a special night out dinner.

We just left Bonaire last week following our first visit to the island - it will not be our last! We stayed at Sand Dollar and had the good fortune of meeting Jan and "his girls" our first night there. We, too, enjoyed every meal that we ate there (and there were many of them) and found Jan and Ruth and the wait-staff to be wonderful company. We became fast friends with Theodora and Miriela ("Taya" and "Yella") and Jan and Ruth are wonderful hosts. The cooking is excellent. Ruth, I came to Bonaire Talk so that we could stay in touch, since you told me I would find you here! You mentioned a web site - what is the address? We'll be sure to visit. Mike, Jessy and I are already anxious to return. Please give our greetings to "Taya" and "Yella".

The website for Mango's is: www.mangosbonaire.com
Hope it doesn't make you too PBD (post Bonaire depressed).
;-)

The PBD is pretty bad right now... I hear that there is only one cure: to go back. So, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be there! Thanks for the web site information. I'll go check it out.