One of the very first restaurants I remember from my early visits to Marigot in St. Maarten was La Belle Epoque in the Port Royale Marina. It has been resurrected! It a beautiful, stylish space. The manager is the excellent Francois whom we've known since his days at Piazza Pascal.
We got there at 6 and by the time we left at 8pm it and the other couple restaurants there were quite busy.
We had an excellent meal! First came the best warm crispy baguette. We began with drinks and sautéed calamari. The calamari was sautéed in garlic and butter and served over wonderfully crispy potato wedges. Carol, I think these were the best fries of the trip. Even though they were in Garlic Butter, they were wonderfully crispy!!
Entrées were my scallops and shrimp with a guavaberry rum sauce. Amazing! The chef is a delightful woman from Haiti who has a guavaberry tree in her yard. It came with perfect fluffy rice and sautéed vegetables. The scallops were perfectly cooked, so tender and juicy. The Filet Mignon was huge, perfectly medium rare, melt in your mouth tender and wonderfully flavored. The mashed potatoes were so flavorful and creamy. It was served with a very nice peppercorn sauce.
We were served a refreshing after dinner drink, almonds, sugar, vodka...absolutely perfect!!
Our experience was every bit the equal of our best meals in Gran Case.
We couldn't have been happier with the meal, the ambiance and the staff. We never felt uncomfortable in walking to or from the car. There were police strolling around too. The restaurants were walked by were pretty full by 8pm.
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