Restaurants and Dining

Bonaire Restaurant and Dining News

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Posada Para Mira Opens For Dining and Private Parties, Serving Local Food

Bonaire now has a new spot to relax and enjoy some local food and entertainment on the weekends. Posada Para Mira recently opened its doors for business--it’s located on the road from Rincon to Dos Pos at the highest point on this hilly stretch of road just above Rincon, with an excellent view of the town and the surrounding hills.

Posada Para Mira specializes in Kushina Krioyo, local traditional dishes.  Patrons can also choose from various snacks and drinks. Available for private parties during the week, the restaurant opens to the public on weekends.  Each Friday features a happy hour starting at 4:00 PM.  Live music from local bands, as well as DJs from Bonaire and other areas, can be found regularly on the weekends entertaining the posada’s visitors.

Posada Para Mira is open to the public each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 4:00 PM until midnight. (Source:  Bonaire Insider Reporter)

Monday, March 29, 2010

Cactus Blue Bar and Restaurant Plans Fund Raising Dinner for Haitian Orphans

This Wednesday, March 31st, 2010, Cactus Blue Bar and Restaurant will host a fund-raising dinner to aid some of the orphans in Haiti, currently being house at a missionary in the Dominican Republic.

To raise funds for these children, Cactus Blue’s Chef Hagen will serve a three-course Caribbean-style dinner for only FL 40.00 per person this Wednesday, March 31st, 2010.  Chef Hagen will leave to visit the children in the Dominican Republic himself on Thursday and deliver the funds raised at this dinner.

For additional information, visit Cactus Blue’s Facebook page by clicking here. (Source:  Cactus Blue Bar & Restaurant)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New Restaurant Review:  La Barca Offers Traditional Italian Dining on Bonaire

It seems like 2010 has brought a wide variety of new restaurants on Bonaire to sample this coming year, from Chinese restaurants, to Italian restaurants, and everything in between.  La Barca Bar Restaurant recently opened its doors, and this reporter had the opportunity to give them a try.

La Barca is located on the oceanfront promenade in the premises of the former Angel Floating Restaurant.  The boat serves as a nice backdrop to the canopied garden, where dinner is served.  The menu, although not large, is varied and should offer something for everyone.  As with traditional Italian dining, La Barca offers starters (antipasti), different first courses (the pasta course), and various second courses (the main course).

My dining companion and I both elected to limit the caloric intake and so we each sampled the same pasta course, which proved to be plentiful and more than enough for a dinner.  We chose the tagliolini, a fresh egg pasta that was served with large shrimp, calamari, and shellfish, in this instance, mussels.  The pasta was perfectly al dente and the seafood married well with the pasta’s sauce.  Although I did not have wine, my companion approved of the wine list that was proffered and chose a nice red to go with the dinner.

The ambiance is understated Italian elegance, and those wishing to enjoy a drink at the bar sit on tall bar stools at the side of the boat’s starboard gunwale.  There’s an excellent breeze which keeps mosquitoes well away, so no bug spray was needed, and the tables are spaced well away from each other, so there’s no noisy intrusion from nearby tables.

To give other examples of menu items, starters can include a tuna carpaccio in citrus fruit marinade, duck salad with crudites and crunchy croutons, mozzarella leaves with tomato confit and Parma ham, among others.  Some of the pasta courses offered include Parmesan risotto with ossobuco morsels or a maccheroncini amatriciana style with fresh tomatoes, pancetta cubes, and pecorino cheese.

Some of the main courses that I’ve yet to sample on return trips include butter-fried Dorado escalope in poppy seed crust, grilled beef fillet with roasted potatoes, and for the vegetarians, a vegetable millefoglie cake with fondue, Parmesan biscuit, and orange citronette.

For such a small island, Bonaire offers a spectacular array of dining options, and La Barca is certainly a welcome addition!  The restaurant is located on Kaya Jan N.E. Craane, and reservations may be made by calling 717-4514.  (Source:  Bonaire Insider Reporter)

Monday, January 11, 2010

Patagonia Restaurant Celebrates Third Anniversary with the Opening of Their New Martini Lounge

The Palacios Family, well known for their two restaurants, Patagonia Argentinean Restaurant and Buenos Aires Cafe, have added a new martini lounge to celebrate their third anniversary at Patagonia.

