Considering that the dollar is tanking globally and our favorite restaurants happen to be in Marigot & Grand Case
.... have any French side restaurants made any concessions to US spenders??
..... Or does it now cost 42% more for higher end dining? ( & we suck it up!)

I cannot fault the system if the basics were all coming in via Air France but ...

Since a lot of the "groceries" come in from Miami not France it's a pity to get the "bad end of the stick" via exchange rates.

Alternately, I'd be happy to hear about anyones' "favorite" restaurant on the Dutch side??

Thanks,

T&D

Here's a few Dutch side dinner restaurants to get you started. Perhaps not as highend as the Grand Case eateries, but for most people they will still be considered very good choices at very reasonable prices.

Antoines* - Front St., Philipsberg
The Hideaway* - LaVista Resort
Pineapple Pete's - Simpson Bay
Los Gauchos* - Pelican Resort
LeBecFin - on the road leading up to Pelican Resort
Chesterfields - Philipsberg
LaGuna - across from the airport runway
Paris Bistro* - Maho shopping complex
LeCharolais - Maho shopping complex
Bajatzu - Maho shopping complex (don't think that's the correct sp. but close)
Marys Boon - with a new and supposedly improved menu

At least two or three very high end and highly rated eateries at the Atlantis complex but I don't personally care for indoor dining in St. Maarten since I can do that at home antime.

And a host of others on the Dutch side of the island that we've enjoyed over the years and these are all to be found at far more reasonable pricing than most of the Grand Case eateries.

Respectfully,

pat
:-) :-)

Pat you missed probably the best two...marks place in philipsburg and turtle pier at airport. For the price and quality of food you cant beat marks place.

We just returned. Many of the places on the French side are doing a one for one exchange, just ask before you are seated. The economy stinks everywhere and there is much competition for your dollars.

If the French side restraunts are doing one for one exchange you might want to check the prices your being charged cause theres no way a good business can afford to lose 45 cents on every dollar they take in and be around for long. They gotta be inflating the prices to begin with in order to do that.

tom2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pat you missed probably the best two...marks place
> in philipsburg and turtle pier at airport. For the
> price and quality of food you cant beat marks
> place.

Actually, tom, I didn't miss them but deliberately chose not to include them for my own reasons.

I love Mark's Place and think it's one of the best deals on the island but I just don't think it's in the class and calibre of many of the Grand Case establishments so I omitted it.

Turtle Pier is another favorite of mine and one I take my Grandchildren to almost every year but as good as they can be, they can be equally poor in the service and attitude department so I intentionally chose not to put them on my list along with one other who is a favorite of so many but whom I personally have not had a great meal or terrific service in for years.

Now, that said, two that I forgot to mention that I regret omitting are:

Uncle Harry's - behind the airport - sort of
Lee's - in Simpson Bay's restaurant row

Respectfully,

pat
:-) :-)

Pat i have to wholly disagree with you on both places but especially marks place. i have eaten there every year, even back when he was in the cul du sac before the hurricane, for 20 years and have always had an excellent meal at a very fair price with alot of food. as far as turtle pier goes and your reasoning of poor service, that could and has happened in many of the restaurants on the island...even the grand case spots

Tom,

You're certainly entitled to your opinions as I am to mine.

Again, I think the food, service and pricing at Mark's is all excellent but the setting just isn't as enticing to me as most of the other places I mentioned. We loved it when we first discovered it the year they opened in CuldeSac, back in the days when you rode around and wrote your name on the dinner carte to make a reservation and we still think the food and pricing are excellent.

Turtle Pier, hey, my Grandson loves it - but as I said, food and pricing are fine but our personal experiences have consistently been very poor at dinner so once again, I would not put it in the same category as most of the other places I've named BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ONLY.

And by the same token, we have always had excellent service at Lee's and excellent meals, too, and yet so many others complain repeatedly about both so I just this just goes to show that each of us can see the same things differently but that certainly doesn't mean that either of us is right or wrong.

Respectfully,

pat
:-) :-)