Trout roe makes almost everything better. I get my fill while in Berlin.
So true and I wonder why itâs so hard to find in the US. I have to go to specialty markets and pay up for it. I was buying 80 gram jars for less than âŹ10.
One meal that I forgot to post about before.
Les Bananiers is this cafe located up in the hills next to a bakery. Looks like nothing from the road. Had a plantain and avocado salad and escargot to start.
You can get some fantastic pizza here.
Ham, artichoke, mushrooms, olives.
Instead of a dispenser with chili flakes, they give out these little packets of chili oil. Much better than flakes.
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Probably too late for you now, as you are packing up, but I wonder if next time you could get some past security. I was able to fit a little jar (donât know the size) of chili crisp in our liquid allowance bag (Iâm a very low maintenance girl with barely more than a toothbrush/toothpaste) and security in Vancouver didnât bat an eye.
Thanks for the reportsâalways fun to travel vicariously. Safe trip home.
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Yes, itâs a shame. It can be ordered online but I prefer to get it in Berlin where the 50g jars are 3.99 
Weâre heading to St Martin next week. The last time we were there I was pregnant with The Sprout who is now 27. Since Iâm sure nothing that I remember still exists Iâm glad I stumbled upon this thread.
We are staying at Orient Beach and our plan is pick up some barbecue from a Lola on our way to the hotel from the airport. After that we have no plans at beyond visiting as many beaches as we can and eating as much as we can manage.
Thanks for your wonderful report @BKeats
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Rather than starting a new thread, I am appending
Arrived on a very uneventful flight to SXM and then connection through to SBH.
Had time for a quick run to the market before everything shut down on a Saturday night for the weekend. Just picked up a few necessary staples.
Here I am on a tiny little island in the middle of the deep blue sea nowhere close to anything large and I am always amazed by what I can get in the store compared to what I can get in NYC. Itâs enough to make you think that the rest of the world is taking advantage of us in America or that weâre willing to accept inferior stuff.
To start, I picked up some store branded nespresso pods.
20 pods. Cost the equivalent of $5!
Then look at the cup of coffee it made. A twenty five cent cup of coffee!
Beautiful and tasted great and I did nothing but run it through this contraption.
French coffee and German engineering? Is that the formula?
Then you know what the standard plastic box of Driscoll strawberries tastes like. Like a suggestion of strawberry. Check this out.
Okay, these did cost about $27 but itâs it over 2 pounds and they taste amazing. As good as they look. I am running out and buying another flat.
Tell me why we canât get stuff like this in a typical grocery store? Why?
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New place has opened since our last visit. Chez Gus. Interior looks like a lively bistro in Paris. The menu matches.
Ordered the house terrine and oeufs mimosa to start. The terrine was outstanding. The eggs were well eggs. Very pretty eggs.
Lovely wife order the suprĂȘme and I had the saucisse. Both hit the proverbial spot.
Very reasonable prices even for wines by the glass. A great addition to the island dining scene. We made another reservation as we left.
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One of our favorite restaurants in the world is essentially a shack on the beach with a tiny kitchen manned by a chef who used to run fine dining places in Paris. Picnic tables and benches for seats with the food served in compostable paper containers.
A little salad of cherry tomatoes, avocado and mango was the ideal companion to a tarama spread made with sea urchin. The briny richness offset by the tang of the salad.
Grilled snapper for the wife. You can see what she thinks of my food photography.
Boudin noir for me with its reliable companions of apples and potatoes. My god this was good.
The level of food that you get while wearing a bathing suit with your toes practically in the water is amazing.
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A staggering amount of wealth has flowed into the island over the last two decades. Many of the smaller family owned places have disappeared and been replaced by restaurants owned by global conglomerates charging outrageous prices. Sometimes so high that even the moneyed classes balk and a restaurant with all the money spent on design and branding and marketing fails.
At the opposite end there is Fish Corner. A restaurant that opened literally wedged into a corner down a dark airless hallway. But they served the freshest seafood that you knew had only been landed that morning. Over the years its success has allowed them to expand and enclose the corner and even add air conditioning so that you no longer look like youâve had a shower with your lunch. The place is always packed. Even billionaires sometimes want value for their money.