The new lounge is directly next to the restaurant, a cozy and intimate space with comfortable rattan chairs or with stools at the marina’s edge, overlooking the balustrade, just feet from the water’s edge.  Open Tuesday through Sunday, from 6:00 PM through midnight (2:00 AM on weekends), it’s a fabulous way to either start or finish the evening.  Sip your martini (they’re reputed to have the largest selection of martinis on the island!), or any other beverage, and watch the sun sink into the Caribbean behind the sailboats’ masts, or close out the evening with quiet background music that includes jazz, latin jazz, Brazilian soul, favorites such as Frank Sinatra, and other lounge music.

It’s a “sure thing” to add to one’s lists of new places on Bonaire to try on the next trip!  (Source:  Patagonia Argentinean Restaurant)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Spa at Habitat Opens, Launches New Web Site

The Spa at Habitat has opened its doors just in time for the holiday season and it has launched a brand new web site offering a 10% discount on appointments made in advance.

The Spa at Habitat offers a full line of individual or couples massages by the sea, along with a large menu of nail care services or body treatments.  Run by Omaira Nicolaas and Alda Dirksz, both of whom are well known in the spa world of Bonaire, this new addition will prove to be popular with guests staying in the northern hotels or even those in private villas in Sabadeco.

The Spa is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM through to 6:00 PM, Saturday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.  Services for times other than these are by appointment only.  The Spa is also proud to be a smoke-free environment, and one can sip a complimentary coffee, tea, or water while being pampered.  Organic body lotions and treatments are available for sale, and they make wonderful holiday gifts.

They’ve just launched a new web site, available by clicking here.  For those who wish to make an appointment in advance of their arrival on Bonaire, the Spa offers a 10% discount for online reservations.  (Source:  The Spa at Habitat)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Year’s Final Taste of Bonaire is Sunday, November 29, 2009

To close the year’s festivities in regard to the anniversaries of Washington Slagbaai National Park and the Bonaire National Marine Park, the island will hold the final Taste of Bonaire this coming Sunday, November 29, 2009 in Wilhelmina Park.

All are invited to attend the evening’s event, when everyone can enjoy small plates of signature dishes from some of Bonaire’s eateries, which cost only FL 7.00 (about USD $4.00) each.  For visitors, it’s a time to rub elbows with the locals, as people mix and mingle enjoying their food and looking at the various items available for sale.  The Taste will be held from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM. (Source:  TCB-Bonaire)

Monday, November 23, 2009

New Options for Tourists and Residents for Food Shopping and Sandwiches In Hato, Bonaire

The area of the northern “hotel row” in Hato, just north of Kralendijk, has seen an explosion of development in recent years, and now the area is providing additional services to both tourists and residents in the form of sandwich shops and grocery stores.

The new Eli Deli, which just opened a few weeks ago, is located just north of the Hato traffic rotary in the District shopping mall.  Eli Deli is open seven days a week (schedule does vary by weekday or weekend) and offers omelets and other egg dishes for breakfast and deli sandwiches for lunch or throughout the afternoon.  It’s an ideal spot for divers wanting to pick up sandwiches for between their dives, without the hassle of parking in Kralendijk.  Ana, the owner/operator, goes to great lengths to be sure her customers are happy with such signature sandwiches as her parma ham sandwich with pesto and olives, lettuce, and tomato, but Ana will also build any sandwich to order.  She has a nice assortment of deli meats and cheeses, and customers can eat in the shop, al fresco, or take away.

Two new grocery stores are also making shopping much easier for visitors without transportation who are staying in the northern “hotel row.” The Hato Mini-Market & Bakery has just opened across the street from Eli Deli in the Sand Dollar shopping mall.  This mini-mart offers many of the staples that visitors will want in their rooms for quick meals and has plans to add a bakery soon.

Just up the road a bit further north, the Zhung Kong Supermarket is located just opposite the northern entrance to Hamlet.  For the size of the store, the Zhung Kong Supermarket offers an amazing array of items for both visitors and residents.

All in all, these three new additions will make shopping for essentials much easier for those staying in the northern areas, giving more time to enjoy one’s vacation!  (Source:  Bonaire Insider reporter)

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Cactus Blue Bar and Restaurant Offers On-line Gift Certificate Program

Many restaurants offer gift certificates, but Cactus Blue has once again taken this a step further, as they are now offering an on-line gift certificate program.

By being able to do the gift certificates over the Internet, family and friends of those with upcoming visits to Bonaire can surprise their loved ones with a fabulous dinner at Cactus Blue.

When ordered on-line and in advance of a trip, the gift certificates can be purchased for a 10/% discount to the actual value of the certificate.  For more information or to order a gift certificate, visit the Cactus Blue web site by clicking here. 

