St. John VI restaurants

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

on you  goat cheese salad 

 

are those pucks seared goat cheese ?

 

interesting idea.

[KennethT]

@liamsaunt As always, thanks for posting this - I really appreciated the underwater shots.  One day I'll get an underwater camera to take pictures while we're diving but we're still pretty new to it and I think I don't want us to get distracted with that yet.  Our new dive watches already take too much attention!

[MaryIsobel]

Looks liek you had a fabulous trip! Snorkelling is my happy place - I envision it when I am at the dentist!

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Thanks for taking us along and especially for the snorkeling photos.

 

[liamsaunt]

On 5/24/2024 at 12:47 PM, rotuts said:

@liamsaunt

 

on you  goat cheese salad 

 

are those pucks seared goat cheese ?

 

interesting idea.

 

Yes, that's right, warm seared goat cheese.  Sorry for the delayed reply!

 

[liamsaunt]

We are back on St. John for two weeks, this time with my sister, niece, and nephew.  We arrived on Saturday, but I have not had time to share photos until now.  Our flight was at 6AM, which necessitated getting up at 2:30 to go to the airport.  We landed on St. Thomas at 10, and were to St. John by 12:30.  Our first stop was High Tide, to kill time until we could get into our villa.  Nephew had a burger 

 

 

Niece had a tuna sandwich

 

 

and the rest of us had mahi tacos 

 

 

 It's hot, but not as hot as it was in May.  The power grid is still unstable, and has been having frequent outages, but not for as prolonged periods as when we were here last time.  We came prepared with rechargeable fans and electrolyte packages, just in case.  The house:

 

 

We told my nephew that Sunday could be his day to make all of the restaurant choices.  I figured it was better to get all of the junky food out of the way at the beginning of the vacation.  Of course, he wanted another burger, so we drove over to "world famous" Skinny Legs.  

 

 

His bacon burger

 

 

Niece had a BLT on untoasted bread because their flattop was broken

 

Sister and I had blackened mahi sandwiches

 

 

and husband had a cheeseburger

 

 

We shared a piece of their frozen key lime pie.  It was very tart, just the way I like it.

 

 

We spent the afternoon at the beach, but I forgot to take pictures.

 

I knew that nephew was going to choose Cafe Roma for dinner, and sure enough he did.  The rest of us were uncertain that we could stomach another heavy meal after that lunch but he insisted, so off we went.  Menu

 

 

Martini for my husband

 

 

We shared a starter of mozzarella flatbread

 

 

Nephew got chicken parmesean. 

 

 

I ordered eggplant parmesan.  The eggplant was woefully undercooked, but I didn't care because I wasn't hungry anyway.

 

 

Sister had vodka sauce penne.  She was disappointed because the sauce was described as spicy and creamy and it was not either.  

 

 

NIece had fettuccine alfredo.  

 

 

Husband ordered the Rajun Cajun.  He said it was pretty good.

 

 

We skipped dessert at the restaurant in favor of a cone from St. John Scoops

 

 

Sunday's cloudy sunset

 

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

thank you for sharing.

 

and thank you for the menu's 

[liamsaunt]

Monday we spent the day at the beach again.  When we were not snorkeling, we spent most of the time talking about where we wanted to go to dinner.  If you come to St. John in the "on" season, you have to make reservations weeks in advance for the best places.  In the summer, you can call the same day and see what's available, or even just walk up if you don't mind taking a chance.  We decided to go to Morgan's Mango.  Power was out for most of the afternoon, and I knew they had a generator.

 

The menu never changes and I showed it this past spring so no pictures of that.  We shared some snapper seveche to start

 

 

 

And some tuna tartare

 

 

 

They told us they had gotten a local tuna that day, so most of us ordered that.  Niece and I ordered a special of tempura fried tuna

 

 

Husband ordered his with chimichurri style sauce

 

 

Sister ordered coconut crusted grouper

 

 

And nephew had a blackened mahi mahi.  We are coming back here on Saturday and I already know that's what I want to order.

