We headed out to Orient Beach at 8 AM, encountering a bit of traffic entering Grand Case, but otherwise, it was a smooth trip to LaPlaya Beach Bar & Restaurant. Spent most of the day lounging, reading, and taking a dip in the water before enjoying lunch at the restaurant.
Aside from the friendly staff, comfortable lounge chairs, and clean facilities, one of the main reasons we love LaPlaya is the sushi. Their rolls, nigiri, and sashimi are always fresh and well-prepared.
One of the specials was a sushi roll with salmon and tuna, while the second roll we ordered from the regular menu was a spicy tuna tartare maki, tempura-topped with mahi tartare, red peppers, and mango. We also had tuna and salmon sashimi. The presentation was beautiful, served on a round, movable wooden platter with ginger, wasabi, and seaweed salad.
On the way back to BSV, we stopped at SMYC to socialize and enjoy a few cocktails. By 5:30 PM, we were lucky to be heading in the opposite direction of heavy traffic—bumper-to-bumper from the Yacht Club parking lot all the way past the airport near Maho Market. While returning from Orient Beach heading into Simpson Bay we also observed bumper-to-bumper traffic from Mark’s Place all the way up and down the mountain at 3:30 pm.
For dinner, we kept it casual at Burger Bar in Maho. Sat in a booth with nice air conditioning and friendly service. David had a blue cheeseburger with onion rings (a slight upcharge), while I went with the smash burger—two smashed patties with cheese and tomato, only available well-done, served with regular fries. A 15% service charge is added to the bill, with an annotation on menu that it goes entirely to the staff.
First time noticing they had two free arcade games—Ms. Pac-Man and Mortal Kombat. I played a round of Ms. Pac-Man, which brought back a lot of memories!
An ice cream/candy shop is in Maho. We didn’t get ice cream but they have a new area where you put a glove on and grab candy from containers and you pay by weight. I found most of the gummy candy as I reached in with a glove on was hard. I grabbed a small variety was reasonable, but found most of it to be stale.
"A 15% service charge is added to the bill, with an annotation on menu that it goes entirely to the staff." I like seeing that on a menu. Takes the guesswork out. I'm not a sushi fan but was a nice presentation.
Enjoyed Sushi at LaPlaya 3 times over the last 8 days. Had the same special just today. It’s always good and having your feet in the sand just adds to the experience.
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