A tall draft Heineken to start. Hot day, cold beer.
Tartare of marlin with passion fruit. I am not sure how I feel about passion fruit still. Topped with micro cilantro. Another flavor I struggle with. The fish was nice. I am conflicted about this dish. I want to like it but I am not sure.
Trigger fish with puréed sweet potatoes and sautéed carrot and courgettes. This was very nice.
Mahi Mahi fish sandwich for the lovely wife. She thought it was better than a filet-o-fish. High praise indeed.
Ile flottante for dessert.
Perfect ending.
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Spent the morning at the beach.
Then off to Le Piment for lunch. This place is a locals hangout. Not a lot of tourists as itâs usually thick with cigarette smoke. Remember when that used to be the case everywhere?
Started with clams in a parsley sauce. Iâve often wondered why in the US we have the basic hardshell clam that comes in size from little necks to quahogs but in Europe there is a smaller thinner shelled variety which I rarely see in the US.
Used the very good bread to wipe up every last drop of the sauce. They could have put the bowl away without cleaning it.
I went light with a salad topped with some shrimp.
My much smarter wife ordered another fish sandwich that came grilled this time. From the taste I got, the fish was outstanding. Moist and full of flavor. I also helped with the fries.
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What is the vinaigrette like on the salad?
How depressing.
I remember when I visited Barbados for a week in 1996, and stayed at my friendâs grandparentsâ house for the week, many of her friends and family mentioned how Barbados was one of the few places where McDonaldâs tried to run a location, and left. According to my friendâs family, most locals preferred affordable and local chicken options to burgers or chain fast food back then. I donât know what the situation is like now.
I wish I had a chance to visit SBH or Guadaloupe. I only have made 3 trips to the Caribbean. Barbados for a wedding in 1996 (with excellent food, as most of my friendâs family lives in Barbados), Montego Bay for a wedding in 1999 (fair food, as this was at a 3 star all inclusive Holiday Inn Resort and a destination wedding, and, it wasnât safe for me to explore food options on my own off the compound) and a weekâs vacation in Grenada in 2010 (excellent food at a luxury resort known for good food!).
For the shrimp salad? It was a Caesar style dressing
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Another favorite of ours is Le Papillon Ivre - the drunken butterfly. The restaurant fits a rule I have. If itâs only view is that of a parking lot, itâs going to be good. Why? Because places with so so food but a spectacular view can survive on good looks. If you donât have the looks, then you better have the stuff. The hostess Julie is also amazing. Charming, lovely and with an encyclopedic knowledge of wine.
After some discussion and tasting we settled on this. A premier cru. I joked with Julie, what no grand cru? A clumsy attempt at wine humor. But what a lovely wine. Soft tannins with a nice balance of acidity and fruit.
Then a bit of rillette to start
Very rich and fatty
Aubergine with stracciatella
I almost didnât get to taste this as I was taking the pictures the lovely wife nearly cleaned the plate
Boeuf mariné
Barely seared beef thinly sliced and served cold. This was most cheffy dish of the night. Beautiful presentation.
Ravioli
The tiniest ravioli ever. No more then a half inch square. The effort to make these must be intense. Julie said this was based on her grandmotherâs recipe. Wow. Grandma can cook.
Then something I have almost every time. Saucission brioche.
Followed by a pavlova exotique for dessert.
The red berries are currants. I love fresh currants. The way they pop when you bite into them and that tartness. So good. So hard to find.
Finished dinner just in time as the sky opened up as we were heading to the car.
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One of the things that many restaurants do on the French islands is that at the end of the meal, they will pour you a shot of flavored rum, often vanilla - rhum vanille.
Some will bottle it for purchase. I had an idea. I made a shot of espresso in the Krug nespresso machine. Poured it over ice. Added a shot of rhum vanille and gave it a good shake.
Amazing only just begins to describe how good this was.
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