1st time poster, frequent lurker - June trip questions

The most sublime, relaxed, luscious meal we had on our recent trip was the lunch at Le Toiny beach...having been going to the island for many years this was our new discovery...3 1/2 hour lunch...for you celebrating an anniversary it is a lovely peaceful setting to spend time with your spouse...having just celebrated our 40th recently it really was a nice place for us to just chill....
 
Our favorite table we call Table #1. I go early to the bakery each morning for warm croissants ��, glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice and bring them back each morning to enjoy at Table #1. Maybe a western omelette or pan perdu- Nespresso coffee. Sometimes for lunch, we create a fresh salad, enjoy pates and a baguette and maybe a little Deauville. Some dinners - maybe Meat My Fish- their giant crayfish and fresh fish on the ‘barbie.’ Of course all of this is accompanied with Ott, or Clos Beylesse, maybe a Bloody at brunch, VC all at Table #1. In between courses, a dip in the pool and a hug or two, pinching our selves about how lucky we are to enjoy the wonderful island.
In summary, we love the restaurants, the shopping, the beaches and the people on the island but best of all is Table #1 with your companion, friends and family.
 
dwtx, congratulations. We will be overlapping with your trip. This will be our first trip in June in many years. I'm wondering if there will be a Junies get together as we've never had the opportunity to go to one before.

If you want a good burger with some interesting people watching go to Le Piment. Though you should go to Jojo for lunch as you're staying in Lorient as it so convenient especially if you go to the beach there and also go to Le Select for a drink and people watching. I would also suggest picking up a lunch to go from Cre'age if you're interested in creole food. It's quite tasty and close by.

We enjoy the Sunday party at Nikki. The atmosphere is fun. We are planning to be there at 3:30 on the 23rd.
 
SZ484 I think you just convinced me to give Rhum Room a try.

Hopper, great point about Table #1. Where is the best place to get fresh seafood and other fresh ingredients? I'd love to cook one night.
 
The Halle Aux Poissons in Gustavia, at the entrance to town when coming from Public, is open from 06:00 until the fish and rock lobsters are sold. Earlier is better. Stick with Mahi, Tuna, or Wahoo. There’s a butcher who also sells fish, Meat My Fish, just over the Camaruche hill from Lorient.
 
In my opinion, Bonito and Quarter Kitchen and Cocktail Lab make the best cocktails on the island. There are some fantastic mixologists there and all are extremely talented! If you like mezcal, try the mezcal cocktail at Quarter. They use a dropper to add sesame oil to the finished cocktail, and while it seems like an odd pairing, it’s absolutely amazing!
As stated above, Rum Room can make a delicious cocktail as well.
For a more toes in the sand atmosphere, Jackson at The Christopher makes our favorite rum punch.
 
Sounds like you've gotten all your questions answered by now, but echo what others have said about Le Toiny Beach Club, Nikki Beach and Le Barthelemy as gorgeous lunch settings with fabulous food (and if you want great music and action, Sundays at Nikki Beach are hard to beat---the first seating if you prefer more mellow and the second seating for a big party). And it really is all ages there, which I love.
 
I went to Le Toiny for the french mother's day lunch. I was really looking forward to this day as was Didier's mother. We had the safari ride down from the hotel to the beach area where they serve lunch. we were met by a staff member as we disembarked from the ride. She was very nice and sat us at a nice table with an unobstructed view of the ocean. we were very relaxed. We all ordered cocktails first, 3 planteur punches and one frozen pina colada. the punches had so much alcohol, the alcohol overpowered any taste at all. the pina colada had no taste whatsoever. We let the ice melt in the planteur punches hoping it would improve the taste, it did not.

We ordered lunch, no appetizers, the ribs, lobster salad was just okay, nothing exceptional. the buttermilk chicken was not even edible, I sent this back and replaced it with something I knew they could not mess up, a tossed salad. it was okay, the french fries were good. the desserts, cheesecake, mango dessert and a chocolate dish, barely ok, but edible. with drinks, food, & dessert for 4 people with 2 bottles of water, 320 euros. should we not expect good food ( not just ambiance) for this price, its lunch, not dinner. I won't be back.
 
We had the Sunday brunch at Le Toiny during our last trip, and although the hotel itself was stunning and the service was great, the food was just OK so I felt like it was less of a value for the price compared to other experiences we had on the island. Because of that and other comments somewhat similar to Didier, I'm a little hesitant to try the beach club. We went to Nikki Beach and what was then Do Brazil and thoroughly enjoyed both, so I think we will give Le Barthelemy a try this time around if we wind up doing SUP on Grand Cul de Sac.

On a related note, has anyone ever tried windsurfing there? If so, is it difficult to learn for a first timer? I'm relatively athletic so I'd love to try, but also don't want to spend all day struggling if it's dumb to think I could pick it up in a day.
 