 

 

 

We shared a pice of key lime pie for dessert.

 

 

Tuesday we decided to go to Hawksnest beach to swim and snorkel, and then drive across the island to have lunch at Miss Lucy's.  The beach:

 

 

Here are a couple of snorkeling photos for anyone who is interested

 

 

The coral is recovering from the storms in 2017

 

 

Cute little squid

 

 

parrotfish

 

 

 

After we worked up an appetite I checked online to be sure that the Coral Bay side of the island had power, and then we drove over to Miss Lucy's.  

 

 

 

Menu (it keeps getting shorter every time we come here)

 

 

They sadly did not have conch fritters today so we skipped appetizers.  Drinks for those who wanted one

 

 

Husband, sister, and nephew all got the crunchy fish sandwich

 

 

and my niece and I had the off menu West Indian fish fry plate

 

 

We went for a post lunch swim at Jumbie Beach

 

 

and got home to find that (shocker) we had no power again.  We read books in the pool for a couple of hours.  Luckily the power came back right before it got pitch dark.  

 

Wednesday 

 

Today everybody wanted to go to the Lime Out floating taco bar, so we slept in a bit.  The place that we were planning to use to shuttle us over was not running for whatever reason, so we walked down to the boat ramp and found a local guy who puttered us over in his pontoon for a cash payment.  Whatever works!  We wanted to go in the later afternoon, after the boat charters had already been through, so that it would not be crowded.  I would say we were successful

 

 

Menu

 

 

Tuna tacos, with a rum rib one on the end

 

 

Grouper seveche

 

 

Nephew's box of vegan tacos

 

 

Neice's box of curried chicken, pulled pork

 

 

 

Everything was very tasty.  It's a pricy day though.

 

We decided to close out the day by swimming at Trunk Bay for a while.  Beach

 

 

We walked all the way to the end of the beach, where our only companions on our side of the beach were these deer

 

 

and this stingray 

 

 

After the sun started to set, we returned home to find that once again we had no power.  Sigh.  This time it stayed off until about 9PM, but at least we got it back eventually!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Great underwater photography (especially the parrotfish).

Nice looking food as well.

 

.

Edited July 18 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[liamsaunt]

I always like to include a few food shopping photos to show the island prices.   Lemons for my ice tea in the morning

 

 

8 rolls of toilet paper

 

 

After errands we headed to the beach.  Today we visited Francis, my favorite

 

 

Snorkeling was in order.  We saw a huge turtle, but it was in quite deep water so the photos were not great.  Maybe I will have a better one to share later in the trip.  We did spot a moray eel

 

 

The moon jellies are back!

 

 

French angelfish

 

 

 Porgy

 

 

We have a couple of fancier dinners planned the next couple of nights, so decided to go casual and just grab some stuff at the Beach Bar.

 

Menu

 

 

Sister's margarita

 

 

Tuna bites for my nephew, since he cannot have most of the appetizers here

 

 

Tuna down now

 

 

The first conch fritters of the trip (lots of conch but a little gummy for my taste)

 

 

Niece wanted the tuna poke nachos.  

 

 

And the chicken fingers.  She always gets them here.  When we ate here when she was a little kid, she was upset that they were out of chicken fingers, and the cook went across the street and got some for the restaurant over there and cooked them for her.   I guess it's a fond memory.

 

 

I had the mahi mahi sandwich

 

 

Sister and husband had mahi mahi tacos

 

 

and nephew had the beef tacos minus the chips because of his allergy

 

 

The Sahara dust is very thick here right now.   It made the picture I took of the view look almost like a painting.  The dust is bad for asthma, and makes it hotter.  However, it also cuts down on the ability of tropical storms to form.

 

 

There's no dessert at Beach Bar, so we walked over to St. John Scoops for some soft serve ice cream

 

 

Power went out in town just after we got our ice creams.  The islands announced that we are on rotating outages for the next few days.  For whatever reason, the feeder that goes to the part of the island that my house is on is not included in the rotation schedule.  I know we will be paying the piper eventually, but for now, the power is on.  In addition to the usual inconveniences of the power being out, here you cannot run the water at all either.  So, no showers, no toilet flushing, dish washing etc.  It gets pretty frustrating after a while. The residents are understandably incredibly angry because this has been going on for months.

