TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin EARLY dinner in Grand Case

Elizabeth--we've never eaten there. It seems that one needs to know ahead of time if you want to eat there, as he seems not to be open on a regular schedule. Too many restaurants, not enough time!!

Hercules is located across from the Pharmacy on the way to Cul de Sac. I think I recall that it's 2 or 3 klicks from GCBC, so certainly nearby. They serve local dishes and do Haitian cooking as well. My favorites are the griot with a side of accras made with tania. And, of course, numerous Ti Punches.

Carol, we will be staying in the village and arriving June 4th. Will you be there already or are you arriving after that? I've never stayed on the French side so if you get there before us, please let us know where you go. We too will be getting up at Oh-dark-30 to drive 3 1/2 hours to Fort Lauderdale for that 10:54 A.M. flight. I think we'll be exhausted and want to do the same. Get the car from Lesley, drive to the condo, unload the bags, get groceries, drop off at condo then get a bite to eat before crashing for the night. If we get there before you then we'll let you know what we do when we get there. Will be meeting up with a couple we've been conversing with on orientbeach.com

deputy--we will be well after you, so I look forward to hearing what you do! We will be getting up in the literal middle of the night to drive 2 hours to catch a 6:30 AM fight.. I am exhausted, just thinking about it..

OK. Still consider ourselves to be newbies since this is trip 2. Not too sure about Grand Case, never having been but I hope to get there sometime during the week. If we don't do it the first night we get there, we will let you know what we do, whether it be in the village or not. Our 1st trip in September was on Delta but we didn't have that long drive. The Sarasota (SRQ) airport is only about 20 minutes and Delta flies out of SRQ. This time we are going for the really good fare so we have to drive across the state

OK thanks

Carol, check out the menu at LeDouze inthe village. It is next to Bo Pizza, at the opposite end of the strip from Good Morning. We stayed right above there in January. We alternated breakfasts between them and Good Morning (OK, and SMYC) and had dinner there a couple times. We thought it was tasty and reasonable.

I second Le Douze and Hercules.

You can fly direct from Sarasota to SXM on Delta?

We would have to throw our vote in for Yellow Sub. We ate there on our first evening on the island. Even though we had a good night's sleep the night before in Charlotte,travel does tend to wear you out a bit and we wanted something easy. Had a late lunch there and then crashed for the night. Their burgers with exotic cheeses are to die for!

Direct No. SRQ to ATL then to SXM. Pricing is very high and that's why we're going from FLL in June. Delta was $754 PP coach where JetBlue was $276 PP. SRQ is small boutique airport. In season there are direct flights from the north (Boston, JFK, Chicago, Toronto). Delta is the main major airline and they have many flights to and from Atlanta. Allegiant airlines is starting to use SRQ more and it has opened other cities like Nashville direct flight but there's no direct service to the caribbean from SRQ. Sorry if it sounded like I flew direct from SRQ to SXM. I was trying to explain why I am doing the 3 1/2 drive to get to FLL

If it were me, I'd want to get out of my traveling clothes and have dinner at the villa. Why not have Jeannie deliver some cheese, pate, fruit, a baguette, and a bottle of champagne? The perfect arrival meal, in my opinion.

Georgia--Don't forget, we live in Florida, so our travelling clothes are the same as what we wear in SXM! We may well end up just going to a smaller grocery store close to Grand Case and picking up a few items to take back to the villa. I love food shopping on vacation and would prefer to just pick up what I want. I find the price for Jeannie is not worth it to ME.

I agree Carroll too much food to order to meet the minimum requirement for us anyway

I know you are looking for a place to eat in Grand Case, but Villa Rouge on the road to Cul de Sac is a good bet. It is located where Jam Rock used to be, and is the new location of Villa Pizza which was destroyed by Irma. Same owner and chef, I hear. They have pizza and a lot of other amazing food. Very French.....

I think we are going to give up on Grand Case, unless we get carry out from the little pizza place or Le Bounty.. At this point, the plan is probably to try to get carry out from the little pizza place in Grand Case or get something for dinner from Hope Market, and take it back to the villa to eat.

Carol, Juts a thought. Since Travel Talk talks about Bistrot Caraibes and Piazza Pascal so much and get them so much business, why not reach ou and see if they might accommodate you? While they are not open that early, I bet the staff is there prepping. The worst that can happen is that they say no.

I really do not even want something that heavy or elaborate. Certainly not worth trying to call in a favor for.

The best thing Carol is to play it by ear, nothing ever goes as planned and if there is a flight delay, all your plans go out of the window and yet you could be starving depending on what happens or just too tired to eat a big meal anyway. We are all different. I always like(if I am up to it) on the first night to take a long and satisfying meal to get the whole vacation kick started in the right frame. Expensive or cheap, don't care, but it needs to be good.

bran--that is what we have decided to do, just play it by ear. Everyone is different, but I NEVER want a big meal the first night. Usually just a burger or a pizza or whatever, but I do want something hot, not just a cold sandwich. Usually too tired to even think about anything elaborate or expensive.

If you are going to the Hope Market - just across the road in the complex is L'Express Bakery [run by Bacchus?]
We bought great sandwiches for the beach there. You said no to sandwiches but we did see other dishes and they had a great baguette.

Might worth a check if are going to Hope Market anyway- less than a minute from the Hope Market. Stayed parked in the same spot and walkover

J&B

OK, even if not the first day, sounds like a place we should check out.

My vote is to drop your bags, then walk up Boulevard De Grand Case and see what is open. We stayed there in February, and there was a tiny pizza place near the lolos - no inside seating, but he had a bar and bar stools, and made the pizza's to order. Prior to Irma, there was a pizza place on the main road, opposite where Rainbow is, with a wood fired oven that made a great Neapolitan style pizza, but it was closed when we were there, and the oven had been moved out, so I don't think that is open.

OK, will check it out at some point, even if not the first day.