St. John VI restaurants

[liamsaunt]

10 hours ago, KennethT said:

Which side of St. Thomas will you be on?  The dry side or the rainy side?  Many years ago, my wife's cousin had a condo on the dry side of St. Thomas - very close to the Ritz-Carlton.  I was so surprised to see cactus on the side of the road!  Especially since it was pouring rain when we picked up the car at the airport.

The dry side, apparently.  We have a running joke that it’s always raining on St. Thomas.  There’s definitely a dry side of St. John so I guess it makes sense that there’s on one St. Thomas too. 
 

We spent the day at Trunk Bay. This time of year is peak visiting season, and every year it gets more crowded. Lots of people today 

 

 

We walked all the way to the end, where there were only about four other people, and no one in the water.

 

 

We did not snorkel, but just swam for a few hours. My Apple watch measured the water temperature at 78-79 degrees. 
 

When we got back to the Westin I took a picture of the swimming area

 

 

And then we headed in to town for dinner at La Tapa.  Menu, basically the same as always 

 

 

Husband’s spicy blood orange margarita. This did not look like a blood orange drink to me. He was not a big fan.

 

 

he had the smoked salmon bruschetta for a starter, which he enjoyed

 

 

I had a special of cauliflower soup. It was really nice

 

 

We both had fish entrees. My tuna looked pretty but was so salty I could not really eat it, and I love salt.  Husband tried some and he agreed.

 

 

Husband had the mahi mahi, which was bland. Maybe his taste buds got blasted by my salty tuna haha 

 

 

We decided to cut our losses and skip dessert. I guess it was an off night. 

 

[MaryIsobel]

36 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

The dry side, apparently.  We have a running joke that it’s always raining on St. Thomas.  There’s definitely a dry side of St. John so I guess it makes sense that there’s on one St. Thomas too. 
 

We spent the day at Trunk Bay. This time of year is peak visiting season, and every year it gets more crowded. Lots of people today 

 

 

We walked all the way to the end, where there were only about four other people, and no one in the water.

 

 

We did not snorkel, but just swam for a few hours. My Apple watch measured the water temperature at 78-79 degrees. 
 

When we got back to the Westin I took a picture of the swimming area

 

 

And then we headed in to town for dinner at La Tapa.  Menu, basically the same as always 

 

 

Husband’s spicy blood orange margarita. This did not look like a blood orange drink to me. He was not a big fan.

 

 

he had the smoked salmon bruschetta for a starter, which he enjoyed

 

 

I had a special of cauliflower soup. It was really nice

 

 

We both had fish entrees. My tuna looked pretty but was so salty I could not really eat it, and I love salt.  Husband tried some and he agreed.

 

 

Husband had the mahi mahi, which was bland. Maybe his taste buds got blasted by my salty tuna haha 

 

 

We decided to cut our losses and skip dessert. I guess it was an off night. 

 

Lovely setting. When a restaurant dish is salty enough that you don't find it palatable, do you send it back or mention it to your server? With the price of restaurant meals these days, I struggle with whether or not to send a dish back - my reasoning for not sending it back is that my fellow diners already have their meals so would make the pacing of the dinner akward. At 50.00 a plate at least, I feel like I shouldn't just suck it up.

[Smithy]

I loved this comment on the menu:

 

Quote

While we do not offer a "kid's menu" we have offerings that are sure to both satisfy and elevate palates.

 

It sounds rather hoity-toity to me. On the one hand, it sounds aspirational. On the other hand...well, I'm guessing they don't offer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! That would be fine with me (never liked them anyway) but I wonder about folks with picky kids. Maybe they just don't go there?

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

looking forward to your trip.

 

and thank you for the menu's

[gfweb]

8 hours ago, Smithy said:

I loved this comment on the menu:

 

 

It sounds rather hoity-toity to me. On the one hand, it sounds aspirational. On the other hand...well, I'm guessing they don't offer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! That would be fine with me (never liked them anyway) but I wonder about folks with picky kids. Maybe they just don't go there?

 

I imagine kids menus are a money loser.

Extra food to buy and cook, and then sold at low prices.

 

[KennethT]

Or maybe they used all the salt on the tuna and had none left for the mahi!

[liamsaunt]

23 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Lovely setting. When a restaurant dish is salty enough that you don't find it palatable, do you send it back or mention it to your server? With the price of restaurant meals these days, I struggle with whether or not to send a dish back - my reasoning for not sending it back is that my fellow diners already have their meals so would make the pacing of the dinner akward. At 50.00 a plate at least, I feel like I shouldn't just suck it up.

