Good Eats in Aruba

The restaurants in Oranjestaad is very diverse. They have everything from Indian, to Dutch, to Spanish, and even Chinese. There are also several Italian places on the island and in the city. The first night we were there we ate at Casa Tua which is an Italian place that specializes in brick oven pizza. Being a New Yorker, I am very particular about my pizza, but this was actually really tasty. Not at all like NY slices, but the crust was good and the ingredients were fresh and good. We had a caesar salad and a caprese salad to start and then shared the pizza with pancetta, arugula, and goat cheese. It was yummy. We also had a carafe of chianti. Honestly, I really liked the vibe of Casa Tua. It was open and had high ceilings and you could sit out on the terrace if you wanted. The staff were all young women and they were really nice and helpful. The service was nothing special, but they were super friendly which is all I wanted.
 
Our second night we ate at the famous El Gaucho which is an Argentinian steak house and is supposed to be on of the best restaurants on the island. Granted, the steak was really good, but the service was less than stellar. I was also surprised that they used those restaurant beepers to tell you when your table is ready, which is totally Olive Garden style and this was supposed to be a “fancy” place. They were out of two of the sides that you can choose from, which were two that both my husband and I would have ordered. The when our food came they were out of grilled vegetables which we both ordered, so we got steamed broccoli instead…boooring! I have to say though that my steak was great and so was my husband’s. I had the filet and he had the NY strip, or something bigger than mine :)  The atmosphere was nice although it was really loud, but I guess that’s ok, since it’s a steak house. We really enjoyed the two men who were serenading tables with guitars. They came over and sang for us and I really enjoyed that.
 
Our third night we went to a really cool place that I had read about in the NY Times called Pincho’s Bar and Grille. It was on a pier in the middle of the water. Unfortunately it was drizzling that night, so we had to sit at the bar which was covered. The crowd was young and they had a really nice wine selection. My husband and I both had fish. I tried the Aruban fish called wahoo, which was good, and my husband’s fish was ok, but a little dry. The bartenders were really friendly and I just liked the vibe of Pincho’s. I would love to go back there when it wasn’t raining to watch the sun set and have cocktails.
 
Our final night, we ate at another one of the islands better restaurants called Madame Jeanette’s. This place is literally in the middle of nowhere and I thought our cab driver was taking us deep into the island to kill us, but then he made a quick turn and there we were! As a sidebar, I always felt safe on the island and all of the native Arubans were so nice and helpful. This restuarant was the nicest place asthetically. It was dimly lit and there was a covered veranda where there were tables and there were tables out in the open close to a couple who were singng and playing guitar. It was a little cheesy, but we enjoyed the music and the breeze. The service there was great and our waitress was really great and attentive. The fare is Dutch mostly, so I had beef strogonoff and my husband had pork tenderloin. Our food was really tasty. They had a really extensive wine list so we chose a nice Pinot from Napa which was yummy. The best part of the meal though, was dessert. We shared the chocolate lava cake and it was really good.
 
I have to say that before going to Aruba I read that meals would be expensive, but our most expensive meal was at Madame Jeanette’s and it was only about $120.00. We had a bottle of wine, a salad to start, two entrees and a dessert, which isn’t so bad. Overall, the food on the island is good, but we didn’t have a meal that blew us away. We also didn’t expect to, so it was fine.