TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Piazza Pascal

Piazza Pascal

We ate here for the first time in along while which might have been 10 years ago.

Back then, we must have sat downstairs “in the lobby” on the tile floor in a corner then not knowing where most people were sitting. I remember it as weird.

This time we were asked if we wanted to dine upstairs and we said yes.

It was nice but wouldnt have imagined a tattoo parlor up there.

The service was very good.

We both ordered the Caesar salad which was very underwhelming. Very small shredded pieces akin to big mac shredded lettuce. We dont like to cut our salad but we dont like to not be able to stab the pieces with a fork either. Not easy to scoop the flailing shreds. The croutons were also fine pieces too which might have been ok if the lettuce wasnt so shredded. Not much dressing, if any. No anchovies or anchovy hint. The menu had the salad at 11E but was only 9E each on the bill which was a slight goodness but still 8E too much.

The entre’s were very good, shrimp scampi and seafood linguini dish with 2 mussels, 2 shrimp, 2 scallops and lots of calamari.

We weren’t drinking that night and had sparkling water (not SP) and diet cokes which were very expired.

I know alot of people have this high on the list but Piazza didn’t ring our bell that well.

During our meal, there was a giant snail crawling on the wall from a planter box on the floor that a mother and her kids kept pointing out. There it is, mommy, ooh, ooh. Ive eaten escargot less than a handful of times but this was too much french motif.

Do keep in mind that it recently changed hands. We've not been back since Donna and Pascal sold it, but when they were there it was a go to place for sure. Sounds like it's not quite the same anymore...

Just goes to prove.....a great restaurant is only as good as the current owners and management. Obviously, Pascal and Donna were the force at Piazza Pascal....and without them, sounds like it just ain't the same. I kind of figured, that without Pascal's expertise, and Donna's dynamic personality, that the place wouldn't be the same. Sure going to miss going there..

So true with any establishment.

Yes, we went to Piazza Pascal on most every trip once, sometimes twice. Sounds like we may skip it next week. I am sure it is not the same without Donna out front, and Pascal cooking, and will miss dining upstairs, but like a lot of Grand Case, things change.

We were disappointed in our experience there earlier this month. The waiter was friendly, but the service was hit or miss. For example, a guest at the next table was almost half done with her pasta dish before she was offered the fresh grated parmesan, and the appetizer plate on our table wasn't cleared, despite our setting it at the edge of the table. The food was fine, but they couldn't make several items on the menu because of missing ingredients, like mushrooms, sausage, and ingredients for a martini, blamed on their supplier, but we hadn't encountered any issues at other Grand Case restaurants in several prior nights. Part of the charm for us was the attention to detail and welcome we got from Donna, and that was missing. We ate at several other Grand Case restaurants, where we were the owners/managers welcomed us and were clearly overseeing the service to ensure that our experience was top tier.

We went once, under old ownership. Not really impressed.

Our experience as well.

That's too bad. We had a wonderful meal there in October.The food and service was great then.

Just goes to show how different we all are. Many times friends or acquaintances ask for a recommendation for a restaurant that I rave about and end up being disappointed so tend to now hone in my enthusiasm. I’m a foodie and fussy even down to plating arrangement and don’t eat Italian(unless no other choice) and certainly not Mexican. Yet had 2 hot dogs today with fried onions in a sports bar. Lovely. But in SXM mostly go French.

Hey, we all have good and bad days. At least I do. We have felt the same at just about every restaurant we have visited in the past 20 years on SXM. But, we always try to give them another chance. I would hope they would do the same for me.