Not difficult to acquire basic windsurfing skills in a day. I learned at Grand Cul de Sac . . . and I'm a klutz.
 
Hi dwtx!
We just returned from a 10 day stay and here are some of my thoughts and input on your questions:

1) The road construction in and around Lorient is nothing. In fact, the traffic flow solutions in place are excellent! A few more minutes with the top down and Radio St Barth.
2) The island was dry, no doubt about it, but it has been receiving more rain from what I have heard and later in our week we had some good nightly downpours. It did not, in any way, affect our time or enjoyment of the island. Mosquitoes will be around no matter what. A citronella candle and a good repellent (we love https://neteffectrollon.com/) is really all you need.
3) We found Segeco in Gustavia on Monday. Everyone was really helpful, from the guys loading trucks and directing us to the spiral stairs, to the gal in the office who handled our transaction. We purchased a case of VC Rose for $260E and an arrow tin for $60E. A good $5-10 savings per bottle.
4) We never made it to Saline this trip but Goveneur was a mess. St. Jean is our favorite beach and it was free of sargassum. Probably your best bet for a day at the beach.
5) Can’t comment….did stop for a beer on a couple of occasions at Le Select. My wife had a burger from Le Bouchon and loved it.
6) Not sure on the delivery, but I’d recommend just driving to wherever you choose and taking back to the villa. We did Le Bouchon on a couple of evenings for just that purpose. We loved their pizzas! There is a pizza joint on the east end called JPizza that is supposed to be excellent but we didn’t try.
7) We missed Orega on this trip (but witnessed his wedding procession) and didn’t love our experience at Tamarin last time so I can’t comment on these. Eddy’s was a miss for us and will likely cross that off next time. Black Ginger was solid. We ordered in the main restaurant and took back to the villa. Portions are fairly small so order accordingly. The duck was excellent and my wife’s green curry dish was as well. Bonito is one of our favorites. I had the tenderloin which was amazing. The wahoo and sea bass are usually on the menu and excellent as well. Don’t miss Bagatelle which was our #1 favorite dinner!
8) Can’t comment…haven’t heard of this place.
9) We stopped at both hotels and had a drink at their bar. The vibe at Le Barthelemy was a lot more fun and active. Le Sereno was very quiet and service was a little indifferent. I would recommend Le Barthelemy if you are looking for a beachside/waterfront lunch of the two. I would also recommend Mango at Hotel Christopher as well. No beach, but waterfront tables in the sand. Good service, drinks and food. Tell Jackson (bartender) that Brett and Kimberly from Portland say “hi”!
10) We tried to get in, but needed reservations. That said, the Smoky Maple Old Fashioned is pretty amazing!
11) We went to Shellona for a first seating Sunday brunch and it was really good. We like it there. Also went to Pearl Beach, sat at the bar and shared a couple of apps. Good drinks, service and food. We walked up to Lil’ Rock to check it out. It was busy, but were brushed off by the hostess when we just said we were taking a look. Probably isolated, but the reviews are pretty good from what I hear.
12) Get a table on the harbor at Bagatelle. It’s boujee, high class and a little expensive, but worth the splurge. You will not be disappointed.
 
12) Get a table on the harbor at Bagatelle. It’s boujee, high class and a little expensive, but worth the splurge. You will not be disappointed.

I love learning new words so had to look-up “boujee.” I’m clearly a back number in this jargon:
[FONT=Roboto, HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif]According to Urban Dictionary, "[/FONT]boujee[FONT=Roboto, HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif]" [/FONT]means[FONT=Roboto, HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif], "High class, flossin', ballin'. One who possesses swag. Elite, rich." But it's actually a stylized version of the already-stylized word "[/FONT]bougie[FONT=Roboto, HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif]," which is an abbreviation of the word "bourgeois."[/FONT]Aug 18, 2017
 
Thanks for the enlightenment, Izzy! You're right . . . don't know Migos or Lil Uzi Vert, but now have read and learned about them. Very interesting. On the other hand, reading and learning about Slim Gaillard was fascinating. His Vout-o-Reenee music reminds me a lot of Ella Fitzgerald's improvisational scat. Great to have a broader knowledge in music!
 
Thanks for the enlightenment, Izzy! You're right . . . don't know Migos or Lil Uzi Vert, but now have read and learned about them. Very interesting. On the other hand, reading and learning about Slim Gaillard was fascinating. His Vout-o-Reenee music reminds me a lot of Ella Fitzgerald's improvisational scat. Great to have a broader knowledge in music!
Charleston has the Gaillard center for music, theater...there last Christmas for Wynton Marsalis & his orchestra...Charlestonians prounounce Gaillard as Gillyard with emphasis on the 'yard' ! Slim's pronounciation ?
 
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