Roma Cucina Italiana is directly across the street from where we are staying in Maho and we have heard all positive reviews from friends we chat in the pool with We finally decided to give Roma a try Roma sits on the former site of Cheri's which was a St. Martin institution with a wacky drag stag show and decent food and fun friendly service The front of the house is managed by Marco, long time St Martin restaurateur who we have followed from our first meal in St martin at La Gondola He has also run successful Izi as well as Isola, all three offered wonderful food and service One of the highlights of the decoy is a older light blue and white Vespa
We had high expectations and we were not disappointed The modern decor featured open windows overlooking Maho and was well air conditioned One of the highlights of the decoy is a older light blue and white Vespa Our friendly and knowledgeable server Shana quickly delivered our cocktails and we reviewed the vast menu where we had to narrow down our choices My wife started out with the fried calamari which could not have been better larger tubes were lightly dusted with flour and flashed fried, they were served in a french fry cone basket with a red sauce with just a little kick there were no bodies and truly perfectly prepared
The crudo of the day featured paper thin slices of pristine wahoo artfully presented on a triangle plate with a light lemon-basil emulsion and garnished with mild fennel slices and arugula the light acidity allowed the mild flavors of the fresh wahoo to shine
We had a very difficult time deciding on our mains but finally decided on sharing the ultimate chicken parmesan and the Salsiccia & Funghi Pizza Chicken parmesan is one of my favorite meals and Roma has a great version topped with prosciutto, shaved parmesan cheese, arugula and aged balsamic the fork tender chicken was a good size portion allowing some to take away and enjoy our the next day's lunch
the thin crust pizza was perfectly baked with a crisp char, topped with sausage, mushroom and quality mozzarella the pizza was quickly baked in a high temperature pizza oven imported directly from Italy
Dessert was another hard decision but narrowed down to the semifreddo the crunchy almond-caramel gelato was finished off with an Amaretto sauce and garnished with a crispy cookie and kumquat
We watched our neighboring tables food and all looked equally good and noticed all the plates were cleaned completely on return to kitchen
Service throughout the evening was friendly and attentive with water glasses filled, silverware replaced and tables wiped down between courses we also enjoyed Raphael, who delivered the food with a great smile
It is very rare on vacation when we leave a restaurant and make a return visit the same year With such outstanding food, service, atmosphere and menu choices, pretty sure we will be back to decide on things we missed out on
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