 

Edited July 19 by liamsaunt
remove duplicate photo (log)

[liamsaunt]

Yesterday we planned to spend the day swimming and snorkeling at Cinnamon Bay.  This is the widest and longest beach on St. John.  The homes on the hill in the distance are Peter Bay, the most exclusive and expensive neighborhood on the island.  I have never been in as it's gated and there's no access unless you are staying there.  The beach is public from the water though, if you have a boat.  I've never bothered stopping on our boat days, but there's supposed to be some decent snorkeling at the point.

 

 

Unfortunately thunderstorms rolled in and we had to leave after only a short while.  We ended up spending the afternoon at the villa, swimming in the pool (after the storms had passed through) and reading.  I went down to explore the shoreline in front of the house.  

 

 

Dinner was at a new restaurant in town, the Hideaway.  They only opened a short while ago.  The restaurant space consists of two shipping containers. One has been converted to a kitchen, and the other to a bar.  The tables are in an open space between the two.  Here's looking inside between the two containers, bar to the left and kitchen to the right.

 

 

We were the first party to arrive, but the whole restaurant was filled within 15 minutes, mostly with locals checking the new space out.  Menu

 

 

 

 

Drinks.  Mine is the lookout mocktail in the third position.  It was refreshing and not too sweet.

 

 

We shared a bunch of the appetizers.  Nephew is a bean hound and demanded that we choose the black bean dip 

 

 

It was shockingly good.  NIece's choice was the avocado toast

 

 

My sister, husband and I all wanted to try the fish starters.  Tuna rose

 

 

Seveche of the day (mahi mahi)

 

 

Everything was outstanding.  Nephew wanted the lamb ragu for his main course

 

 

and the other four of us ordered two of the catch of the day from the large plates/sharing section.  It was grouper, and it was delicious, but I could have eaten the whole thing by myself.  The portions were a little small to be considered a "sharing with friends" plate

 

 

 

We were all still a little hungry after dinner, so decided to order dessert.  They had four, and we ordered one of each to try between us.  Unfortunately, it was really dark by this point so the photos came out grainy.  There was a local banana bread, a roasted pineapple with nutmeg ice cream, a watermelon and roasted strawberry sorbet, and a chocolate mousse with hazelnuts.  They were all delicious, but the pineapple was my favorite.

 

The restaurant has a view down to the customs and border patrol building and ferry dock.  We really liked our meal here, and I would not be surprised if we make our way back before leaving.

 

 

 

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

Nice !

 

enjoyed those menu's.

 

food looked fantastic.

[liamsaunt]

Yesterday was a bit of a lazy day for us.  We went to Maho Bay and just floated around.  The Sahara dust is getting thicker every day.  In this picture you can just barely see the outline of St. Thomas behind the boaters.  It's normally clear as a bell.  The islands are only a few miles apart.

 

 

We did not snorkel, but the water was clear enough that we could see stuff swimming below us as we floated on our noodles (we use noodles to keep our feet elevated so we don't disturb the turtle grass).  I had my camera with me to take family pictures, and at one point stuck it underwater to snap these guys floating under us

 

 

For dinner we went back to Morgan's Mango for Caribbean lobster night.  My husband is the only one who orders it, but he really likes to get one.  We shared a couple of appetizers.  Fried calamari with romanesco sauce (not the greatest we've had--it was a bit greasy and overcooked)

 

 

Tuna tostones

 

 

and nephew wanted the tamarind lamb lollipops since he could not have the calamari 

 

 

Husband had the lobster of course

 

 

Sister and I got the swordfish voodoo style

 

 

Nephew had the wahoo prepared voodoo style

 

 

and niece got the pork tenderloin with boniato mash

 

 

 

For dessert, we ordered tres leches cake for my nephew since he could not have the dessert that my niece wanted 

 

 

which was the pineapple-coconut bread pudding.  In addition to his crustacean allergy, nephew cannot eat pineapple. 

 

 

And of course we ordered a slice of the famous key lime pie for everyone to share.

 

 

We arrived home in time to watch the moonrise over the bay

 

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

what  is voodoo style ?

Edited July 22 by rotuts (log)

[liamsaunt]

On 7/21/2024 at 8:54 AM, rotuts said:

@liamsaunt

 

what  is voodoo style ?

 

To me it tastes similar to creole seasoning.  The salsa that comes with it is fruity and spicy.

 

Sunday we drove to the far side of the island to hit one of our favorite snorkel spots.  Unfortunately, conditions were not good, so we could not get in the water.  We just ended up swimming at a nearby beach.  I forgot to take pictures.  We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Johnny Lime.  Their menu is barbecue so we thought my nephew would enjoy it.  Setting

 

 

Menu

 

 

Drinks, a danger for my husband and a mezcalita for my nephew

 

 

My sister and I got mani sandwiches on arepas.  The fish was very good but the arepa was almost impossible to eat.  I ended up leaving most of it behind.  Those are yucca fries on the plates, which my sister, husband and I all shared.  We could not finish them between the three of us!  They are very filling.  Husband got his mani sandwich on a brioche bun, which was a better choice and easier to eat.

 

 

Nephew ordered brisket with yucca fries and mac and cheese

 

 

NIece had pulled pork with mac and cheese and cornbread

 

 

We ordered both desserts.  The bread pudding was more like french toast than a pudding, but my niece liked it

 

 

and the cinnamon roll would have been good for breakfast.  I suggested that we bring it back for the next morning, but my niece just ate it.

 

 

 

Monday we spent the day at Cinnamon Bay.  I did some snorkeling but have not processed my underwater pictures yet.  Nephew really wanted tacos for dinner, so we went into town and visited the Lime Inn.  Setting

 

 

Menu

 

 

 

They have all of the tacos you can get on the taco boat, plus some others that are too messy to make on the boat.

 

Drinks

 

 

Seveche to share

 

 

My niece had a rum rib, a corner chair pork, and the fried fish

 

 

Sister had the fried fish and the tuna matata

 

 

Nephew got another of the vegan tacos he had on the boat plus the fried fish and the Mr. Worldwide tuna

 

 

I had one of each tuna taco on offer

 

 

and husband had the fried fish and tuna

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24 by liamsaunt
add photo (log)

[liamsaunt]

Tuesday was our boat charter day.  There's a bunch of different types of boats to pick from.  I wanted to use the charter company that we did because it was owned by someone who grew up on the island, and is known for taking interested guests to out of the way snorkel locations. The captain was a great fit for our group vibe and we had a wonderful day.  I'll show some scenic and under water photos from the day, along, of course, with food.  We tooled up the North Shore of the island to our first snorkel spot.  This is Turtle Bay, which was one of the private beaches owned by Caneel Bay before the hurricanes.  There used to be excellent snorkeling along the point in this photo.  The current runs really strong to the left, and we would get in at the beach on the other side, let the current pull us around the point to Turtle Bay, and then walk back.  It's still prohibited to walk on the grounds of Caneel Bay, so we could only look from the boat this time.  You can see some of the ruins of the resort poking up above the trees.

 

 

This is Denis Bay.  It's more of a locals beach because there's no signage at the trailhead.  I actually haven't walked down to it for probably 20 years.  Fun fact: when Melanie Griffith was a kid, she lived on this beach in an old plantation house.  The home was destroyed in the hurricanes and not rebuilt.  When the current owner dies, the land is being turned over to the National Park.

 

 

Our first snorkel was in deep water off Congo Cay.  The highlight was seeing large schools of huge tarpon.  

 

 

Our second stop was a place to explore large cliff walls and coral encrustations.

