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Coral Bay Restauratns
Coral Bay Restauratns
Okay here is my take on the various restaurants in and around Coral Bay. We recently returned from a nine day stay at Sailview, a guest house about 3 minutes from Skinny Legs. More on SV later.
Donkey Diner - we only ate here once. The first morning of our trip for breakfast. The mosquitoes were absolutely horrendous. The service was slow, even by island standards, I suppose this was to give those skeeters lots of dining time. Seriously, my left foot had no less than 30 bites and my right one was not in much better shape. Those bites caused many a sleepless night and a fruitful quest for itch relief remedies in Coral and Cruz Bays. The food was not that great either. I ordered the stuffed french toast with visions of Miss Lucy's Paine Perdu (sp?). However, what I got was just basically two pieces of wheat toast with some cream cheese smeared in between. We talked about returning later in the trip but decided against it, once the bites stopped itching, why risk it?
Shipwreck Landing - loved it for lunch. Great fish 'n chips and grilled Mahi. We ate lunch here a couple of times, but never made it back for dinner. The staff was efficient and extremely friendly. We loved the waterfront location. Would definitely recommend it.
Island Blues - we ate dinner here once. The food was decent, the service was excellent. No island time waiting. The food came out extremely quickly. Loved the nachos. Not much in the way of atmosphere tho'. We sat out in back next to the water. No pavement, just gravel, I thought it was hard to balance the chair in the rocks. A little pavement would do alot for the place IMOH.
Sweet Plantains - We had dinner here and enjoyed the short ribs. They were fork tender and had an interesting West Indies flavor. They had a lot of interesting West Indies style dishes on the menu, but being somewhat unadventuresome, we played it safe. Great coconut flan for dessert. I would probably recommend SP, because it is so different from the usual island fare, however, this was one of our most expensive meals. Great service and nice ambience.
Miss Lucy's - we had brunch on Easter Sunday. The place was packed, but we managed to snag a table on the water. You gotta love that waterfront location, this just might be the most picturesque dining spot on the island. The service was pretty good considering the crowd, the food was good too. We went back to Miss Lucy's later in the week with our hosts, Mike and Eileen for dinner. The dinner menu is pretty extensive with a nice variety of specials. It was not busy, so the wait staff was very attentive. We enjoyed spending time with Mike and Eileen and getting an insider's perspective on island life.
Mosquito Bites - Located on the second level at Cocoloco, this is a little deli type spot that serves a made-to-order breakfast. After the DD debacle, this was our breakfast spot of choice. The food is priced right and tasty. I usually ate a bowl of fruit salad while DH ordered a more traditional breakfast. I am happy to report despite the name, we did not get any skeeter bites here.
They also had a nice selection of ready made lunch items and pack bag lunches for picnics or boat outings. They also serve hand-dipped ice cream. We fequently bought baked goodies for beach snacking. The chocolate chip cookies were fabulous!
Vie's Snack Shack - we went to Vie's to use the beach, but could not resist the smell of that garlic chicken. It did not disappoint. Yummmmy! I was surprised at the amount of business she did that day! While we were dining several taxis pulled up and offloaded crowds of hungry tourists. The line was amazingly long, and she ran out of tarts, and had to go up to the house for more chicken. It was kind of creepy eating garlic chicken with chickens running around at our feet.
Aqua Bistro - Very nice courtyard type ambiance. We had dinner here 3 or 4 evenings. We always got good service, and good food. Steel pan music or guitar/keyboard, or reggae live music most every evening during the dinner hours made for a lovely evening meal. I would say AB was our favorite restaurant in Coral Bay. We only made it here for dinner, they do however, serve lunch.
The opinions expressed here are exactly that - our opinion. I am sure every one has their own impressions, expectations and opinions.
