slesgold
SBH Insider
Just got home from 2 wonderful weeks at Villa Manon/Henson and already decided to return next year. Yay! Anyway, thought I'd submit this brief summary of our dining. Except when noted all food was good-to-very good and meal was dinner. I've chosen to call Mahi-Mahi daurade for no particular reason, but thought I'd mention it. "Red snapper" is Vivaneau (Rose or Rouge or Oeil de Boeuf). All "Accras" are of the cod (morue) variety. We mostly returned to places we'd been before, but also visited a few classics that somehow we'd never been to.
Gustav Burger - lunch - We had burgers and they were good. Best we had on the island.
La Langouste - We had Accras, red snapper, lobster bisque, and pork cheeks - This is one of our favorite SBH restaurants. Service is superb (Benjamin is probably the best server on the island) and food is very dependably excellent.
Hideaway - We had pizza and steak. Service is excellent and the pizza seems so much better than it seemed in prior years. Now rivals excellent Wisconsin thin-crust pizza. Hafida is so much more charming than Andy! :tongue:
Provença - We had the tomato tarte (nothing like the one at Santa Fe, but every bit as good if not better) , Med. Sea Bass, duck, and the zuzu lemon tarte. Food and service were excellent. Decor is beautiful with the changes (and I liked it before as Wall House!). Will return.
Grain de Sel - We had Crab croustillant, red snapper, ouassous (river prawns, which I thought would be crayfish, but are more like a rock lobster), and coconut creole pie. The food was good, but the service was not. I don't think it was the fault of the servers, rather that they have about half the staff they need for the number of tables, especially in comparison to nearly every other restaurant on the island. We will likely not return as it wasn't good enough for the price or drive.
Le Select - lunch - We had burgers (Surprise!). Interestingly, this was our first visit. I liked the burger in a Wendy's sort of way. My wife was less enamored. Breeze was great and I liked my experience. Much to my surprise, it was not the least bit busy, but that seemed to be true everywhere during our 2 weeks.
Les Bananiers - We ate here twice and had Accras, moules frites, daurade steak, and veggie pizza. We loved it here and will make this a regular stop for us. The moules frites were the best I've ever had (it is a special about once a month on a Saturday). The pizza was good, but not even close to that of The Hideaway.
Gloriette - lunch - We had salade exotique and daurade. This is another of our favorite places and it didn't disappoint.
Marche Bio (Le boucherie St. Jean) - OK, not exactly a restaurant, but we got takeout from the BBQ on a Sunday and ate it for dinner. Open during the lunch hour; not sure of the exact hours, but about 11-2. We had ribs and chicken as well as corn on the cob. Ribs were very good. Chicken not so much. Corn was nearly inedible. We'll definitely return for the ribs next year, but we'll get enough for leftovers and get other items from elsewhere, e.g., Maya's to Go, to accompany the ribs.
L'Esprit - We had Crab salad, Dover sole, black pork, and cherry cake. In my opinion, this is easily the best restaurant on the island. Everything was outstanding. The thought put into melding flavors in something like the crab salad was incredible.
Le Carre - lunch - We had steak tartare, special salad w/cottage cheese and pancetta tartine, and a lobster roll. Excellent place for lunch. Also on the favorites list.
Le Repaire - We had Accras, a daurade special, cheeseburger w/frites, chocolate sundae, and fruit. Another classic that we'd somehow never been to. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Meat & Potatoes - We had salad, spinach potato soup, rib of beef for two w/mashed carrots, gratin dauphinois and béarnaise, Roquefort, porcini and another sauce. It was very good. We'd never been before. Service was outstanding.
Le Creperie - breakfast - We had an omelette and a galette with ham, Swiss and egg. Galette was excellent! Great spot for breakfast.
Santa Fe - We had tomato tart, coq au vin, and peach melba. Excellent meal and service.
