One of the joys of travel is exposing your palate to new flavours and cuisine. Aruba has a delicious array of traditional dishes that you must try in some sensational restaurants. Try iguana soup or the local pastiche. Here are some of my favourites.
The Old Canuck House restaurant by Palm Beach is housed in a charming traditional cunucu house, that’s been standing for over 150 years. The menu is full of traditional local dishes. Cornbread turned up and a cactus fruit margarita made from cactus growing in their back yard. They had iguana soup on the menu, which they sold me on its health-giving properties. It tasted like chicken. Other local dishes to try are goat stew, oxtails, quesillo, snapper and conch stew.
Mango and strawberry pancake at Dutch pancake restaurant, Aruba
There are several eateries on the Renaissance Marketplace in Oranjestad, and the Dutch Pancake House is the only one with long daily queues. I finally got a table and had to choose one of 65 Dutch pancakes. It was a tough choice but opted for an Atlantis – Cheese, onion, tomato & tuna salad. On another day chose a sweet fruit delight. Had I had more time I might have returned to try their Schnitzel.
Zeerover located in Savaneta is more of a sprawling shack rather than a conventional restaurant. It is perched on a pier overlooking the ocean where fishing boats come in. Theirs is a simple fish menu offering the catch of the day sold by the pound. This could be a barracuda, a wahoo or perhaps a snapper along with staples of shrimp, plantains, french fries, cornbread and pickled onions. The order is served in baskets and enjoyed on wooden tables protected from the elements with an overhead wooden ceiling.
I downed my snapper and fries with the local brew, Balashi as the late evening light dimmed into nightfall listening to the splash of the sea.
Papiemento restaurant. Aruba
For top gourmet Caribbean cuisine in a romantic high-end Aruban setting, it has to be Papiamento owned by the Ellis family. Set in a beautiful Aruban century-old manor house known as a cunucu, we could have had a table in a dining room but this evening we chose to sit on the expansive terrace by the pool in their lush garden. It felt as if we were at a wedding. Some retired to their cosy Pappas Cigar Lounge to enjoy a cigar.
We ordered the Aruban dish, Keshi yena a cheese stuffed with chicken, and the Mermaid, a mix of shrimp and wahoo fish served with rice and roasted peppers. It’s served on a hot plate and turns up still sizzling.
In recent years, Eduardo’s Beach Shack has become trendy and though it may have been a shack once, it is no longer a shack just a shack now but a chain. I went to their Hideaway Salina Serca 9n, Noord for breakfast and enjoyed a mango madness smoothy and delicious tacos deep filled with eggs and potatoes. There is a menu, but feel free to customise your dish. You can check out the full menu here.
The Pastechi House is located in downtown Oranjestad, and the locals love it. The Pastechi House serves a large variety of one of Aruba’s most traditional breakfast and snack items: pastechi.
It is similar to the Latin American empanada and is a deep fried crescent shaped pastry crust stuffed with a choice of Gouda cheese, perhaps chicken, tuna or conch.
The food is delicious and budget friendly.
You might also like:
