TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin need 1 fine dine in simpson, cupecoy, french side

And then a couple restaurants w local flavor/fid, not so fine or high dollar. GO! MercI in advamce!

Bluefin in Cupecoy, Le Cottage in Grand Case !

Fusion in Simpson Bay/Cole Bay.

It's not really Simpson Bay, but Maho, but recommend Bajatzu for dutch side, Fig in Cupecoy for moderate price or Temptation for more expensive, and one of the best restaurants on island. For Grand Case, recommend Ocean 82 on the water or old favorite Bistrot Cariabes, land side. Enjoy!

These discussions always seem to focus on the higher end places, so I'll offer up my local/lower prices alternatives.

French Food: Champagne Bistro,on the Dutch side, offers daily lunch plates for under $20. Le Taitu offers a lunch menu for around 12 Euros that includes the meal, drink, and coffee. I much prefer their French offerings to their island dishes, but those aren't bad either.

Island Food: All on the french side. Overall favorite is Yvette's in the French Quarter, followed by Villa Royale and Ti Coin Creole in Grand Case, and rising, in my opinion, Les 13 Travaux d'Hercule in Cul de Sac. Caribbean Blend on the Philipsburg Boardwalk makes and excellent grilled grouper, basted in butter and seasoned with flavorful herbs. All these meals should be washed down with some Ti Punch.

I second fusion for simpson bay.....Grand Case...the 49 dollar price fix at La Villa can't be beat!!!!

This is a good start. Thx! Glad to see temptation made the list.We ate there in '04 & loved it. What about freedom fighters ital shack for local? Any LOLO's you guys would rec?

I'd suggest Rendezvous in Cupecoy. The food is fantastic for the super casual atmosphere its in.

In Simpson Bay we would recommend Skipjacks, Pineapple Petes or the Yacht Club. In Grand Case we would recommend Spiga, Ocean 82, Bistrot Caraibes, or Piazza Pascal. When we go to SXM, we always try to eat at least once at these restaurants.

In Simpson Bay, Byblos or Avantika Thai are good choices for delicious fine dining. For more down-to-earth, but just as tasty, the Palms is our favorite.

In Grand Case, L'Estaminet is quite unique and definitely fine French dining. For a more traditional French meal, La Villa is delicious. Another French side choice for fine dining is the restaurant at the Loterie Farm. Excellent food in a beautiful setting in the trees. Get there early enough to have a cocktail in the Treetop Lounge before your meal.

Can't help with Cupecoy. We ate at FIG the last time we were on the island, and imo it was just ok.

Georgia--have you ever been to Temptation? It's not cheap, but uniformly excellent food.

No, I have not. I need to add another to my list!

We liked Charter House - on the pricey side, but in Simpson Bay with lagoon views and very good food and service. We went to Fusion last year and thought it was just ok. My meal was good, but my husband's was awful. Food is so subjective. Someone may come back and say they hated Charter House, but our experience was good.

I agree with Temptation. The OP did say "fine dine", and there's a reason why Chef Dino wins awards.

Our last night we ate at Skip Jacks and the food and service were excellent. The fresh Wahoo special and my wife Ahi Tuna were both top notch. During the trip we took fresh fish and crab cakes back to the boat and they also were fresh and excellent. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />