CILO at the Seaport

CILO (or City Lounge) is an indoor/outdoor restaurant located at the Seaport Mall in Oranjestaad, Aruba. You’ll find casual dining and live music here. I like to pop in for lunch. As I posted here before, consider this to be an update to keep things current. Anyway, I started with the tomato soup as you can see below.

Dig those square plates, too. The soup was refreshing and fortifying after quite a bit of walking around town. However, more food was required. I opted for the CILO club and the other dish was a goat cheese salad. Check them out.

Talk about filling! These hit the spot. (Those fries were nice and crispy, I might ad.) Service here is very good and multi-lingual, which makes things easy for people from around the world. Refueled, I exited to the marina for a look at the boats and the fishermen. Some evenings there is live music and I’ll have to come back and check that out soon.

Bon dia from Aruba.

Published in: on March 31, 2011 at 4:16 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Windows on Aruba

Windows on Aruba is a restaurant located at the Divi Links complex in the low-rise area. It’s on the third floor with a view looking over the golf-course, and if you’re at the right table, to sea. For some reason, I never made the time to have a nice supper here. Well, at last, I took a table and was thoroughly impressed. In the first place, the staff greets you warmly. I always appreciate this, especially when they take me to a table in a spot from which the outdoor surroundings can be surveyed or the interior of the room. Either one is fine. I happily accepted a table with both. We promptly ordered as the menu is clearly explained and the wait staff hovers nearby. (Please note there is a good wine list as well.)

Starting with my usual salad, I was presented with this combination of fresh greens, vegetables, and homemade dressing.

Crunchy, fresh, satisfying as you can see in the photo. My wife enjoyed the ravioli drizzled with a truffle sauce that she reports as “awesome.” See here.

Excellent presentation, which adds to the experience. On that note, take a look at the lamb dish she ordered for the main course.

And the filet mignon that came for me, which lurks beneath that finely woven potato thing, the name of which I do not know.

The daubs of mashed potatoes on the left reminded me of crop circles. The kitchen staff deserves kudos for (k)creativity. Of course there was dessert.

Above you see a Bailey’s chocolate mousse with mint ice-cream. She says the mint ice-cream tasted like the real deal, too. I kept it simple with chocolate ice-cream and an ice-cold Coca-Cola. They slipped me a few brownies as you can see below. Perfect touch.

There you have it, a fine meal in a great setting with talented service. Everything you’d want in a meal. The portions are slightly smaller than one might expect. However, the benefit of this was the ease with which dessert was consumed and the comfortable walk to the car afterwards. If you’re in Aruba, I would recommend a reservation at this place.

Published in: on January 4, 2011 at 4:31 pm  Comments (1)  
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Starbucks, Aruba

If you’re visiting the island of Aruba and can’t do without your double latte mocha whatever from Starbucks, I have good news. A couple of branches have opened. A very nice one opened in the middle of the Renaissance Hotel on the ground floor. Here’s a view from the balcony lobby above.

You can see the miniature wharf where you can catch the boat shuttling you over to the private island. Anyway, from what I understand, WiFi is available here. Take a look at the people enjoying their brew while tapping away on the internet.

Looks like a fine place to check your email, watch the people, and recharge your caffeine batteries. This location is immediately adjacent to the shopping mall with all the high end stores, which may also be therapeutic to some readers of this blog. Enjoy your visit and don’t forget to shut down the computer once in a while and get out in the sunshine.

Bon dia.

Published in: on December 12, 2010 at 7:41 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Amadeus Redux, Aruba

Amadeus Restaurant in Aruba has been doing very well, and with good reason. The food is good, the service reliable, and the value excellent. This post will be a photo essay of our recent visit with friends to this establishment. It started with drinks at the bar. We then moved to a nice table for appetizers. They were… a shrimp cocktail…

…and a coconut shrimp starter, too…

Two of our quartet ordered the escargot. It came as follows in a savory mushroom sauce.

Moving on to entrees. There was a veal chop…

…a chicken schnitzel…

…and two wiener schnitzels…

Everything was cooked just right, flavorful, and well presented. Of course, all that food was plenty but we had to have a touch of dessert to complete the meal. There were strawberries and icecream…

…and mini-cream puffs by another name I can’t remember…

So, if you’re on the island and want a reasonably priced, excellent meal, try Amadeus. They’re building a fine reputation.

Published in: on November 22, 2010 at 7:21 pm  Leave a Comment  
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