Donkey Diner - we only ate here once. The first morning of our trip for breakfast. The mosquitoes were absolutely horrendous. The service was slow, even by island standards, I suppose this was to give those skeeters lots of dining time. Seriously, my left foot had no less than 30 bites and my right one was not in much better shape. Those bites caused many a sleepless night and a fruitful quest for itch relief remedies in Coral and Cruz Bays. The food was not that great either. I ordered the stuffed french toast with visions of Miss Lucy's Paine Perdu (sp?). However, what I got was just basically two pieces of wheat toast with some cream cheese smeared in between. We talked about returning later in the trip but decided against it, once the bites stopped itching, why risk it?
Shipwreck Landing - loved it for lunch. Great fish 'n chips and grilled Mahi. We ate lunch here a couple of times, but never made it back for dinner. The staff was efficient and extremely friendly. We loved the waterfront location. Would definitely recommend it.
Island Blues - we ate dinner here once. The food was decent, the service was excellent. No island time waiting. The food came out extremely quickly. Loved the nachos. Not much in the way of atmosphere tho'. We sat out in back next to the water. No pavement, just gravel, I thought it was hard to balance the chair in the rocks. A little pavement would do alot for the place IMOH.
Sweet Plantains - We had dinner here and enjoyed the short ribs. They were fork tender and had an interesting West Indies flavor. They had a lot of interesting West Indies style dishes on the menu, but being somewhat unadventuresome, we played it safe. Great coconut flan for dessert. I would probably recommend SP, because it is so different from the usual island fare, however, this was one of our most expensive meals. Great service and nice ambience.
Miss Lucy's - we had brunch on Easter Sunday. The place was packed, but we managed to snag a table on the water. You gotta love that waterfront location, this just might be the most picturesque dining spot on the island. The service was pretty good considering the crowd, the food was good too. We went back to Miss Lucy's later in the week with our hosts, Mike and Eileen for dinner. The dinner menu is pretty extensive with a nice variety of specials. It was not busy, so the wait staff was very attentive. We enjoyed spending time with Mike and Eileen and getting an insider's perspective on island life.
Mosquito Bites - Located on the second level at Cocoloco, this is a little deli type spot that serves a made-to-order breakfast. After the DD debacle, this was our breakfast spot of choice. The food is priced right and tasty. I usually ate a bowl of fruit salad while DH ordered a more traditional breakfast. I am happy to report despite the name, we did not get any skeeter bites here.
They also had a nice selection of ready made lunch items and pack bag lunches for picnics or boat outings. They also serve hand-dipped ice cream. We fequently bought baked goodies for beach snacking. The chocolate chip cookies were fabulous! Vie's Snack Shack - we went to Vie's to use the beach, but could not resist the smell of that garlic chicken. It did not disappoint. Yummmmy! I was surprised at the amount of business she did that day! While we were dining several taxis pulled up and offloaded crowds of hungry tourists. The line was amazingly long, and she ran out of tarts, and had to go up to the house for more chicken. It was kind of creepy eating garlic chicken with chickens running around at our feet.
Aqua Bistro - Very nice courtyard type ambiance. We had dinner here 3 or 4 evenings. We always got good service, and good food. Steel pan music or guitar/keyboard, or reggae live music most every evening during the dinner hours made for a lovely evening meal. I would say AB was our favorite restaurant in Coral Bay. We only made it here for dinner, they do however, serve lunch.
The opinions expressed here are exactly that - our opinion. I am sure every one has their own impressions, expectations and opinions.
Patr
~~Longing to be back on St. John~~
~~Longing to be back on St. John~~
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lpowmacback
- Posts: 517
- Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:33 pm
- Location: Jersey Shore
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California Girl
Thanks for the reviews - this is great info. Last year, we really enjoyed Shipwreck and Miss Lucy's for lunches. I am interested in trying Mosquito's, but I don't know where Cocoloco is. Is that the center in Coral Bay where the little grocery store is?
We love West Indian food, so Sweet Plantains is definitely on the list. I think we need to extend our trip to have enough days to try all the restaurants on our list.
We love West Indian food, so Sweet Plantains is definitely on the list. I think we need to extend our trip to have enough days to try all the restaurants on our list.
Patr, Thanks for your recent insights!
Wow! Taxi tourists at Vie's. Your killin' me.
