The CELLAR - Fine Dining in Red Hook!

Friday night, Jackie and I went out to eat...  What an unexpected gem!

The Cellar restaurant in Red Hook is fine dining at it's finest.  The look, decor and menu would be right at home in any big city.  It was a little refreshing to dine out without Jimmy Buffet and Bob Marley dominating the juke box.

We started with an amuse bouche (free food)... just a little something, a hint of things to come... This is a short rib risotto.  The menu offers a new chef's preparation risotto that changes daily.

I am a sucker for a cheese tray.  Sadly, I do not recall the cheeses, but there was an excellent goat cheese, as well as two other soft cheeses that stood out.  The fabulous presentation included some fresh made crackers, fruit and nuts.  This was a real bargain at only $15.  Cheese, well, quality cheeses can get very expensive on the island.

My main course was a grilled mahi over a potato purree.  From this angle, you can't see the relish inside the pepper, but the entire presentation was wonderful.

Jackie had a beef Wellington over sautéed spinach.  Caramelized onions and a peppercorn cream sauce.  After we each finished half, we exchanged plates.  Each meal was special, tasty and most unexpected!

Like I said, after a couple months of cheeseburgers in paradise and local faire, this restaurant caters to locals who care about what they eat.  It was a spectacular evening.  If you are only visiting for the day, it may not meet your expectations for island dining.  But, if you want something special, I could not recommend the Cellar more.

All the details are there... including the wine bottle bathroom faucet (got to get me one of these!).

Cuzzin's Caribbean Restaurant & Bar

Here is something rare... A business without a website.  But, when you enter Cuzzin's, you are taken back to another time anyway...

Located in a former livery stable and cook shack, the historic building is at the edge of Charlotte Amalie's shopping area.  Just four blocks in from the shoreline, and a block from the jewelry and T-shirt shops that attract the cruise ships, Cuzzin's is a great stop for lunch.

Air conditioned (a BIG plus in the afternoon), with an authentic Caribbean menu, decorated nicely; you will enjoy all the amenities that separates Cuzzin's from the tourist bars that surround the shops.

The building has been wonderfully restored, with many modern accents.  Just enough history to make the building feel authentic, and just enough accents to make the building beautiful, functional and comfortable... Did I mention air conditioned?  Almost no restaurants are.

The pace is relaxed.  The bar is well stocked, and the drink menu is old school authentic with just enough colorful rum drinks to make you want to slow the pace even more.

But the star of the show is the authentic Caribbean style menu...

Our party enjoyed Conch Fritters, fried Plantains, Sweet Potato fluff, Creole stuffed Lobster, and their specialty... a Cuzzin Nemo — a melange of shrimp, lobster, conch and scallops in sauce over pasta.

   
I had to give the BBQ Ribs a try... they even added some excellent BBQ Chicken Thighs.


Charlotte Amalie is the shopping district.  It is also the starting point for the cruise ship tourists.  There are plenty of open air fun bar type places.  Cuzzin's is a step above, excellent local flavor, and local cuisine.  Historic setting and AIR CONDITIONED.  If you are planning a day of shopping instead of beach hopping, or if you take one of the couple hour island tours in the morning... Cuzzin's is an excellent place to stop for lunch and to relax before hopping back on the boats!

Duffy's Love Shack... Red Hook - My neighborhood bar

Is there anything more boring than looking at someone else's vacation pictures?


Like I said yesterday, this week we are entertaining our first guests.  My wife's favorite aunt and her cousin (David and Becky shown above) are giving us locals a chance to be tourists for the week.  Taking the organized island tours, watching them haggle with the vendors (and then we swoop in and get a local's discount for them), snorkeling and sunning have been on my agenda all week... Almost no cooking, and what little cooking I am doing, I am repeating recipes.  So, content for the blog has been light.


BUT, no trip to our corner of paradise would be complete without a stop at my favorite dive bar and grill... Duffy's Love Shack!


Literally, it is located in a parking lot  in the Red Hook area of St Thomas (closest "town" to us).  It is our go to bar for a fun time.

Just so you don't think I have forgotten that this is a food blog...


Blackened chicken nachos (above)... A little of everything (including a few SURPRISE hot peppers!

Some kind of crappy health food salad that my cousin-in-law loved (how healthy can it be with a half cup of sour cream and a cup of guacamole on it???)

Personally... Their Blue Cheese burgers are the best on the island!  A little bacon (of course bacon!) just to set the mood!

