StX Restaurant Ratings

Hi! I just want to say that we eat at Eat @ Cane Bay at least once a week with our kids and it is such an awesome restaurant. I feel so lucky that a place I like SO much is one of the closest restaurants to us. I think what distinguishes Eat is the fact that you can get really healthy fresh items for a good price. The make your own salads are so fresh and gorgeous and they are $10. At basically every other restaurant we go to you'll get fried chicken, a burger, or something else that's kind of a "health compromise" at that price. (Or a stupid caesar salad that is just iceberg lettuce and some cheese.) The wahoo special my husband had before Xmas was the best fish dish he's ever had in a restaurant... he is still talking about it. You can really really tell that this place is run by food experts and I love the service.... not surly like sooo many other places on island. The incredible view and open air breezes are just another perk. I think the owners are so friendly (hi canebay!) and they really care. That is what shows they are in it for the long haul. They WANT you to be happy - they aren't defensively brushing off complaints. The vibe is really fun, I love Carl, the bartender. I'm not trying to convince other people to change their minds, I just want people who haven't tried this restaurant to see another side of it. And I am there every week, it's not like I don't have a basis for my opinion. (I also want to say that lately the fried food has really improved. The french fries with truffle oil are spectacular. I think they had a problem with their fryer at the beginning.)

We live at Carambola golf villas and I wish I could like the 19th hole restaurant. The food is borderline disgusting, poorly presented, takes forEVER, and the average entree is $18. It is so unaffordable and they refuse to modify their menu (when I didn't want to order $18 worth of fried chicken for my preschool age children!). I wish it wasn't so awful... but it is... 🙁

Anyone try the sushi rolls at Schooner Bay yet?

I had Lost Dog pizza last night, and was quite disappointed. I tried it based on reviews from here, so here is another input:

Don't drive to F'sted for thier pizza. It was hard, like stale crust was used. It lacked sauce, and the extra cheese topping I paid for.

Maybe it was just an off night, but fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

I had Lost Dog piza last night too (and leftovers this morning). But mine was really good!! As usual. I don't see how your crust could be stale since they make fresh dough every day (and I know this because I used to work there and make dough myself). It was probably overcooked. Maybe you just had an off pie. Did you let the bartender know the pizza was lacking what you paid for? They probably would have made you another, especially if it was overcooked.

Their crust does tend to be chewy and/or crunchy, rather than the raised fluffy crust at other places. I like the consistency, especially when dipped in some olive oil. But to each his own!

anyone try the Cultured Pelican since the new owners took over?8-)

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We live at Carambola golf villas and I wish I could like the 19th hole restaurant. The food is borderline disgusting, poorly presented, takes forEVER, and the average entree is $18. It is so unaffordable and they refuse to modify their menu (when I didn't want to order $18 worth of fried chicken for my preschool age children!). I wish it wasn't so awful... but it is... 🙁

New to the board but have lived on St. Croix for 7 years.

We've eaten at the 19th hole 7 or 8 time times, and our experience has been "uneven."

When the food is good, it's great.
But some dishes can have random problems.

The biggest problem they have is the slow kitchen and service. Lunch there needs a full hour. Brunch is 90 minutes.
I don't get it because they seem to have plenty of staff in the kitchen. Getting extra coffee or a drink refill can take time.

A friend of ours who lives at Carambola says the waiting time for food to come out is one of the reasons they rarely go there.

That said, I hear the buffet nights are much better, though I've never been to one.

BTW: Thank you for this thread. Your recommendations have helped us explore some new restaurants, and revisit some old ones we had stopped going to.

Disappointing meal at Savant last night. Vietnamese spring rolls were mainly raw purple cabbage filled and tasted like it. Macadamia crusted mahi bites were overcooked so a bit dried out. Beef tenderloin red curry was a disappointment - asked for it very hot and it came totally mild - also the tenderloin in it was overcooked but the carrots were raw. Ice cream scoop of rice in the center was not basmati anymore either. Very lackluster meal. Item that was good was the fresh local catch which was wahoo and was cooked perfectly. Is it me or are prices getting a bit out of hand - i think $42 for a rack of lamb is a bit much.

