Hi Baron,

If you do a search on this forum for Aruba, you will find plenty of good info to answer your question and perhaps even confuse you.

My vote goes to El Gaucho a fantastic steak palce in town and be sure to order the El Gaucho steak, 16 onz. of pure delight (lean and mean)!

Cheers,

Sharkdiver

El Gaucho- great Argentine Steaks!
Que' Pasa- great Caribbean food at a good price!(my favorite meal)
Flyin' Fishbone-romantic,but expensive
Rumba- great food also!

Enjoy the great dining options that Aruba has to offer!

Christie

I second El Gaucho. This was the best food we ate on the island. I also liked Chalet Suisse. There are many good ones though. You may want to go to aruba-bb.com It is abulletin board all about ARuba. I got my best info there prior to my trip.

baron, my brother will be honeymooning in Aruba next March and he has found the site www.aruba.com to be helpful.

christie, it's good to see your name back here again. are you returned from grand cayman? have i missed your trip report?

I agree w/El Gaucho and also a place called Le Petite. They serve your meal on smoking hot rocks - like a fajita pan only bigger. Kind of unique. We ate outside on their small patio. Really nice! Enjoy.

We are going to Aruba in Sept. and found this web-site to be very helpful with resturant choices:

www.aruba-travelguide.com/restaurants.all/html

Some of the excursions we picked will include dinner. ie; Kukoo Kunken Bus, Wyndham Caberet Show, Red Sail Dinner Cruise. For the other nights we chose Pelican Nest, Texas de Brazil and Flying Fishbone.

Through our research, there are so many restaurants to choose from, we'll need multiple trips to try just a handful of them.

Also look at the Aruba specific message boards for restaurant reviews:

www.arubabound.com, www.aruba-bb.com. www.aruba.com., www.aruba-experience.com, www.visitaruba.com

ej,

I think Christie leaves in the next couple of days.

I gave you recommendations already for your brother - How's the planning going?

We've got vacation booked the first 2 weeks in June - if I had a good travel planner like you I'd probably have somewhere booked already

Alya dear ,

Tick tock, tick tock...or the time has come the walrus said !

How may we help you ? I recall reading that you were deliberating between T &C and a trip to the UK for sale of your home there.

Let your friends here help...please

Marion

aruba has outstanding dining options among the finest in the caribbean
these are some favorites

steakhouses -el gaucho & l.g. smith

polynesian/seafood - pago pago

italian - hostaria da vittorio & valentino

upscale - chez mathilde , le dome , ventana del mar ,sunset grille


enjoy !

Of the restaurants in Aruba that I have tried, I would list my overall favorite restaurants in this order (considering quality, cost and convenience):

1. Madam Janette’s (my personal favorite)
2. Chez Mathilde (best “dining experience”)
3. Chalet Suisse (best Sea Bass I’ve ever had)
4. Papiamento
5. Marandi
6. Flying Fishbone (very far)
7. Driftwood
8. Iguana Joes
9. Texas De Brazil
10. El Gauchos
11. French Steakhouse
12. Moombas
13. Smokey Joes
14. Que Pasa
15. Pirate’s Nest
16. Salt and Pepper

We enjoyed Marina Pirata which is just south of Oranjestad. The food is Aruban, mainly seafood and is prepared very well. You can sit outside on a wooden deck overlooking a lagoon. We prefer to sit outside and enjoy the climate rather than sit indoors in airconditioning.

We were in Aruba in March; I regret that we did not get to Sunset Grill as everyone raves about it. We were disappointed in Madame Janette's; the atmosphere is lovely, and perhaps we just hit it on an off night, but our meal was most disappointing. Le Dome was very good; El Gaucho was good; and the Tuscany at the Marriott was good. Pirate's Nest should be avoided, although everything else about the Bucuti was quite good.

We love Madame Jeanette's (try the Mama Jamaica dessert), El Gaucho (must have the white wine Sangria & of course steaks), Flying Fishbones (try the shrimp roti appy). We are going to Aruba again this July and want to add in 1 more new restaraunt. Any suggestions??

No one mentioned Aqua Grill. It is near Hosterio de Vittorio. The fish is excellent, fresh and kind of stares at you as you walk thru the restaurant as many are displayed in the center. I was there twice this past trip.

I definitely recomment Aqua Grill. It was one of our top favorites! We also enjoyed the outside/by the ocean at the Marriott with the casino. A little $$, but the view is great.

Flying Fishbone at sunset without a doubt! Take a taxi or get very good directions as it is hard to find. It is a little expensive but will likely be the one of the highlights of your trip.

From our many trips:
1. Gasparito
2. Sunset Grille
3. Flying Fishbone
4. Chalet Suisse
5. Marina Pirata
6. Le Dome

very simple:

Marandi
Flying fishbone
Japengo at the Hyatt

High end, special and unforgettable experience

Check the "Recomendations" section of my site ( check my signature line) for my top 10 restaurants recomendations in in Aruba.

Cerry
www.pitaruba.com