But I guess when you get down to it... This is what sets the mood...


The infamous DUFFY's SHARK TANK... 64 ounces of Booze (and a little fruit juice)!   Served in a fish bowl with straws for everybody!

And just in case there was not enough booze in the Fish Tank, Jackie wanted her signature, Lime in the Coconut (which I have spent many nights trying to replicate, but always seem to be just a shade short)...

Have you ever been charged $9 for a strawberry daiquiri?  At least when you order a $9 daiquiri at Duffy's, they let you keep the parrot glass (Jackie's Cousin's Daughter not included)...

Even the favorite aunt gets to go home with a logo beer mug when she ordered a virgin daiquiri...

Yes, they made fun of me for a bit for photographing the food... Then the fancy glasses arrived and everyone was photographing the food...


Even people from other tables were photographing our shark tank...

That is a shark inside our drink...

When in St Thomas, don't miss Duffy's Love Shack... Best dive bar set up in a parking lot I have ever been to!

ST JOHN WATERFRONT BISTRO

St John Island (one of the "other" US Virgin Islands (the pretty one, almost the entire island is a national park)) is home to a very charming shopping district, just to the right of the ferry exit.  Mostly locally produced artwork and beachwear shops, a few high end jewelry stores.

And this beautiful restaurant!

THE WATERFRONT BISTRO (click HERE to get to their home page) is among the most picturesque places to eat in the entire US Virgin Islands.  Located bay side, with a view of the beach and Caribbean Sea, every table is a wonderful spot to enjoy your break from the world.

Jackie and I had a snorkeling session planned, but wanted to grab a quick bite before heading to our beach.  Their VERY reasonably priced lunch menu was a fun read.  It was foodie heaven to see such a wide selection of starters and soups (chilled tomato saffron with cucumbers and creme fraiche), specialties of the restaurant (Grilled ham and cheese, with gruyere cheese and an egg battered brioche)... But Jackie and I chose to split a blackened chicken breast sandwich with a garlic Aioli...

Only $9 (a bargain on the islands, where just about any burger is over $10, let alone with the beautiful view included free).  It was cooked exactly right, very large (we were splitting to eat a light meal prior to our snorkeling trip).  It was a great meal.

We had planned a quickie meal so we would have time to enjoy the island.  Instead, we stayed for a second adult beverage, enjoyed the top quality food and the view.  It was a great start to our day in St John.

the ST JOHN WATERFRONT BISTRO is certainly on our "must do" list for dinner one night.  The view includes one of the best sunsets on the islands.  Plus their dinner time menu shows the same amount of care as their lunch menu.  Looking for a burger joint... sure, they have that.  Looking for a memorable experience... They toss that in as well.

We loved everything about the Waterfront Bistro.  If you are planning a trip to St John, include this place as one of your "must see"!

Robert's American Grille

Our little home away from home is located in the Cowpet Bay area of the island.  In our bay, we share beach space with the St Thomas Yacht Club, a couple of condo developments and the Elysion Beach Resort. By far, the most developed of these is the Elysion.  Complete with rental facilities for beach toys (little sailboats, snorkeling equipment, paddle boats, etc.), Full service spa (Jakie has an appointment to get her hair done next week, and for some ridiculous reason, a manicure/pedicure), a bar with happy hour specials and best of all, a top quality high end restaurant - ROBERT's AMERICAN GRILLE!

Best way to describe Robert's is Casual beach side ELEGANCE!  Located just steps from the beach, in a comfortable spacious setting, it is a place to come dressed in resort finery... or shorts and flip flops.  But what is surprising is the high end quality of the food.

Follow the link above to see their menu.  This is no burger on the beach joint at all.

We split an appetizer, The THREE CHEESE MIXED GRILLE.  A baked combination of Brie, Grueyere and Goat cheeses; topped with almonds and an herb vinaigrette served with a delicious toasted bread.  I love cheese, and this was OUTSTANDING!

Jackie chose the Ribeye.  HUGE, and grilled as she ordered (sadly, medium well, but that;s the way she likes it).Not shown in the photo, the steak rested on a generous cheese stuffed mashed potatoes and beans.  The addition of tomato slices added a cold contrast taste to the plate that worked very well.  the wine sauce gravy was very rich and blended well with the green beans, potatoes and the meat.  It was a perfect plating.

