Tia

Hi everyone:

We finally booked our St. Martin trip after searching for days. We're staying at an apartment at La California. We got a good price for a one bedroom with ocean view, so we took it. The plane tikckets, however, killed us. LOL Anyway, looking at renting a car and hitting some good places to eat. We would like one night of an upscale place and the rest mid scale places. We're up for trying any kind of food, esp. French and local fare. Does anyone have suggestions of really great places to eat. Also, I'd like info on things to do, such as good places to snorkel, swim, shop, sites to see, etc. Any help anyone could provide would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Tia

Julio

last year we ate at
le Bec fin and the fish pot.
we loved them both.

avoid the italian place ( forgot the name ) next to the fish pot. they were very rude


a day trip to St Barts is fun, for the airplane landing ( take your rosary )

RAB

For good local food, try Yvettes in Orlenas. Also, try the Assiette Creole at Le Mambo, across the street from California. Bistro Nu in Marigot also has agood and interesting menu. Grand Case has lots of up-scale and French restaurants, all posting menus outside. For snorkeling, Creole Rock in Grand Case, Islet Pinel, and Dawn Beach are supposed to be OK. You can also get a lot of information from traveltalkonline.com.

cindgail

If you're interested in evening entertainment don't miss the King Beau Beau show at the Oyster Bay Beach Resort and the show at Cheri's Cafe. We're still singing the songs!

travelenthusiast

We went to St Martin for our vacations the last two years. We enjoyed Bistro Cariabes (sp?)in Grand Case for French food. I also recommend Talk of the Town for local inexpensive food. Although if you like lobster they serve delicious grilled lobster which is still relatively affordable. Someone else mentioned Cheri's cafe for the show. We saw that and enjoyed it. I was hesitant to go to it because I that it would be too corny, but it was fun. The food there was also surprisingly good.

SusanF

Hi Tia, I hope this post is not too late, I just returned from SMX on Saturday and had a blast. This visit was my third, staying with friends at the Flamingo resort. Le Fish Pot in Grand Case is a good place, order the chocolate souffle and have one of their special coffee drinks. Also, the beach bar at Le Meridien is awesome, it is called "Paradise" and it's the truth, they have teak beach cabanas where you can have drinks and lunch and spend the day (order a "BBC" from Max the bartender). Sunset Beach Bar is a must, although this year the staff was kind of rude, still it is a place to experience, especially when the Air France jumbos take off. Also, take the $6 ferry ride and spend the day on Isle Pinel, have lunch at Karibuni. Goodfellas italian restaurant is lousey, don't bother. Hot Tomatoes has excellent food and their pizzas are delicious. Also, go to Baie Rouge and have lunch at Chez Raymond, fish sandwich and a Raymond special (about 6 different kinds of rum!), listen for when the conch blows, that means it's "happy hour". The best advice: relax and have fun!! It's snowing here in Philly, I wish I were there right now!

NMB

We've stayed in Grand Case 5 times over the last 6 years. Here are my comments on the "bargains" we have discovered in Grand Case.

Casual:
Calmos Cafe
Le Ti Coin Creole
Marlin's
Talk of the Town (Lolo)
Repaire du Pirate (higher price than the rest but worth it)

More elegant (and more expensive but worth it):
Le Cottage

I know my parents enjoy Johnny Under the Tree (not Grand Case); we've never been.

Our normal routine is to pick up croissants to enjoy with our coffee (BTW, with half and half only item brought from home since it is not available) for breakfast, enjoy a salad made from delicacies (or a roasted chicken) from The Bounty for lunch, enjoy more delicacies with scotch and wine (both bargains) on the patio before dinner, then head out for dinner.

Hope this helps.

Chicagotraveler

If you want to snorkel, take the 5-minute ferry ride ($6) from Cul de Sac (near Orient Bay) to Pinel Island. The snorkeling is amazing. There is a little pier that you'll see, and some rocks sticking out of the water, and that's where the snorkeling is. It's outstanding. Snorkeling elsewhere on the island I found to be mediocre.

If you're looking for jewelry, try Phillipsburg. Marigot is nice too for shopping. Just be warned that traffic getting to either place is awful. What I enjoyed doing is getting off the main road and taking the secondary road along the shore -- although it's a "secondary" road, it's actually much better than the main roads I've seen throughout the Caribbean. There was a little less traffic and the sights of the water, Anguilla and St. Barths made it worthwhile.

As for places to eat, my favorite meal was Le Pressoir in the heart of the Grand Case dining strip - loved the lobster ravioli in passionfruit cream sauce. Also great in Grand Case are L'Alabama, Le Cottage, Spiga and Le Rainbow (ask for a waterside table and look out at Anguilla). But all are very expensive. Much Cheaper but very good is a little and traditional French Bistro called Bistro Nu. In Marigot, there's a great place called La Vie en Rose (or something like that), and there are also lots of good places to eat at the marina. Finally, there were some good places to eat just in Orient Bay. Overall, I found the food to be very pricey. Enjoy!

itravel2

I can echo the comment on Pinel Island, which is just off the coast of Orient Beach, the must-see beach in St. Martin and, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful in the Caribbean. It has become more and more commercial 'chic' over the years, but still well worth a day there.

We also like to spend a few hours at Oyster Pond, it's a peaceful and less touristy bay where you can walk way out off the shore on a very shallow strip of reef.

As for food, eat at the boat dock in the heart of Marigot at least one night. It's a U-shaped pier ringed with restaurants, a bit touristy but very lovely and elegant at night. You'll be hounded by all of the restaurant staff as you stroll around looking at the menus, but they mean well and can be quite charming.

Hope this helps.

tamjam

You will be staying in the middle of Grand Case with all of the amazing restaurants. Some of our fav upscales in GC are Rainbow and Le Pressoir. Calmos is a very fun bar and they have food too. The locals are set up in the middle of GC with their local fare. Some very good restaurants at Orient Beach...Kon Tiki, Kakao, La Playa, and Bikini for lunch or dinner. A fav at the Marigot marina is Tropicana. The Bounty in GC is great for food for your room, and there is a large grocery near Marigot for staples, drinks, etc.
Beaches - Orient for people watching. Friars Bay and you can take a 10 minute walk to Happy Bay for snorkeling.
A day trip to Anguilla is fun. Catch the ferry in Marigot. Take a taxi to beaches. We love Shoal Bay. There are restaurants for lunch, and you can rent chairs and snorkel gear.
Shopping - Marigot and Phillipsburg.
We have spent most of our time on the French side, so not advice about the Dutch...sorry. Enjoy your stay!!

rkmcconn

Much of this will echo what some other posters said, but we just returned on Saturday and would recommend Rainbow (more expensive) and Talk of the Town (much cheaper but good) in Grand Case. We did not like California. Also had several meals in the Orient Village area which were "mid-priced" for St. Martin and were fine. We enjoyed hanging out at Orient Beach for most of our stay. Also take cash to pay for things as some places offer a $1/1Euro exchange if you pay in cash rather than by credit card. If you do rent a car there are a number of places within an easy, eg 10 to 20 minute drive, of Grand Case including Orient Beach, Anse Marcel, the Pinel Island ferry and Marigot. It is a great island and you will have fun.