Went back to Dashi recently and they were soooo good. An out of body transcendent experience. All I can say is the duck and steamed buns were to die for. Whatever shakiness I thought I had experienced must have been a hiccup, onceagain a superlative experience. My girlfriend (whose Cruzan) loved her veggie Pad Thai Bravo!!!:-)

Juanita I've had the sushi rolls at schooner. MUCH better then their previous sushi maker, where it tasted two weeks old. I hear you can request special rolls ahead of time as well, I keep meaning to try that. If Dashi would just sell rolls (not open the restaurant) for lunch I would be in heaven and much poorer!

And for many years now I've found Savant to be a huge disappoint, in the food and especially the service and especially for the price.

STXfoodie - a group of us went to Savant this weekend and had a good meal
we had the special egg-rolls and would agree with your assessment of the Spring rolls - too much cabbage, the smell and taste overpowered.
But we had really good mahi bites, and I think everyone (10 of us) ordered entrees off the Specials menu... and we tasted each others food... all very good.
the Sauce on the ribs was a rum + Coke and it was really sweet, but for those of us who like it sweet - it was delish.
4 of us had Lobster - and with all the food running at the same time - some were cooked longer than others, but still good and the rice and sauce were great compliments.
The Fish that was ordered was very good as well - again with very complimentary sauces.
We all shared in the desserts Two of us had coffee - those coffee drips are fun - but not necessary, Id rather have a good strong mug, with refills.

Glad you and your group had a good experience CAtoSTX. Three out of four of us were dissapointed and I think a restaurant of that purported quality should nail every dish, not just the specials. They do have good local fish specials. I should stick to those but I'm not big on wahoo.

@ StXEM

I know the bartender, Guam, but he is not the cook. The pizza was burnt, as I looked at the underside the next day. They told me 45 mins to get the pizza, I showed up in 30, and had a beer while I waited.

I failed to mention the garlic cheese bread, as that too was so borderline. It seemed they took French bread, and nuked it with cheese and garlic. Heck, they have an oven, so nuked bread is just a bad presentation, though the puppy dog loved it.

I have had great sandwiches from the Dog in the past, but never the pizza. Let me tell you they do an incredible sausage sandwich, however, I just want to say to people not to drive out there for the pizza, it seems it may be unpredictable...

I'm sorry you had a bad experience there, but I eat A LOT of LDP pizza (at least 2x per week). I don't think it is unpredictable at all, otherwise I wouldn't eat there all the time! So to tell people not to drive out to the Dog because the pizza is unpredictable is not completely fair since it is only based on one opinion. Most of the time you're going to get a great pizza. My message: give Frederiksted and the Dog a chance!

I'm so excited to start posting! Long time listener first time caller 🙂

My partner and I definitely have our favorite places, we also have some used to be favorites (or "wish they were favorites") ) and some straight up bummers.

We ate at the Cultured Pelican last night and it was great to see Mitch and Bob (from Zebos) out east and taking care of everyone. We didn't think to make reservations (Monday night) but luckily we got there just before a few big parties came in...all at once. Having put in our time in the service industry and knowing the ropes of it, we were worried for a little that our service and food would slack a bit, but our server was on point and the food was incredible. The drinks were pretty good too! We started of with the sauteed calamari in a red sauce... our new favorite appetizer, then had the fallen hankeys (an interesting name for a delicious dish) and the lobster medallions. Wow! Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. Luckily we saved enough room for dessert. it was a white chocolate cake with fruit and a super rich chocolate sauce on top. Yum!

So the CP is definitely our new favorite place. We also love the Pickled Greek, Galangal, and without any hesitation or regret the Food Truck for a late night bite.

In the "used to be/wish they were" faves we have Zebos (Sorry, Mitch and Bob!) and Dashi, respectfully. Zebos was great when they were doing more of the local and organic food. It was great to see a higher end restaurant on island heading in a positive direction and supporting this great island. We'd love to go for a later dinner and stick around for the great music afterwards. Even before they tried the organic route the food was great... mmmm ... the mac n' cheese! Now it seems like they've stopped trying to impress. The food looks and tastes fine, but things were just more exciting when the menu changed regularly. I feel like things were more fresh when the menu changed and now you have to assume that they are.