The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the End of the Universe is now officially outdated.
Donkey Diner recently was sold by the two guys[couple] that had owned it. When they bought it in 2004,it went from M&M Diner to Donkey Diner with a sign out front that said "service in the rear" which raised a few eyebrows. They were very detail oriented. It was special,[no pun intended!] and the food was exceptiona, even the pizza was pretty good..When we were there in Dec.2006 it had just been sold again and it wasn't quite the same, but still pretty good.Pizza at night beat Dominos, but not by much. No bug bites though!
I get a little tired of sticking up for Aqua Bistro. When I saw it getting built I hated it before they even opened. The first time I saw it open I wouldn't have stopped in except some of my old friends from Skinny's said I had to. I like it, I give JT's seal of approval.
Mosquito Bites opened the day we left in Dec. but everybody was raving about it. We were down to a serious case of the ones [$] and had barely enough for ferry and taxi.
I love Shipwreck.
Keep your dang pavement off the area in back of Blues, IMHO.
Wow! Taxi tourists at Vie's. Your killin' me.
The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the End of the Universe is now officially outdated.
Donkey Diner recently was sold by the two guys[couple] that had owned it. When they bought it in 2004,it went from M&M Diner to Donkey Diner with a sign out front that said "service in the rear" which raised a few eyebrows. They were very detail oriented. It was special,[no pun intended!] and the food was exceptiona, even the pizza was pretty good..When we were there in Dec.2006 it had just been sold again and it wasn't quite the same, but still pretty good.Pizza at night beat Dominos, but not by much. No bug bites though!
I get a little tired of sticking up for Aqua Bistro. When I saw it getting built I hated it before they even opened. The first time I saw it open I wouldn't have stopped in except some of my old friends from Skinny's said I had to. I like it, I give JT's seal of approval.
Mosquito Bites opened the day we left in Dec. but everybody was raving about it. We were down to a serious case of the ones [$] and had barely enough for ferry and taxi.
I love Shipwreck.
Keep your dang pavement off the area in back of Blues, IMHO.
When you find yourself in a hole.... quit digging.
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Puddlejumper
- Posts: 276
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 11:17 am
- Location: Southport, NC was STJ
Great thread! I am not surprised about the mosquitoes at the Donkey Diner. Skeeters nearly carried me away when I ate there several weeks ago. But, I did really like the food. I had a Greek Omelette, friends had traditional eggs, and meat. Also had the pizza one night, I thought the crust/dough was really good and the sauce needed some work. Overall I give the DD a 7.5 out of 10. Can't wait to get back to STJ. Will be passing through around the first week of May. Helping on a yacht delivery from St Vincent to Annapolis, MD. Then returning again to stay!
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
Patr - very informative reviews - definitely taking note - thanks!!!!
Also, we LOVE Island Blues for lunch because of that view from those plastic tables. I kinda feel like time stands still there.
We also like Shipwreck for dinner - great breezes and really nice staff. LOVE that mango/raspberry cheesecake!!!!
Thanks again for all of your comments!!! You never see enough comments about the Coral Bay restaurants if you ask me.
nothintolose
Also, we LOVE Island Blues for lunch because of that view from those plastic tables. I kinda feel like time stands still there.
We also like Shipwreck for dinner - great breezes and really nice staff. LOVE that mango/raspberry cheesecake!!!!
Thanks again for all of your comments!!! You never see enough comments about the Coral Bay restaurants if you ask me.
nothintolose
B&J in VA posted, "I am interested in trying Mosquito's, but I don't know where Cocoloco is. Is that the center in Coral Bay where the little grocery store is?"
B&J, Cocoloco is the center located behind Crabby's. Lillies Market and Aqua Bistro are located there also. Mosquito Bites is on the second level opposite of Lillies.
B&J, Cocoloco is the center located behind Crabby's. Lillies Market and Aqua Bistro are located there also. Mosquito Bites is on the second level opposite of Lillies.
Patr
~~Longing to be back on St. John~~
~~Longing to be back on St. John~~
