TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin We arrived in Simpson Bay

Christine and I sailed in from St. John and we are anchored in Simpson Bay. It was a very rough passage that ended up being a motor when winds went south. We are checking in this morning and we look forward to our pain au chocolat and cappucino at Zee Best afterwards. We'll enter the lagoon and be here through June 25 and then sailing south. Hope to catch up with Zanshin.

Cheers, RickG

The wind and the waves here yesterday were kind of epic. Glad you arrived safely.

Carol, it was epic! So glad to move into the lagoon just now. The wine glass will stay upright on the dining room table!

Cheers, RickG

The waves are MUCH calmer here on Simpson Bay now than they were last night. Hopefully the weekend will be calm. Let me know if you want suggestions for meals onshore. For breakfast or lunch, you might check out Réveil Matin in Simpson Bay. They have a very eclectic menu.

Reveil Matin we saw around the corner of Zee Best; that is a good option for this morning. We had dinner last night at Izi Italian. I would love any recommendations for restaurants as we'll be here through the 26th. We are picking up a car from Unit Car Rental next to the police station (dinghy dock) at the bridge this morning. $32 per day is nice to see after USVI rates.

Cheers, RickG

Yes, do check out Reveil Matin. The location isn't the best, no view, and right by the road. They do have some inside seating, again no view, but at least you don't have to look at cars.. They have ceiling fans inside, no a/c.

As far as other recommendations, what are you looking for? Dutch side only? Casual? Steak?

And it's Unity Car Rental. Good folks. And prices in SXM in general are cheaper than either the BVI or USVI.

What happened to the old Saratogo space? Anyone remember that?
irina

Fairly close to you, in order of our preference:

The Palms (casual, with the owners on site. Greg is the chef, and Joelle tends bar and everything else)
Astra (more upscale, on the lagoon)
Sale y Pepe (Italian, on the lagoon)
Avantika (owned by the same people who own Astra, Thai food)

Two more suggestions close-by are:

Vesna Taverna
Isola

Yes. Very good suggestions.

Thanks! We are easy eaters and like international variety. Good French would be nice. We are going to go explore a bit and find something interesting.

Cheers, Rick

Best French close to where you are is probably Moulin Fou (which sounds like Chinese to me, but is French). It is in Maho.

I think it is the "Fou" that maybe causes you to think "Chinese", Carol. I do get it, but it is definitely a French name. It translates as "Crazy Mill". The "mill" refers to a grinding or wind mill, just like the famous cabaret Moulin Rouge (Red Mill) in the Pigalle district of Paris.

The Moulin Fou certainly gets great ratings and the menu looks very interesting. We have never eaten there, but I have seen good comments about it by others here on TTOL as well. I have added it to our list for this coming winter. Thanks for the recommendation!

It became Frenchy Ludo's, which has now closed.

That’s too bad as it was a favorite of our friend.

Vesne Taverna was great. Nice people too. We went up to Grand Case yesterday and enjoyed the LOLOs. I'm working from the boat this week, so we'll be sticking around Simpson Bay. Need to try some more of the suggestions! Thanks.

Cheers, RickG

Enjoy!