As far as Dashi goes...Dashi, I want to love you!! Sushi is one of my all time favorite meals. I just have this feeling that you take for granted the fact that you are one of the few places on island to go and have sushi. We keep giving it a try and there are certain things that you are definitely doing right. The breadfruit tostones and the lemongrass soup are great, but the fact that Golden Wok/Sam Woo now is doing sushi and it's comparable to Dashi is scary. Sam Woo even uses real sushi rice for the rolls, unlike Dashi.

Anyone have any opinions on this?

Just had lunch yesterday at New Garden Chinese on Williams Delight just south of Queen Mary . I had the sweet and sour chicken and rice for $5. It tasted pretty good but there was so much of it that I took half home for lunch today.
Best bargain on the island, I will definitly go back

Just got back from Bogie's for pasta night.
At first the place looked closed but we decided to go in to see what was going on.
We ordered the pasta with meat sauce $15 and the shrimp scampi $11. All the prices were reasonable.
Both portions were huge and had garlic bread on the side.
They have lots of specials during the week.
Monday nights is ayce Mexican night, Tues. is pasta night and Wed. & Sun. are lobster night. Thursday is ladies night, buy 1 drink get 1 free.
It was delicious & reasonable. We will be back.

PS, they need a better sign outside to post there specials.

I love the sauces at Good Spirits. I have eaten just about everything on the menu. Never disappointed. Altho have not had breakfast but I do know they serve Dunkin'Donut coffee. Thanks to all I now know they have free range eggs! I love the mexican dishes- very plentiful and isn't great when you order something for dinner and then have LUNCH the next day. Happened to me last week when I ordered the Brisket.
Do love the calamari at Angry Nates. Glad to hear that folks have tried the Sushi at Schooner Bay. I've been tempted. Okay to buy lobster from side of road near Plaza East? Trying to get nerve up!;)

buck
we have bought lobster from the side of the road. you are ok in doing so

What's the cost usually like on that Lobster? Can you haggle? Any thoughts on how to best prepare it?

Sean

8.00 dollars per pound. If you have never done it before, ask the Fisherman where to stab the lobster on the back of the neck or cut it's head off. Put in a Pot of Boiling Water or Grill When the meat turns white it's done. When you buy it make sure the Lobster is "alive". You can also put Lobster alive in boiling water.

Sean, you can ask my bf about it. he knows all about lobster cooks it very well too:@)

Thanks for the info...$8/pound seems pretty good. We have company coming over the next few weeks, we may give it a try! I've always done the boiling water route on Maine Lobsters so I'll probably go that route again.

Sean

We just had two forgettable sandwiches from Lori's Deli.

The roast beef/bacon/gorgonzola sandwich was $12. We couldn't taste the gorgonzola. The bread roll was over-toasted. The bread and meat were oily.

The grilled cheese/bacon/tomato sandwich was $9. It was chewy and oily, with little cheese/butter taste.

Both sandwiches tasted primarily of oil.

We did the beer tasting dinner on Monday night at Tavern 1844 (the old Bongo's location in town). It was a great night. Joe (who owns the Tavern) and Josh from Baccus cooked 5 courses that were paired with 5 Belgian Beers. In each course the beer we were drinking was used in the dish we were eating. The first course was Mussels, then Short-Ribs, followed by James River Oysters, a Pork Tendrloin and finally a Brownie with homemade ice-cream on top. Dan from the import company that is bringing all the Belgian beers to the island explained the history of each type of beer before each course. It was a really great evening out, and I literally didn't eat anything yesterday until 3pm as I was so full, and also couldn't eat dinner last night! Really great food and generous portions, my wife took home 2 boxes for lunch this week. The cost was $85 and I think it was well worth it. The new Belgian beers are really a treat to have on island. I think Joe will be doing another one of these dinners in the future...I'd definitely be game for trying it again!

Sean

post when the next 1844 sample is, I am sure many people here would love to do that.