Ruth

What are the best restaurants? Are there any that are known for local dishes?<BR><BR>

Quinn

Fort Nassau was really nice but if you're going for the view also you may be disappointed if it's still light out.I would go at dusk,have a drink or two outside,then ask for a table on the outside bank of windows.When it's dark and the refinery lights are all lit up it's really quite beautiful.The dish with the baby octopus was good,it had other seafood in it but I can't seem to remember now.There's also a string of four restaurants that are very nice,we ate at two of them.They are in Wllemstad,I had conch one night and a spicey steak the other.

lucy

Interesting. I really did not like the Fort Nassau restaurant at all although the view was amazing. The service was appalling, even by Caribbean standards. I liked Hook's Hut which is a little shack on the beach over by the Sheraton where you can eat right on the sand (they serve several local dishes and it is pretty inexpensive), Blues restaurant at the Avila Hotel, the Emerald Grille Steak House at the Marriott, Portofino at the Marriott, Bistro Le Clochard, Rijsttafel and the Sea Breeze Beach Bar at the Marriott. I know that Jaanchie's is known for local dishes but we did not eat there. As you can see, we stayed at the Marriott so we ate there several times but the food really was very good and several locals said that they recommend the Emerald Grille for the best steak.

Clifford

We went to Fort Nassau during the day for the opposite reason of Quinn. During the day, we were able to see the entire island. We did not care for the food. So, we would probably tell you to go for the drink and the view only. We enjoyed Giorgio's, Portofino's(Marriott), Bistro Le Clochard(DT area), Blue's(at the Avila), Cactus Club and De Taveerne's.

putch

i will be staying at the avila hotel and i'm glad to hear the blues restaurant favorably impressed people.<BR>i was disappointed that nobody responded with more restaurants that werent' on the grounds of a hotel.<BR>anybody out there who ventured off the beaten track a little more and found a terrific place?

lucy

Just to clarify - Hook's Hut is not associated with the Sheraton - it is down the road next to their property. I named 5 restaurants not at hotels (we were only there 5 nights) and I can tell you that locals referred us to the Emerald Grille steakhouse (although we had planned to eat there anyway). Blues is very popular with locals - it is the hot spot on I think it was Thursday and Saturday nights when they hve live jazz. When you get to the airport or at your hotel, there is a free publication called K-Pasa that lists happy hours, restaurants, events, etc. all over the island. Happy Hour is a big event on Curacao and there are different specials at different bars and restaurants each night. Some people also say that the restaurant at the Ostrich Farm is very good but I couldn't eat ostrich after looking at them.