TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Dinner at Mark's

Had planned on eating at the Pelican Grill last night but they had a guy there singing, if you could call it that, rap crap. Was going to last till 8:00 so canceled our table and drove to Mark's. Always good food and plenty of it.

And no reservations required. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Marks, you know it’s got to be pretty good when you see so many locals dining there or doing their take-out. All the way back to their original location up in the hills - how did we ever find that place? - we’ve eaten there a bunch of times and have never been disappointed.

Mark's Place still has to be one of the most hidden gems in SXM. Food always GREAT and plentiful....The choices are endless, and the price is more than reasonable. I really enjoy the veal parm, and the lasagna there too. As good as some of the higher priced italian restaurants, for a fraction of the price. Honestly, after all the years of being in this group, i don't ever remember anyone having a bad or not even a not so bad experience with Mark's. If one is looking for ''upscale gourmet food'', Mark's Place may not be your forte, but if looking for delicious cuisine, for a great price, then don't miss it!!!!

In my opinion it's better now than when it was on the French side.

But it was a real adventure to find it when it was up there. We checked it out in the daytime and wrote our reservation in their book to return that night for dinner. I don’t know what year this was but it was ages ago.

And I agree the menu is considerably expanded and everything there has been very good each time we’ve gone and that would be at least once or twice every trip.

After many years of talking about SXM great restaurants to our friends and relatives, we had brother in law and wife join us for their vacation. We had dinners at Bistro Caribe, Chesterfields, Antoine's, Avantika's, all great eateries but they raved about Mark's Place as their favorite.

Lisa and Tom,

We used to share our love of Antoine’s with you but my only post sale experience there wasn’t very good. How’d you find it? We used to love their Lobster Thermidor and Grand Marnier soufflés - how do they compare now?

We honestly thought, from looking at the place from Front Street on our last trip, that it was totally closed. Is it worth the drive for dinner coming from the Maho/Simpson zbay area? And if you know, do they still offer valet parking?

I’m 99% sure Antiones is no longer. Unless something has changed in the last few months

I can add 1% and confirm that they are kaput. You can now be 100% sure.

😊😊

Ever since the Wizard gave me a brain, I'm good for a solid 1%.

Check your messages!!!

I remember the first time we went to the "new" place in the parking lot, thinking , this can't make it! How wrong was I, Mark's place never disappoints!!!

Yes, Pat I think we have our answer on Antoines. We, like you were somewhat disappointed with Antoines after it changed hands. I suppose you cannot keep the quality of the food and service the same with new ownership unless you really understand the importance of both.

Pat, we double checked in February when we were there, and Antoines is definitely closed. And like you, the last time we were there was after John Pierre sold it, and the meal left something to be desired. It had always been the first restaurant we went to every single visit, and we nearly always went again our second week. We sure do miss it.

KitKat,

You are probably aware but jic you’re not, Jean Pierre has a great little sidewalk cafe on Old Street. Small but far more manageable than a full sized restaurant with a complete dinner menu. And he has his evenings off for the first time in a gazillion years.

He’s open for breakfast and late luncheon. We’ve actually taken a cab from BSV just to meet our jeweler there for lunch with no other game plan in town. Everything we’ve enjoyed has been great but his fruit plate is out of this world!

I'm sure this is where Jeff (DK) recommended we have lunch last time we were there. I had no idea that was Jean Pierre's place, but now that you mention it, I'm positive it is. We had brunch there and it was fabulous. I don't remember the name of it now....

Georgia,

I think it’s called the French Touch and if you turned from Front Street onto Old Street and walked back past the old car then that’s where you were. It’s tiny and the kitchen is minute but the food they can turn out is great. JP, once you get to know him, more than makes up for the lack of view. So many great places to do breakfast and lunch in town but this is definitely one of our favorites.

Yes! That's it, and we really enjoyed it. I'm also pretty sure that JP served us that day. We'd only been to Antoine's once (for their lobster thermidor at your recommendation), but the gentleman who served us behaved more like an owner than a waiter.