As a disclaimer - we’ve noticed that if a restaurant review receives less than a sterling review, especially if it is a BT favorite, the rebuttals are fast and furious. It is not the intention to give any restaurant a bad rap—but if on that night it gets one, it is based on our perception of service, atmosphere, or most importantly how good the meal tasted.
Saturday, 12 April 03:
Dinner at the Banana Tree Restaurant at the Plaza Resort: The seating is all “open air” – but under a roof. It is casual, but elegant. They offer dinner specials each night – a three course dinner (appetizer or salad, entrée and dessert) and have both meat and vegetarian choices each night. This night Bruno had the Roquefort salad (green salad topped with Roquefort cheese) and smoked salmon pasta, which he said was great.. I had the dinner special, which started with “Tomato/Brie Salad”. This is one of the best salads I have ever had in my life! It consisted of coarsely shredded Romaine lettuce, sliced Roma tomatoes and a vinaigrette dressing. It was topped with chunks of fried Brie! Absolutely delicious! Next I had tagliatelle in a sauce of bleu cheese, walnuts, onions, peppers and mushrooms – yum. Dessert was chocolate walnut cake with ice cream and fruit cup on the side all covered with whipped cream. I had to take dessert to go – it was too much to eat that soon after dinner. The dinner special was $23.00. We each had a glass of Pinot Grigio and the total bill was $48 not including the tip. The meal was excellent and the service was prompt and courteous…all in all a very good experience.
Sunday, 13 April 03:
Breakfast at the Lost Penguin: Bruno had Eggs Benedict, which was very good. It was accompanied with fruit and fresh brewed coffee. I had the French toast (which came with a choice of toppings) and a glass of juice. The bill was $11 not including a tip.
Dinner at Cappriccios: We had looked forward to dinner here for months after reading all the favorable reviews on BT. The restaurant itself is charming. There are two booths set in alcoves in the wall – looked very romantic. There is a choice of inside or outside seating and we chose inside. The prompt greeting and complimentary Mimosa was a good start. We talked with one of the owners as she took our order and discovered that we had lived for two years in the region of Italy that she is from. We started out with salads (these were included with the pasta). They were on the skimpy side and some of the lettuce was brown. Bruno had the pasta special of the day, which was spaghetti with shrimp and asparagus. The asparagus was nice and fresh, but the shrimp was kind of “fishy”. I had the Pumpkin Ravioli. The pumpkin filling was a little sweeter than what I expected, but I could have lived with that. Unfortunately, the ravioli pasta was tough and chewy. No one came back to check on us or our meals. When the server took our plates, she asked if we wanted dessert. We decided to pass and asked for the bill. Twenty minutes later we were still waiting. Another server came over and asked if we needed anything else. We told her we were waiting for the bill. She looked surprised and glanced around the room. We noticed that we had not seen either of the owners in quite a while, and we began to wonder if there was a problem in the kitchen. We waited another 10 minutes and someone finally brought the bill. Our dinners and a ½ bottle of Pinot Grigio were $58 not including tip. Based on the rave reviews that Capriccio’s continues to receive, all I can figure is that this must have been an “off night” for them. We were certainly disappointed.
Monday, 14 April 03:
Breakfast at the City Café: Bruno had the waffle and Carol had mini pancakes. This was meal was ok, but we decided at this time that eating breakfast out is not worth the time we waste—from now on we will eat cereal, yogurt, sweet rolls, juices and coffee in the room. Much better and you never complain about the service.
Dinner at the Swiss Chalet: We had checked this restaurant out on the internet and printed out a coupon out for free wine with dinner. Suzy greeted us and for about ½ hour we were the only ones in the restaurant. Bruno had the catch of the day (can’t remember the name –I think she called it “Barunga”), which was grilled to perfection; it came with spinach, carrots and rosti (a fried potato “cake”). I started with a green salad, which was “composed” on the plate rather than tossed (lettuce, cucumber, tomato and onion). It came with a spicy vinaigrette dressing – very good. For dinner I had a Rosti with spinach and cheese melted on top – it was delicious and enough for 2 people. Bruno couldn’t resist dessert - a crepe filled with vanilla ice cream swimming in a warm caramel sauce—delicious. The restaurant interior was just like a restaurant in Switzerland. Suzy took good care of us and we enjoyed our meals here. Our dinners (including the free wine) were $38 without tip.
Tuesday, 15 April 03:
Dinner at Chibi Chibi: This restaurant is at the Divi Flamingo Resort. It is located right at the water’s edge and you can sit at your table and watch the fish swimming down below (there are spotlights for after dark). We each started with really nice salads that came with a dried tomato dressing. For dinner, Bruno had the blackened Tuna, which came with baby potatoes and mixed veggies. I had rigatoni in a vegetable/goat cheese sauce. It was supposed to come with shrimp, but I was able to get it without. It was very good. For dessert, Bruno had a chocolate cake, which was ok. I had a big thick piece of cheesecake with mango sauce – delicious. We each had a glass of wine. Service was good and total bill was $53 including a 15% service charge.
Wednesday, 16 April 03:
Dinner at the Lighthouse Bar and Grill: This was a spur of the minute decision—but a good one. The Lighthouse Bar and Grill is relatively new – they have only been opened for about 10 months. It is owned and operated by Sue and Wil Heemskerk. Sue is originally from New York and Wil (the chef) trained and worked at some of the best restaurants in Europe. The restaurant is located overlooking the Harbor across from Harbor Village. There is also a really nice bar area that serves lots of interesting “froufrou” drinks! We arrived and looked the menu over. There were not many vegetarian offerings for me, so we almost left. Wil asked us if there was anything they could do, and we mentioned the vegetarian issue. He promptly offered options from the menu (adjusted to become vegetarian) and we decided to stay. Wil said that with a few hours notice he can easily have a vegetarian meal available. Sue was our server and took good care of us. We both started with a glass of wine and a wonderful warm Portobello mushroom salad topped with goat cheese and a peppercorn vinaigrette –it was great! Bruno had grilled Wahoo with mango chutney accompanied by stir fried veggies and steamed rice - he pronounced it delicious. Following Wil’s suggestion, I had stir fried couscous and veggies (this is usually a side dish that accompanies a chicken entrée). I have never had couscous stir fried before – it was excellent. Even though we were getting full, we couldn’t resist dessert. I had a “molten”chocolate cake that was a hot cake served in a ramekin with a melted chocolate center – I was in “chocoholic heaven”! Bruno had tropical bread pudding with caramel sauce – also very nice. We each had a glass of wine and the bill was $77 including 10% service charge. We left the Lighthouse grateful to Wil and Sue for such a wonderful dining experience.
Thursday, 17 April 03:
Dinner at It’s Raining Fishes: This restaurant had good reviews so we tried it. It sits across the road from the downtown harbor, and we arrived in time to see the sun set. Bruno had the catch of the day - Dorado that was grilled and served with a mustard sauce. It came with a sweet celery salad (with raisins and pineapple), green bean salad, and rice (a lot of food). I had a huge Greek salad. It was full of feta cheese, which was a little milder than what I am used to, but very good. I also ordered some “patatas” from the Tapas menu. They were a little spicy for my taste, but Bruno loved them. I helped him with the celery salad (which was unusual, but delicious) and the green bean salad. We shared a Dame Blanc for dessert – vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream – yummy. I had water to drink and Bruno had an Amstel. Our bill was $42 without the tip.
Friday, 18 April 03:
Dinner at the Banana Tree: This was our last dinner and so we decided to end where we had started, as it was convenient and we had enjoyed our previous dinner here. Bruno had the dinner special this time. He started with a smoked salmon salad. This was followed by the “Bonaire Cauldron” which consisted of three types of fish, roasted garlic and potatoes served in broth and a plate of French fries. He had a nice piece of chocolate cake for dessert. I started with the Roquefort/Walnut salad. The I had the vegetarian special, which was two wedges of crisply fried polenta served with a grilled Portobello mushroom in a bleu cheese sauce – rich, but delicious! I also had the special Banana Tree dessert, which was a banana and shredded coconut baked in puff pastry and served with ice cream. Another great meal – total bill including two glasses of wine was $48 not including the tip.
I am a vegetarian, but I was always able to find excellent meals. Many restaurants offer vegetarian specials and/or have vegetarian sections on their menus. We decided before we left home that we would buy groceries to make lunches, and so we brought a small fold down cooler with us so we could also picnic. We enjoyed fresh bread and wonderful Gouda cheese from Cultimara as well as fruit for lunch every day. Although it did save us money, convenience was the main reason we did this.
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By Carol Eddy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #396) on Thursday, May 1, 2003 - 4:53 pm: 