But as good as Jackie's meal was, take a look at my Lamb Chops.  One of their specials for the night, the chops came with the same mashed potatoes (my substitute, they were offered with mashed sweet potatoes).. a diced tomato chutney and a very generous amount of button mushrooms in a very rich butter sauce.  Grilled to a perfect medium (my choice for lamb, medium rare for beef).  Beautifully plated and out of this world for taste!

My only complaint... The meal was so good, and there was so much food that we skipped dessert.

Robert's is a culinary gem. One of those chef/owner places where the quality of the food is far better than the slow paced location would expect.  Never crowded, but always top quality cooked to order specialties, Robert's American Grille deserves a repeat visit... again and again!

Coconuts Bar and Grill in Downtown St Thomas

Coconuts is a little hard to find.  It is just a quarter block off of Main street in downtown Charlotte Amalie, tucked in behind a Subway Sandwich shop (what kind of person would go to an exotic location and eat at a fast food franchise restaurant??? But I digress).  But, it is indeed worth the hunt.

Jackie and I went there during her lunch hour.  It was recommended by a local.  Real food, cooked fast served fast and very very tasty... no need for fast food.

I ordered the shrimp scampi, and Jackie ordered a fish (sandwich) and chips.  Came with a little extra bread and it was indeed a fine lunch.

The bar had a nice whimsy look to it, dollar bills with messages from fans were tacked on teh wall near photos and memorabelia for most of the temas in teh NFL and MLB.

Lots of Navy hats tacked to the ceiling and a bookcase full of booze (that is a trend I am seeing down here, been to a few homes and everyone keeps a bookcase full of boose)!

Highly recommended, convenient to shopping, very close to where the cruise ships let out.  Inexpensive (both our meals were under $10 each), made fresh to order and both were exceptionally tasty!

 

 Look close, in the center is the bookcase full of booze.

  

  

  

This is the ceiling.

Click the blue letters to get to  

 Coconuts Bar & Grill's website!

WIKKED WATERSIDE SHACK AND BAR - My Favorite Happy Hour

 

Greetings, and who doesn't love a great happy hour!

Great food, great prices and with Wikked, comes a GREAT VIEW as well.  Wikked Waterside Shack and Bar is located in the Yacht Haven Grande collection of upscale stores and eateries.  It is beautifully decorated in wicker island style, complete with lots of greenery to make you feel comfortable.  For sure, one of the stars of Wikked is the setting.  Easy views of the harbor with lots of private yachts and always a view of the cruise ships that come daily ot ST Thomas.  It is a joy just to sit outside and enjoy watching the "other half" walk sail by.

But just as nice is to relaxe in the cool circulated air of the dining area.

But for me, the star is the happy hour menu served in the bar from 4 to 6 PM.... In specific, their chicken wings.  They offer 4 flavors of sauces,  

RUM & COKE with caramelized onion mojo
PINEAPPLE JERKED with creamy dill
HABANERO MANGO with roasted tomato thyme
W!KKED BUFFALO with bleu cheese buttermilk 

I am addicted to the Pineapple Jerk.  A little sweet, and little heat and a perfect mix,  The wings are perfectly cooked, just a bit crispy.  the happy hour price is $0.75 each (oredered in groups of 5), and well worth the price.  If you are coming to the island, Yacht Harbor Grande is one of those places that everyone gets to.  Plan a trip to Wikked for the wings,

Beers are $2 each, Rum drinks (including maragrettas) are $3 each and they also offer fish, chicken or pork tacos. for $2.

Kackie ordered a Cuban...

cuban
Pressed sandwich with roast pork, ham, dill pickles, swiss
cheese and yellow mustard

This was my first chance to sample "JEROME's HOT SAUCE".  It is a vinegar based HOT sauce with lots of little bits floating around... Excellent if you like the heat.  Will try a bottle of my own soon.

And stick around to watch the boats light up and the cruise ships depart... All part of the show and entertainment of HAPPY HOUR at Wikked!

MIM'S Restaurant at Bolongo Bay

Continuing our dining adventures during our stay at Bolongo Bay, on Saturday night we had a beautiful table, ocean side at MIM'S Seaside Bistro. A romantic full moon set the stage, but the star of the night was the food!

Mim offered a three course dinner at a very reasonable (for the island) $39.95, with $3 going towards a local scholarship program to send students to culinary school. She had one of the most reasonably priced wine lists I have seen on the island as well. I am giving Mim's a huge rating in quality of food, incredible setting and reasonable prices... What more could we want!

Appetizers of coconut shrimp... Yum

Jackie ordered a seafood stuffed mushrooms, with clams, shrimp and topped with cheese. She raved, I liked my shrimp so much that we didn't sample each other's plates.

