Today we went to Orient Beach. As always, we stayed at Orange Fever - I don't know if it was a specials, but the chairs and umbrellas were free if you stayed for lunch, which we did. There is a lot of new here since last year - last year, when we were here, Orange Fever had just opened, but had no power, now power is back on , and so we started with BBC s. I walked up and down the beach and took lots of photos. Starting from the right side, near the rocks, there is a small Le String Beach , then Chez Leandra, then a new building, roof trusses and posts, but no roof or walls yet, then Sunclubber, then Orange Fever. Our waiter said that Orange Fever had been doing pretty well this season, though had been quiet this week due to the winds. It was pretty windy, probably 50 people the whole length of the beach, and only 1 or 2 in the water at a time. There was some sargassam along the shore , but not very much , and a little in the water, though it looked like you could avoid most of it.
I saw signs for the Orient Beach Hotel, which said it was opening Dec 15, they looked nice from the outside.
I made my way all the way up to Mount Vernon, definitely construction ongoing - there was scaffolding on some buildings, and noise from workman, though the pool looked forlorn.
Lunch was pizza for me, and the grilled pineapple salad with chicken and goat cheese for my wife. We especially like the server there, who we also see at La Villa, because my wife asked whether she should get the goat cheese salad or the grilled pineapple salad with chicken, and he said she could have the pineapple salad with chicken and would have goat cheese added it for her. The grilled pineapple was delicious. Likewise, they made my pizza different from the menu. In addition, dollars to euro were 1 to 1.
I didn't measure, but the chairs looked like much more than 6 feet apart.
Dinner was back in Grand Case - Oceans82 - we arrived early to get a table by the water to watch the sunset, but clouds got in the way. Dinner was fine, but dessert was over the top. It was a lemon curd, with a shortbread crust, and a custard filling. I often think it is silly to post photos of food, but in this case, you can see the texture of the dessert looked just like a lemon. As you dug into it, right below the yellow layer was a thin white layer, like the pith of a lemon, then the custard inside. It was really a work of art. The waiter said their pastry chef is out of this world, and I would agree.
To break it up, here is the grilled pineapple salad from Orange Fever, and the lemon dessert at Oceans 82 - I think you can click on the lemon photos and enlarge them, it really has the same texture as a lemon.
Some of the loungers had pads - we took a pair of those, others looked to be a metal frame, no pad, but you had a thing that hangs over the top - not a great photo , but look to the right of the post, you will se a stack of chairs, and just to the right is one without a pad, but has that top piece. Rainbow has a similar chair, though in red.
My wife are re-living our vacation through your travels! We don’t see as many reports from visitors to the French side so please keep them coming!
Orange Fever became our favorite beach for the food, friendliness and 1:1 dollar to euro deal. I think the server who works both at La Villa and at Orange Fever is named Jaycee (not sure of the spelling). Very friendly and really cares about the people he interacts with.
If you’re still looking for a good slice, don’t forget to try Papa Dan’s. He’s got a small place near Hope Estates, traveling from Orient Bay and going to Grand Case, he’s on the left just past the Leader Price.
Has Spiga or Bistrot Caraibes reopened yet? We’re planning on coming back in April and have our fingers crossed since both were closed when we were there in November.
We have not ventured towards Spiga, so can't say. Bistrot Caraibes is open, though apparently not on Saturdays, It is so hard to decide, we have heard good things about Al Dente as well and would like to try that , it on the main road , this side of Leader Price, and we are running out of days - and money.
Ben, thanks about the feedback. We stay on the French side and come ever year or two for a week, but get to relive it many times during the year by reading the reports of others.
We had considered going to Orange Fever during our trip last Nov/Dec, but decided against it because of those chairs. If we can get chairs with pads, we would definitely give it a try, as we hear great things about the pizza there.
The pizza was pretty good, it is a thin crust cracker style. The grilled pineapple was out of this world. I don't think there would be a problem getting chairs with pads, they had plenty of those. If they were out, there are 3 other places a few steps away, so finding padded lounge chairs should be pretty easy.
Thank you for the report and pics. We have only been to Orange Fever once and that was a long time ago. We had preferred the larger beach bar restaurants on Orient as we had made friends over the years with several or we would stay with Andy & Cheryl at Baywatch. With Bruno gone from LaPlaya this may be a good option for us.
barry--we very much enjoyed our meal at Al Dente. They have good pizza and a bunch of other entres. It is indoor and air conditioned, which is kind of good and bad, these days.
I would agree with that assessment--not the same without Bruno. Our upcoming trip in June I think will be the first time in many years that we have not eaten at one of his restaurants..
Carol, the indoors may be an issue for us. Where we have been on the French side, I rarely see a mask. The servers at the lolos wore them, and the servers at La Villa, and I can't recall, but think the same at Ocean82. Virtually no patrons wear a mask at all, and many other places, like Capt Frenchies, the mask is worn by servers only to cover the chin, not the nose or mouth, I assume so it can be moved up to cover the nose and mouth in case an inspector comes by. That said, so far, we have not eaten "indoors" so far this trip, either completely outdoors - like Yellow Beach, the lolos, Le Telegraphe,. Rosies, or Orange Fever, or "indoors" at La Villa or Oceans 82 where you are sitting next to an open window with a pretty significant breeze. At a grocery store on the Dutch side, I saw quite a few masks, here at Leader Price, the bakeries and the convenience stores, masks are pretty uncommon.
OK, sorry to hear that masks are so scarce on the French side. There is the one place over-looking Orient on top of the hill, Rancho del Sol. They have pizza and several other entres on the menu. It used to be all open air there, although I confess we haven't been there in quite some time, so that could have changed.
If i remember correctly, Al Dente had a small out door seating area behind the lattice work facing the parking lot. I never saw anyone sitting out there in past visits, but maybe they are now. It is one of our favorites.
I thought the same way as you did Dr J. Amazing how all those old structures had to be removed and replaced with government sanctioned buildings only to be blown away. Now "what's old is now new." Can't imagine that they will sustain another storm either.
We have stayed at Bruno's Bungalows I believe 5 times and have dined at many of his restaurants when he was managing/owning. We not only went for the food/experience but also to spend time visiting with him. Without him associated at LaPlaya we were looking for another spot to hang out if we go to Orient this trip. David had been in touch with Carole who at that time was managing it. I guess she is no longer from a comment. Palm, Waikiki are no more and we didn't care for Bikini on our last visit. Looking for an option and Orange Fever sounded good as long as they have bathroom facilities on site or if they are in the immediate area. I don't recall if the public bathroom reopened?
Thanks for the Orange Fever recommendation. We went there and had lunch today. Great service and really enjoyed our food. There were a decent number of people dining. I walked a long way down the beach with my 2 grand kids. None of the larger places seemed to have a large crowd, but there were people all along the beach. Scott
Louse, you're correct, Carole is no longer at La Playa; she left in December after the restaurant operation was sold. GP, the former bartender at KKO, is operating the restaurant at La Playa now.
They still have the plastic loungers with cushions, but they also have the metal frame ones with fabric and no cushion. I didn't count how many of each, though more than a few were the ones with cushions. Also, since we were having lunch , the chairs and umbrella were free. Not sure if that was a special due to slow times.
Do you remember the chairs they had previously? That is a shame if they changed their chairs to those uncomfortable ones with the head shade. CAPTAIN FRENCHIE had those chairs in yellow and they were horrible too. Those chairs would keep me away too.
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