Also, don’t forget that Thanksgiving Day reservations are being taken now, and those that reserve prior to November 24th will receive a 10% discount. (Source:  Cactus Blue Bar & Restaurant)

Monday, November 02, 2009

Casablanca Restaurant Introduces Quick Lunches, Available Now

Effective immediately, Casablanca Restaurant is offering a new Quick Lunch service, each Monday through Friday, for those looking for savings in time and money when choosing a restaurant for lunch.

The menu will vary from day to day and week to week, but portions will be available in either small or large.  The small plate is FL 13.00 (about USD $7.30) and the large plate is FL 18.00 (about USD $10.00).  The restaurant is open for lunch between 12:00 and 2:30 PM.  (Source:  Casablanca Restaurant)

Friday, October 02, 2009

Severely Wounded Men From U.S. Special Forces are Honored on Bonaire

When we last reported on these special men and their families, visiting Bonaire from the United States, we found them as they were just completing their diving certifications.  The group has had a very busy schedule since that time, and they will continue to enjoy Bonaire until tomorrow, when they leave for home.

The men and their wives and girlfriends spend each morning honing their diving skills with boat dives to various sites on the main island and Klein Bonaire.  Afternoons are spent in a variety of different ways, all focusing upon the island’s special highlights.

Tuesday, after a lunch in Kralendijk at the Palacios family’s Buenos Aires Cafe, the men visited Jewel of Bonaire.  Although they each were provided with a substantial gift certificate, compliments of the store, the men did go a “little crazy” when shopping for gifts for family and friends back home.  That evening, they enjoyed the hospitality of the Palacios family once again at their signature restaurant, Patagonia, where the All-You-Can-Eat Grill Night was definitely a hit.

Wednesday evening brought a special treat--a reception at Bonaire’s Lt. Governor Glenn Thode’s home.  Lt. Governor Thode and his wife were gracious hosts, welcoming the men, their wives and girlfriends, as well as trip leaders, “Big Wave Dave,” Stu, and Marie.  Arriving with a motorcycle escort from Biker’s Bonaire, the group posed for a quick image with their Bonaire Tours & Vacations bus, and then entered the reception.  At this reception, the men were shocked and pleasantly surprised as they were called to the floor to accept their award certificates and silver medals from the Lt. Governor and his wife, as they were named Bonaire ambassadors.  And truly these men will fulfill their roles as ambassadors of our island.  Afterward, it was the men’s turn to thank all of the on-island sponsors who had donated so much to make this dream vacation a reality for them.  Big Wave Dave handed out award certificates to many of the event sponsors, while local television stations filmed the festivities.  The evening’s event was made possible by a donation from Caradonna Dive Adventures, Inc.  View images of the evening’s festivities on the Bonaire Insider Photo Gallery by clicking here.

Today, Friday, is their final full day on island, and this morning, the group is enjoying a sunny day and an island tour, so they can also see what Bonaire offers for topside attractions.  This afternoon, they will go four-wheeling, compliments of Bonaire Quad Tours, and see other parts of the island.  Tonight, they’ll eat like kings at the home of Jack Chalk, general manager of Captain Don’s Habitat, while Jack serves up the famous Texas-styled BBQ for which he is so famous, sponsored by the Jack Chalk Family and Adams Unlimited.

It is due to the tight-knit Bonaire and diving communities that the island can provide such an event to honor these men; it would not be possible without the donations of funds and services by so many who support this cause.  The Bonaire Insider would like to thank the following sponsors, as well as all those who made donations anonymously, for their kind actions:  9Line, Adams Unlimited, Aeris, Alan Gross and Jane Townsend, Bikers Bonaire, Bonaire KFC, Bonaire Talk, Bonaire Quad Tours, Bonaire Tours & Vacations, Budget Car Rental, Buenos Aires Café, Captain Don’s Habitat, Caradonna Dive Adventures, Inc., Care Coalition, Caribbean Travel & Life/Sport Diver/Destination Weddings & Honeymoons/Islands Magazines, Chammyz, DEMA/Be a Diver, Dive Training Magazine, Floris & Nannie, Henderson, Jack Chalk, Jewel Of Bonaire, N.E.K. Advanced Securities Group, NetTech, Oceanic, PADI, Patagonia Restaurant, Princeton Tec, Rum Runners, Scuba Do Rags, Tourism Corporation Bonaire, and XS Scuba.

We will soon say te aworo (Papiamentu for “so long") to these fine men and their families and only add that we hope to see them back on Bonaire again soon.  Even as these folks leave the island, Bonaire’s community still takes care of them!  BonaireTalk.com has even provided their airport departure fees gratis! (Source:  Bonaire Insider Reporter)