What is the absolute best restaurant for lunch or dinner for a cruiseship pax?

What is the absolute best restaurant for lunch and dinner (same or different restaurants) in Aruba for a cruiseship passenger? If you are in Aruba for only one day....what restaurant is a "must do" for lunch? For dinner? Why? How long ago since you were there? Any specific dish/food item/drink you think is a "must have"? How close is it to downtown/pier? How long would the taxi ride be? Do you need to arrange for the taxi to come back for you? Looking for good food and service....not necessarily "romance".

Wow....nobody has any thoughts, suggestions, comments, opinions, etc????

El Gauchos!!! Delicious!!! Its a steakhouse, and the meal was the best ever! You must try the pumpkin soup. And the corn on the cob was to die for. Who ever heard of corn that was to die for? You really must go here!

Happy to help,

Corinne

P.s. I was just in Aruba for a week 2 months ago for my honeymoon, and this was our favorite meal by far! This also might be a helpful link http://www.restaurantsaruba.com/

Best...... El Gaucho BEST steak ever!

Amazonia Churrascaria is wonderful however this is more for those staying at the resorts as their evening meals are an event NOT to be missed. Best food on the island!

Taj Mahal for those who want classic Indian food. I stop in their several times when I visit, it is just that good.

CaribbeanBlue

http://www.*****.org

Thanks....I had always read that El Gaucho was great but then over the last few months I have been reading that they seem to "be going downhill" so I was kind of concerned. Thought I'd see what recent diners thought and what other options might be. We will be there until 10:30ish so we are considering having dinner off of the ship. (something new for us....we just always dine on the ship even if we are in port....thought we might give something new a try)

DH and I personally never really cared for El Gaucho. Quantity over quality, imho.

Would suggest if you are looking for local Aruban Cuisine, Gasparito Restaurant & Art Gallery.

For fine dining the AAA 4 diamond award winning Sunset Grille at the Radisson Resort

For romance, Flying Fishbone

Arubalisa....How far from the pier are each of these? What about taxis? Distance/cost? (Cost not really an issue....just like to know.) Are taxis easily available to get to/from them and pier? Just don't want to miss the ship. We usually stay within walking distance of ship for the last couple of hours or so....don't want to take the chance of misssing it. Any other info would be appreciated too! thanks.

Thanks....I had always read that El Gaucho was great but then over the last few months I have been reading that they seem to "be going downhill" so I was kind of concerned. Thought I'd see what recent diners thought and what other options might be. We will be there until 10:30ish so we are considering having dinner off of the ship. (something new for us....we just always dine on the ship even if we are in port....thought we might give something new a try)

Before I went to Aruba, I had read the same posts about El gaucho going downwards. We decided to give it a shot anyway and it was fantastic. We also dined at Madame Jeanettes and Flying Fishbone, but the food at El Gaucho surpassed them all. (Note: EL Gaucho was definately not quanitity over quality. There were no huge oversized American portions IMHO.) The ambiance at Flying Fishbone was magnificent. The food was ok, so if you decide to go there, go for the ambiance. I would suggest a reservation for sunset, so romantic! The taxi is probably around $20 each way for Flying Fishbone, and you get to see other parts of the island. Please let me know if you need any more help.

-Corinne

Corinne....I'm sorry if I missed it...How recently have you eaten at any of these? Thanks for your info and suggestions.

Quality of food is what we are looking for. While I would love "ambiance" dh would not. While I live to eat he truly only eats to live. So if he is "going to the trouble" of eating off of the ship then the food needs to be good. He goes to "EAT" rather than "DINE". I am very appreciative of all info anyone can give me. I appreciate all thoughts, suggestions, opinions, etc.

Skiiergirl...

Not sure if you want to hear my comments on ElGaucho.

Sounds like your DH is like mine, who thought ElGaucho was going to be like Texas DeBrazil. He thought it was going to be that type of atmosphere... though better quality. He was expecting it to be like Mortons or the Palm (after he found out it wasn't charaschoria <sp>) where he goes when out on business trips. This it wasn't. Also when we got there, with ressie conf. in hand the matr'd "couldn't find our ressie" (luckily we had copy) and dealt w/them hemming and hawing asking if we could "come back tomorrow" (yeah, we'll have the cruise ship turn around for us lol- don't think ANY place would be worth it) so Mike wasn't in good spirits by the time we were seated. After reviewing the menu (and being seated in the "Siberian" zone upstairs) I realized with Mike being the way he is (isn't a big meat eater anyway) that perhaps we should have stayed onboard the ship and eaten at Chops. After our meal I realized that would have definitely been the better choice ($$$ wise too). El Gaucho was good but, according to my DS Alex <age 12 and a major carnivore>, I grill up a better fillet with prime meat at home.

Sorry to the lengthy explanation. But on another note, beware of the taxi fare from pier to ElGaucho. It SHOULD be $5 each way.. though the majority of taxis right at the pier will quote $10 each way.. taxis are "supposed" to be regulated. You get in the taxi and say where your going and say "the fare is X.. correct" and hold your ground. This also happened when we were going to Palm Beach area. Knew it was only supposed to be $10.. they tried for $20... asked the security at pier.. yeah it's $10. But then they didn't try to enforce it. So we just walked past the gates and hailed a cab... got the $10. Guess it's a "racquet" with those taxis that get past the gate.

Carolyn

We've traveled to Aruba for the past 10 years and unfortunately in the last 2 years the taxi drivers have begun charging what ever they like. :mad:

Taxi rates are a set fee, per car and not per passenger, and are regulated by the government. The taxis do not have meters. Gratuity is incuded in that fare. Base fares can be seen at http://www.arubatourism.com/gettingaround/taxifares.html

Carolyn....I am always interested in what you have to say! I was partially going by what you had previously told me about El Gaucho.....that was why I was sort of looking at other restaurants. We may end up staying on the ship but thought I'd see what our options are.

Thanks to everyone. Please keep the thoughts, opinions, comments, suggestions, etc. coming.

Marandi...five minutes by cab...you will not be sorry. Five minutes by cab. All seafood is excellent; the atmosphere is even better. I had the "menage a trois"--grouper, lobster and shrimp. See the menu and make reservations online---- http://www.marandiaruba.com.

Happy eating!

BP

P.S. If you prefer something less formal and in-town, Driftwood is the only local restaurant owned by a fishing fleet that supplies its own catch---great food and service within walking distance.

We have booked ahead with El gaucho--we'll give it a try as we ar meat lovers & enjoy Argentiainai style food..What time does the guitar music start? We like to eat early & want to leave plenty of time to get back to the ship for sailaway...

We've traveled to Aruba for the past 10 years and unfortunately in the last 2 years the taxi drivers have begun charging what ever they like. :mad:

 

Taxi rates are a set fee, per car and not per passenger, and are regulated by the government. The taxis do not have meters. Gratuity is incuded in that fare.

During our stay on the island last month, we did not experience any problems with a single taxi driver attempting to over charge us for a fare.

The list for fares can be found on the website http://taxiaruba.com/new/farelist.html

During our stay on the island last month, we did not experience any problems with a single taxi driver attempting to over charge us for a fare.

 

The list for fares can be found on the website

A week ago Sunday, my Mom had a driver try to charge her $15 instead of $13 for a fare to Palm Beach from the cruise ship terminal. Normal rate is $10, but it was a Sunday so $13 it was. I told my Mom in advance to check the fare before she got into the cab and to pay no more than $13. The rates are set by the government the drivers cannot "make them up as they go along". There are plenty of taxis on the island so just move on down the line until you get to the driver who is honest.