Maya's - We had beignets crevettes, daurade, red snapper with green curry, and chocolate cake. Amazingly, our first visit. Food was excellent and service was very good. We may or may not go back as the prices were ridiculous when compared to what you get. Unlike L'Esprit, you notice the price not quite fitting what you get; at L'Esprit, everything seems completely in line with what you pay.
Wonderful 2 weeks on the best island in the Western Hemisphere!
Gustav Burger - lunch - We had burgers and they were good. Best we had on the island.
La Langouste - We had Accras, red snapper, lobster bisque, and pork cheeks - This is one of our favorite SBH restaurants. Service is superb (Benjamin is probably the best server on the island) and food is very dependably excellent.
Hideaway - We had pizza and steak. Service is excellent and the pizza seems so much better than it seemed in prior years. Now rivals excellent Wisconsin thin-crust pizza. Hafida is so much more charming than Andy! :tongue:
Provença - We had the tomato tarte (nothing like the one at Santa Fe, but every bit as good if not better) , Med. Sea Bass, duck, and the zuzu lemon tarte. Food and service were excellent. Decor is beautiful with the changes (and I liked it before as Wall House!). Will return.
Grain de Sel - We had Crab croustillant, red snapper, ouassous (river prawns, which I thought would be crayfish, but are more like a rock lobster), and coconut creole pie. The food was good, but the service was not. I don't think it was the fault of the servers, rather that they have about half the staff they need for the number of tables, especially in comparison to nearly every other restaurant on the island. We will likely not return as it wasn't good enough for the price or drive.
Le Select - lunch - We had burgers (Surprise!). Interestingly, this was our first visit. I liked the burger in a Wendy's sort of way. My wife was less enamored. Breeze was great and I liked my experience. Much to my surprise, it was not the least bit busy, but that seemed to be true everywhere during our 2 weeks.
Les Bananiers - We ate here twice and had Accras, moules frites, daurade steak, and veggie pizza. We loved it here and will make this a regular stop for us. The moules frites were the best I've ever had (it is a special about once a month on a Saturday). The pizza was good, but not even close to that of The Hideaway.
Gloriette - lunch - We had salade exotique and daurade. This is another of our favorite places and it didn't disappoint.
Marche Bio (Le boucherie St. Jean) - OK, not exactly a restaurant, but we got takeout from the BBQ on a Sunday and ate it for dinner. Open during the lunch hour; not sure of the exact hours, but about 11-2. We had ribs and chicken as well as corn on the cob. Ribs were very good. Chicken not so much. Corn was nearly inedible. We'll definitely return for the ribs next year, but we'll get enough for leftovers and get other items from elsewhere, e.g., Maya's to Go, to accompany the ribs.
L'Esprit - We had Crab salad, Dover sole, black pork, and cherry cake. In my opinion, this is easily the best restaurant on the island. Everything was outstanding. The thought put into melding flavors in something like the crab salad was incredible.
Le Carre - lunch - We had steak tartare, special salad w/cottage cheese and pancetta tartine, and a lobster roll. Excellent place for lunch. Also on the favorites list.
Le Repaire - We had Accras, a daurade special, cheeseburger w/frites, chocolate sundae, and fruit. Another classic that we'd somehow never been to. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Meat & Potatoes - We had salad, spinach potato soup, rib of beef for two w/mashed carrots, gratin dauphinois and béarnaise, Roquefort, porcini and another sauce. It was very good. We'd never been before. Service was outstanding.
Le Creperie - breakfast - We had an omelette and a galette with ham, Swiss and egg. Galette was excellent! Great spot for breakfast.
Santa Fe - We had tomato tart, coq au vin, and peach melba. Excellent meal and service.
Maya's - We had beignets crevettes, daurade, red snapper with green curry, and chocolate cake. Amazingly, our first visit. Food was excellent and service was very good. We may or may not go back as the prices were ridiculous when compared to what you get. Unlike L'Esprit, you notice the price not quite fitting what you get; at L'Esprit, everything seems completely in line with what you pay.
Wonderful 2 weeks on the best island in the Western Hemisphere!
