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We did a bit of eating. Very fun to visit so many different places.
Breakfasts:
Lunches:
Drinks:
Dinners:
Definite no doubter returns for me are L'Esprit, Le Papillon Ivre, Sand Bar, Le Toiny Beach Club, and Ti Corail in no particular order. And Tamarin for a drink in the garden before L'Esprit. And of course Le Creperie.
Brevity in these posts is not my strong suit!
Breakfasts:
- Mostly picked up assorted croissants/pastries and a baguette from one of the boulangeries. I liked Choisy the best
- Le Creperie - twice for crepes, once for savory once for sweet. And once for gelato after Eddy's first night. Love this spot, visited frequently on our honeymoon in 2013 and it's still the same!
Lunches:
- Sand Bar - always our first lunch on island. Lobster roll and prosciutto pizza. Champagne. Just excellent. Service excellent.
- Le Grain de Sel - visited impromptu after numerous reviews here without a reservation, my wife said this was her favorite of trip. Started with accras, I got tuna tartare and she got a tuna burger. Sancerre and cocktail. Great spot.
- Le Toiny Beach Club - did the chairs and lunch down there, just awesome. Flank steak and mahi burger. Champagne. Will absolutely return for this. Pool is really nice down there by the beach. One of first buildings over in that area down by the pool - cool to see.
- Ti Corail - got a hat! Yann and Camille wonderful. Food excellent, not to be missed.
- Le Jardin - got sandwiches to go and ate at Flamands on the beach on our last day. After a week of rich and unique foods, a simple baguette with ham cheese and butter could not have been more welcome and it was delicious
Drinks:
- Barry - one of the newer spots that I think opened in December? It was really cool and a nice way to kick off the trip on our surprise bonus night. Cool vibe/ambience, cool bar, great bartender, excellent cocktails, and we got some nigiri and a sushi roll that were both delicious. I'd return for dinner. One of the ritzier locals we met (7 years on island) said it was her favorite spot. I would go back here, cool spot.
- Sayolita - after a decidedly non-local experience at Barry (not that there was anything wrong with that, the island needs both I think) we asked our concierge where she and her friends go. Great time. Definitely more on the "dive bar" side of things, cheap drinks, all locals. Met a real wild card of a bartender named Dane, a Australian "brah" if there every was one. Great very colorful conversation. We were grinning the whole time
- Tamarin - stopped here before L'Esprit after a recommendation I saw on here about doing this. Had never been and the property is beautiful. I think stopping here for drinks then heading elsewhere in Saline for dinner is the play, but more on that later...
- L'Isola - had also never been here and wanted to check out the space. Sat at bar, visited with bartender David, lovely spot, excellent service. We'll go here for dinner next trip
- Mapo - post-shopping and pre-LPI cocktail to check it out. More low-key, creole fusion of some sort. Perfect spot to park a husband while the beautiful dress boutiques are visited
- L'Esprit - reverse situation of when we stopped at Tamarin first. Met Jean-Claude, very nice, very French (in the best way), huge hands. He sent over some veal foie gras for us which was very kind!
Dinners:
- Eddy's - walked down after drinks at Barry, really a perfect first night on island dinner. I had a dish of tuna prepared numerous different ways which was delightful. Walked in without reservation and seated immediately. Low season! Place was hopping though so I'm glad we got a spot
- La Casina - sat up at the bar by request, got to watch the kitchen which was cool. Cacio e pepe was wonderful! Wife had tagliatelle with basil and shrimp. Sitting at the bar is cool but boy is it hot up there!
- L'Esprit - what more needs to be said? Best dish I had this week bar none, cochon noir I referenced previously, simply sublime. Tof helped us get a really nice (quality-wise) bottle of St. Joseph which was light and chilled and went smoothly with the meal. Wife had the crispy yellowfin tuna and she absolutely loved it. Finished with the cocoa pod that @dadto6 posted a picture of, unique and light and chilled and delicious way to cap off an incredible meal. Setting of the restaurant is so wonderful. Excellent service, nice to meet Tof. You will need bug spray on the ankles. I like that you can watch the action in the kitchen and JC can survey his kingdom from "on high"
- Mamo - lively, excellent service, excellent food. The bread was simply outstanding and I was sad when it was gone but didn't think I should ask for more with pasta coming. Bolognese very good. Sauce was lighter, not super heavy tomato like in the US. Probably could've done without hearing Sweet Home Alabama? But great spot, really enjoyed.
