TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Lunch at Orient?

We stay in Philipsburg when we are in SXM, but have always made 2-3 trips to Orient for lunch, usually at Andy and Cheryl's. Obviously, that is not an option this year, so I am looking for recommendations of favorite spots at Orient that are open. Loved Andy's mussels!! Thanks.

Bikini Beach has a great menus and very good food.

Kakao and Palm Beach are both great options, but more expensive than your previous choice.However at Palm Beach chairs and umbrellas are free if you eat or drink there and choose to spend the day.

At the prices they charge the loungers are far from free.

Free, complimentary or no extra charge, it is all about choices. How about "included", like with Hertz and the insurance or flying 1st class with "free" drinks? People can choose to pay the price for food and comfort in exchange for the loungers or they can go elsewhere.

Personally, while I usually like the beach area at Bikini, I find the prices they charge to be among the highest on Orient for loungers/umbrellas and their food is not at all inexpensive either.

Bikini beach is great. Chicken Colombo stew is great (curry) & coconut curry shrimp also great. Great friendly service.

Well, maybe it's more about the quality of the product that they supply rather than price. If you come to St. Martin to eat burgers then I'd say that Palm Beach was the wrong place for you but if you'd like a well prepared and served meal then I think the prices are reasonable. Certaily the menu has choices you'd only expect to see at more formal restaurants but there are choices from tapas to lamb and duck dishes which some of us appreciate.

I do not eat mussels myself, so I don't know who on Orient might offer that. I personally really enjoy Kakao. They have a varied menu, from french favorites, to wonderful pizza, to burgers. And I really enjoy the little individual dining areas, where you can eat without being right on top of your neighbor.




As far as mussels in particular, since you stay in P'burg, have you tried the mussels at Mark's?? People who like mussels rave about them!

Very good, probably the best I have ever had and very reasonable.

Exactly! If I look at the price of what I pay for a day there, and compare it to what I pay for a comparable day at Kakao, for example, which charges for chairs, the day at Palm Beach is actually a bit less expensive. I still like Kakao better because of the atmosphere and people-watching opportunities, lol.

As far as Kakao is concerned, their chef has quit, so I'm not sure if the menu will change. I sure hope not, because it's been a favorite of ours since our first visit.

I hope their food doesn't change there either, as I enjoy it there. The OP was asking about 'lunch' also, so he may not even be planning on spending the day on the beach there at all.

Maybe you'll stop by there when you're there for Regatta and give us an update? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Call it what you want, but you don't have to pay extra for them like you do at Anse Marcel and Kakao and a few other places who charge $20 for the chairs even if you dine there.The food at the other places is just as expensive with no added bonus.Complimentary is my word of choice!

I apologize if I'm changing the subject a bit but...is there any particular area on Orient that one can set up your own umbrella/chairs for the self catering types? Is one end of the beach better than the other?

You can set up your chairs on Orient in any area that does not interfere with the space that is offering beach chairs and umbrellas for rent and not in front of the restaurants.There are lots of spaces available towards the north end of the beach or at Club O behind their rental chairs.Just be polite and don't intrude the space of others and either end of the beach is fine.

I honestly don't think I will have time. I am only there for a long weekend and will not have my own car..

Thank you islandgem.

Carol,

I'll go in your stead. I am staying a stone's throw from Kakao.

24 days!

Got it. A short trip is better than none at all!!

Great! Looking forward to your report!

Lunch this week at Coco Beach, La Playa, Bikini Beach and
Yellow Sub. All Good.

Although not on the beach, we ate lunch at Yellow Sub and enjoyed the meal and the prices are very reasonable.

We had lunch at CoCo Beach twice and Kakao once last week. Very enjoyable.

Coco's lunch used to very good, but we won't patronize them due to issues regarding closing of their nude section!

That's not MY issue with Coco. I will NEVER patronize them again, so long as they prohibit you from even bringing your own WATER to drink.

When we were there last week there was a small nude section on the north end of the property. Just 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas, marked off with small barriers.

Hopefully in less than a month all of the new concessions in the rebuilt section of Orient will be open giving a person more lunch time eating options.

Looks like according to an article in another post that it's going to take a lot of work of the tenants to get them up to code so they can open.

If what the perspective tenants are saying is accurate, they were not built even close to French code in many instances.