 

 

 

 

Then we headed over to our lunch stop, Pizza Pi.  This is a sailboat anchored in one of the coves.  They actually cook the pizza on the boat, I have no idea how.  Here's the boat

 

 

 

The menu

 

 

 

We jumped in and snorkeled while waiting for our food.  There were lots of turtles around

 

 

Pizza!

 

 

Our next stop was a mangrove snorkel.  I was really excited for this one because I had not done one since the storms.  Its a different experience.  You are in really shallow water and have to be careful not to disturb anything with your fins.

 

 

 

It's darker on the mangrove snorkels

 

 

 

The mangrove roots provide shelter for juvenile fish

 

 

 

 

 Sea cucumber

 

 

Everyone was hungry, but not starving, at dinner time.  We went in to town and hit up Longboard. Menu

 

 

 

Drinks

 

 

Hummus with veggies only since nephew cannot have the chips

 

 

Tuna crudo.  This was everyone's favorite

 

 

Mahi mahi seveche

 

 

Barbacoa tacos for my nephew

 

 

Aloha poke bowl

 

 

Sushi wrap of some kind.  I did not try it.

 

 

 

Edited July 25 by liamsaunt (log)

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

Tuesday was our boat charter day.  There's a bunch of different types of boats to pick from.  I wanted to use the charter company that we did because it was owned by someone who grew up on the island, and is known for taking interested guests to out of the way snorkel locations. The captain was a great fit for our group vibe and we had a wonderful day.  I'll show some scenic and under water photos from the day, along, of course, with food.  We tooled up the North Shore of the island to our first snorkel spot.  This is Turtle Bay, which was one of the private beaches owned by Caneel Bay before the hurricanes.  There used to be excellent snorkeling along the point in this photo.  The current runs really strong to the left, and we would get in at the beach on the other side, let the current pull us around the point to Turtle Bay, and then walk back.  It's still prohibited to walk on the grounds of Caneel Bay, so we could only look from the boat this time.  You can see some of the ruins of the resort poking up above the trees.

 

 

This is Denis Bay.  It's more of a locals beach because there's no signage at the trailhead.  I actually haven't walked down to it for probably 20 years.  Fun fact: when Melanie Griffith was a kid, she lived on this beach in an old plantation house.  The home was destroyed in the hurricanes and not rebuilt.  When the current owner dies, the land is being turned over to the National Park.

 

 

Our first snorkel was in deep water off Congo Cay.  The highlight was seeing large schools of huge tarpon.  

 

 

Our second stop was a place to explore large cliff walls and coral encrustations.

 

 

 

 

Then we headed over to our lunch stop, Pizza Pi.  This is a sailboat anchored in one of the coves.  They actually cook the pizza on the boat, I have no idea how.  Here's the boat

 

 

 

The menu

 

 

 

We jumped in and snorkeled while waiting for our food.  There were lots of turtles around

 

 

Pizza!

 

 

Our next stop was a mangrove snorkel.  I was really excited for this one because I had not done one since the storms.  Its a different experience.  You are in really shallow water and have to be careful not to disturb anything with your fins.

 

 

 

It's darker on the mangrove snorkels

 

 

 

The mangrove roots provide shelter for juvenile fish

 

 

 

 

 Sea cucumber

 

 

Everyone was hungry, but not starving, at dinner time.  We went in to town and hit up Longboard. Menu

 

 

 

Drinks

 

 

Hummus with veggies only since nephew cannot have the chips

 

 

Tuna crudo.  This was everyone's favorite

 

 

Mahi mahi seveche

 

 

Barbacoa tacos for my nephew

 

 

Aloha poke bowl

 

 

Sushi wrap of some kind.  I did not try it.

 

 

 

What kind of boat did you charter?  Is it a sailboat or power boat?

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Great snorkelling photos.

 

[liamsaunt]

20 hours ago, KennethT said:

What kind of boat did you charter?  Is it a sailboat or power boat?

 

It was a power catamaran.  We have done sailboats in the past too, but I prefer the power boats because they can get you to more snorkeling spots.  The sailboat charters are more about sailing all day with a snorkel or maybe two if you are lucky thrown in.

 

Wednesday was my nephew's last day with us.  He was flying out early to attend a reunion.  He opted for sleeping in and then spending the afternoon swimming at Cinnamon, which was fine with us since we were all pretty tired from the boat day.

 

 

Dinner was at his favorite, La Tapa.  Menu

 

 

Drinks

 

 

View from our table

 

 

Charcuterie plate for my niece and nephew to share

 

 

I had a salad with goat cheese--the same one I ordered last time

 

 

we also ordered a mozzarella salad to share

 

 

My sister ordered the mahi mahi

 

 

and everyone else opted for the tuna, which was delicious as always

 

 

We split a few desserts.  Niece wanted the bread pudding.  I dislike the saffron ice cream that comes with this, but everyone else thinks it's great.  More for them, I say.

 

 

Nephew wanted the chèvre cheesecake.  I don't like this one either!

 

 

And then we got the flan, which is my favorite (and everyone else's too, we were competing for bites)

 

 

Thursday my husband and I dropped my nephew at the ferry, and then headed back to get my sister and niece to go to the beach.  Sister wanted Maho

 

 

Husband and I did a quick snorkel.  Sister and niece passed in favor of floating.  Those are their heads sticking up from the noodles in this picture 🙂

 

Tang

 

 

Red lipped blenny

 

 

turtle

 

 

For dinner we went to 18/64.  Menu

 

 

 

My sister's cocktail

 

 

Niece wanted the homemade ricotta with roasted beets.  She let me have a bite and it was tasty

 

 

The rest of us shared the conch fritters.  The sauce was really good, but unfortunately the fritters were devoid of conch.

 

 

Husband got the crab stuffed shrimp for his dinner.  He said they were a little bland

 

 

My sister and I both got the catch of the day, which was swordfish.  It was really great, and the salad that came with it was outstanding.  I shared with my husband since he didn't love his dish

 

 

Niece opted for the fried chicken and mac and cheese.  She said the mac and cheese was great.  She also really liked the sauce on the chicken.

 

 

Dessert menu

 

 

We were not very hungry so decided to just order one.  We tried the coconut cream custard. My husband and I really disliked this.  However my sister and nice enjoyed it, so it got eaten.

 

[liamsaunt]

Friday was our last full day on the island for this visit.  We spent the morning at the villa, packing and swimming in the pool.  We went for a late lunch, returning to Miss Lucy's.  

 

 

It was pretty quiet.  Just us and some donkeys

 

 

Drinks: a virgin pina colada for my niece, and a margarita for my sister

 

 

We shared a couple of appetizers.  A special of coconut shrimp

 

 

and an order of fried plantains

 

 

Sister and husband got the crunchy fish sandwich again

 

 

Niece had the West Indian fish fry plate again

 

 

and I ordered the grouper reuben

 

 

 

After lunch we went for a swim at Trunk Bay, and stayed until dusk

 

 

That's it for this visit.  We'll be back...

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

Thank you .

 

fine looking beaches and fine looking food .

 

ex conch-less fritters.

 

are the donkeys semi-tame ' wild ?

 

what sort of care do they receive ?

[TdeV]

I enjoyed myself very much. Thanks for taking me along, @liamsaunt.

[liamsaunt]

18 hours ago, rotuts said:

@liamsaunt

 

Thank you .

 

fine looking beaches and fine looking food .

 

ex conch-less fritters.

 

are the donkeys semi-tame ' wild ?

 

what sort of care do they receive ?

 

The donkeys are wild.  They were used as workers on the plantations before slavery was abolished, and freed after.  They do well on their own, as there's lots of vegetation for them to eat.  Unfortunately, tourists who do not know better sometimes feed them, which has led to issues with them congregating around the roads hoping for a handout.  A few have been hit by cars in recent years.  Some of them have also started to develop a disease called Equine Cushings Disease from eating junk food given to them from tourists.  The disease gives them big lumpy deposits all over their bodies.  It's sad to see.  There's a wildlife and donkey rescue organization on the island that provides them with medical care when it's needed, but in general they are best just left alone.