A Blackened Mahi Mahi meal. Nicely spiced, tater and veggies...

Jackie ordered a Shrimp/scallops and linguine in a white RICH cream sauce. This time, I distracted her and sampled some of her meal... OMG Good!

We topped the night off with a Walnut Bread Pudding and Key Lime Pie.

It was a beautiful night, temps in the low 80's, low humidity, gentle ocean breeze coming in, full moon...

Oh What a Night!

Iggie's Beach Bar and Grill - Bolongo Bay

If you are researching a trip to St Thomas, you have probably come across someone talking about Iggie's Beach Bar and Grill in your research. A wonderful setting, next to the Bolongo Bay Beach Club. Right on the beach, with wonderful views of the Caribbean.

Check out their website, they have fun nightly entertainment. If you have a Jimmy Buffet Margaretaville/"Fins to the Left" Bar fantasy, this is the place for you! In fact, the night we were there, a local artist was singing lots of island hits from my iPod (no Frankie and Annette though)!

Pretty extensive bar, lots of rum drinks and at least a dozen varieties of bottles and beer on tap.

Jackie tried a Rum punch drink, I am still trying new things, and had a wonderful Virgin Islands Summer Ale (they are making this year round), made in St John (One of the "other" US Virgin islands).

For an appetizer, we had a terrific "West Indian Conch Fritter" with a mango dipping sauce... Very good. In fact, that sauce was very very very good... need to start working on this sauce... And eat more mangos.

Sadly, we made a mistake from here in the ordering. I have a pretty good sense of what a bar tries to be, and I do not try to ask the bar to be more than it is. Bar food is meant to be fried, breaded and cooked fast. Lots of outstanding bars serve outstanding sandwiches, fries, breaded stuff. The fried fritters were outstanding! It takes a really outstanding bar to serve an outstanding dinner.

Jackie ordered the Grilled Mahi Mahi - Blackened. Sadly, I do not believe they have a live fire (coal or gas even) grill in the back cooking their dinner menu. They have a grill pan. What they do not have is a Blackening cooking pan. Blackening "should" be a cooking process as much as spices. Get your butter smoking hot and add spices to your meat. Then cook til the spices sear, giving a "black" crusty layer of butter and spice. Paul Prudhome from New Orleans made the process famous with his blackened redfish. the Blackened Mahi mahi would have been exactly what I expect to get if I ordered this dish in Minnesota. It was just spiced and pan grilled. Not awful, but not as good as it could be. Just a couple weeks ago, back in Kansas, I did a post on cooking Blackened Pork Chops, the photos on that post show the process, as well as what the final product should look like. Imagine that process on the fish and you would really have something!

It was served with some cooked sweetened plantains that were excellent and rice which was also good. Vegetables are tough to find on the island. There is just nothing fresh. Unfortunately, the peas and carrots were fresh from a can.

And here, I made a big mistake. The waitress was raving on the ribs, saying best in the islands. OK, let's try em...

They were just as tender and moist as you could ask for. But, they achieved that tender and moist by boiling them (this is a guess, but I would bet $1.98 I am right). You should be able to taste the meat. The meat was tender, the meat was moist, the meat had little taste. Now, the sauce was a RUM AND COKE sauce that the waitress really raved about. In order to make up for the meat having most of the flavor going down a drain, they over sauced the ribs. The sauce was very very good but they could have easily used 1/3rd of what they put on. They also did not grill (even pan grill) the ribs with the sauce on. This would have caramelized the sugar in the rum and coke sauce and added an extra layer of flavor (as well as a bit of crunch for extra texture). Now, over sauced and boiled is how easily 1/2 the ribs in the US are served. So, nothing terrible about this, and I am sure there are many people who rave about the sauce.

It just could have been better.

But, the beer was ice cold, the food was served warm, and there was plenty for your money. the location was straight out of a Jimmy Buffet postcard. The staff and service were excellent, friendly and fast. The minor issues with the food are things that I should know better, and are my own fault. Don't ask a bar to be more than it is.

And this is a GREAT BAR!

Open air seating, but always a cool ocean breeze

Lots of extra decor (twinkle lights) add to the festive atmosphere. Jackie is a sucker for twinkle lights.

And this was the view from our hotel room!

This is a very short cab ride from where cruise ships dock. Skip the shopping, come have lunch and a quick dip in the ocean at Iggie's beach Bar and Grill!