I think it would depend on the situation. In this instance, I just didn’t feel Ike dealing with complaining and then waiting for a new dish. 

 

21 hours ago, Smithy said:

I loved this comment on the menu:

 

 

It sounds rather hoity-toity to me. On the one hand, it sounds aspirational. On the other hand...well, I'm guessing they don't offer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! That would be fine with me (never liked them anyway) but I wonder about folks with picky kids. Maybe they just don't go there?

 

It’s not really a kid friendly restaurant. I do know that they will make pasta with butter for kids if it is asked for.  There are lots of options that are a better fit for families with kids on the island.  We did start taking our niece and nephew there when they were in the 10-12 age range, but they looked at all the menus in advance and were able to find things that they wanted to try.  I know it’s tough for people with ultra picky kids.

 

We are now on St. Thomas.  The seafood festival did not happen for us. It was supposed to start at 11, but they were still setting up at that time. We checked back an hour later, but it still was not going. Island time is a real thing! Unfortunately, we had a ferry to catch.  Maybe next year.  Here is our new view

 

 

 

Our accommodation has a full kitchen. I am only planning on making breakfast in the condo, but they left a list of cooking equipment and spices you can request if you need them. There are grills to use also.

 

We went to the Elysium resort next door for dinner at Caribbean Fish Market.

 

 

Our table was not ready, so they sent us to the bar (and then forgot they sent us there…island time strikes again). 
 

 

I had the rose sparkling mocktail, which smelled good but tasted thin. This is a common mocktail problem that I am still trying to adjust to years after giving up alcohol! It might be a me problem. Husband had a gin and tonic. 

 

 

The dinner menu had lots of things that sounded worth trying. 

 

 

We opted to split the calamari.  Not local, but fried calamari is hard to resist.

 

 

I got the wahoo. It was delicious. I would have liked a little more wasabi sauce. It was a huge portion. I only ate a couple bites of the noodles.

 

 

Husband got the stuffed lobster and it was massive. He did not even touch the potatoes or asparagus that came with it.

 

 

Dessert

 

 

We split the key lime pie. It did not taste of lime at all! The sorbet on it was excellent though and the whole thing worked somehow.  It just didn’t taste like key lime pie. 😂
 

 

On the way out of dinner, we noticed this beached sailboat that we somehow missed on the way in.  This is the second beached sailboat we have seen, and we have only been to three beaches!  Strange. 
 

[Smithy]

Well, it all looks lovely (except the beached sailboat) and I don't blame you for not wanting/planning to cook. Still...this sort of selection would make me want to stay. right. there. in. my. accommodations.

 

 

Gracious -- that's a better stockpile than I have at home!

[KennethT]

I feel the same way about most mocktails - I wonder if it's from the glycerol that is present in alcoholic beverages which gives viscosity, that isn't present in non-alcoholic ingredients.  Maybe someone should experiment with adding a few drops of vegetable glycerine or something to help give it more weight.

 

I have to say - for a restaurant that obviously puts weight on presentation - the ice cream scoop of mashed potato is a little off-putting.

[gfweb]

9 hours ago, Smithy said:

Well, it all looks lovely (except the beached sailboat) and I don't blame you for not wanting/planning to cook. Still...this sort of selection would make me want to stay. right. there. in. my. accommodations.

 

 

Gracious -- that's a better stockpile than I have at home!

 

but no knives on the list?

[Shelby]

10 hours ago, Smithy said:

Well, it all looks lovely (except the beached sailboat) and I don't blame you for not wanting/planning to cook. Still...this sort of selection would make me want to stay. right. there. in. my. accommodations.

 

 

Gracious -- that's a better stockpile than I have at home!

I know right?!  I mean.  Vanilla beans???!  Those are almost as expensive as a one night stay lol.

[Smithy]

3 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

but no knives on the list?

 

I expect them to have been included with the flatware and other basic essentials...but @liamsaunt will have to say whether it's true. There's also the question of quality and variety of knives.

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, KennethT said:

I feel the same way about most mocktails - I wonder if it's from the glycerol that is present in alcoholic beverages which gives viscosity, that isn't present in non-alcoholic ingredients.  Maybe someone should experiment with adding a few drops of vegetable glycerine or something to help give it more weight.

 

 

My guess is, if there is going to be a great NA cocktail, that Dave Arnold has (or he's figured out a different way to give it that mouthfeel):

 

https://www.barcontra.com/new-page

[FauxPas]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

I know right?!  I mean.  Vanilla beans???!  Those are almost as expensive as a one night stay lol.

 

Yeah, I went back to see if saffron was on the list.  🤣