- Black Ginger (picked up and ate at villa) - just down the hill from the villa, a planned night in. Enjoyed this but if we do again we'll eat it there. Not that it was bad, but I think the preparation and presentation of this food likely best done on site.
- Le Papillon Ivre - this was my favorite dining of the trip in total, and I'm pretty sure I said that last time too? Julie sadly wasn't there that night, but we had a wonderful waitress (Solene? I couldn't fully catch it) and Vincent helped us picked a fantastic bottle of French red. So yes, this is a "small plates" place, and yes the "small" is on the smaller side of small, and no sitting outside at one of the 5-6 tables certainly isn't fancy, but the food is elegant, refined, and truly delicious. The way they do it here with the wine is that they will open and let you taste anything under 300e. If you don't like it, can pick something else. What a deal. This obviously operates under the assumption that there won't be too many that will try and take advantage (meaning, in an exploitative, malicious way) of this extremely unique arrangement. But how cool for people who love wine, like I do? Also I have to mention. I have been thinking (salivating, dreaming, etc), since 2023 when we were last there, of the sea urchin tarama which is a "mousse" for lack of better term. The cochon noir takes my favorite thing I ate this week, but this is a close second. It's 16e and I should've ordered another. We got 5 plates in total: the beef tartare, scallop carpaccio, a cream and parmesan ravioli, a duck confit dish, and the aforementioned tarama and, with the bread that they continusouly refill, this was plenty for the two of us. Finished with a creme brulee and some chocolate truffles. I love this place.
- Beefbar - cool concept, cool venue, great cocktails, great food. Better view than Bonito. Had the chocolate bar to finish. Holy smokes. I recommend this to everyone and we'll be back.
- Tamarin - Well. Listen. It was never going to possible to bat a thousand. We had remarked numerous times before our final night on island how each of the spots we'd been had been so very good and we'd been very fortunate. The forum is certainly mixed on Tamarin. We really enjoyed our drinks there the night before L'Esprit. But the dinner was just a miss. Seated by a rowdy and obnoxious table of Americans shouting vulgarities, drunk and with audible conversation several tables away. Service was poor, rushed when she was at our table but inattentive otherwise. Disdain on her face when we didn't order appetizers and went straight for mains. The food was fine. But we couldn't wait to get out of there. And then the coup de grace - we overhead our server finalizing the bill at the close-by table of an American couple. She asked "would you like to leave anything for the service?" To which the gentleman replied, "is anything already included?" This was answered in the negative by the server, and he proceeded to leave a tip. There was a decidedly French couple sitting just behind us, and from what I have read on here, it seems that there is no way the server would pose a similar question to them. Maybe I'm wrong, and there were a few other spots that asked if we'd like to leave anything extra, but this was the most flagrant and disingenuous example, especially when the ticket says "prix nets, service compris" at the bottom. From what I've read on here, this all checks out. Another note - Tamarin was relatively crowded, while L'Esprit which we had just left had just gotten their first table as we walked out at 730. I couldn't help but think of the dichotomy. Here's one place, packed but a poor experience, poor service, and another place that is arguably the best food on the island with just a few tables. You hate to see it. I will say, I think that in a different circumstance, different seating location, different server, maybe different choices from the menu, we could've had a very nice night there. But this wasn't the night. Finished with ice cream at Le Repaire after reading a few rave reviews here, wanted to check it out. Nice save!
Definite no doubter returns for me are L'Esprit, Le Papillon Ivre, Sand Bar, Le Toiny Beach Club, and Ti Corail in no particular order. And Tamarin for a drink in the garden before L'Esprit. And of course Le Creperie.
Brevity in these posts is not my strong suit!
!) Thanks for all the wonderful reporting!
