La Villa:
This incredible French restaurant is located along Grand Case's famed restaurant row and is the top rated restaurant on the entire island per Trip Advisor. Due to the restaurant's popularity, I made sure to make our reservation several weeks in advance on their website. Like with most of the restaurants on the island, La Villa features open air dining and exposed wooden rafters. The restaurant is dimly lit, which makes for a romantic dining experience for most, but a photography nightmare for me.
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| Exterior of La Villa |
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| La Villa |
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| La Villa |
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| La Villa |
To start our evening we were provided an amuse-bouche of a cold vegetable soup. This was crisp and delicious and Shyawn and I had fun trying to discern exactly which vegetables were used to create the soup.
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| Amuse bouche at La Villa. |
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| Enjoying our meal at La Villa. |
Unlike most of the fine dining restaurants on the island, La Villa offers its guests a prix fixe menu. This great value includes your choice of any soup or appetizer, any main course, and any dessert for 49 Euro per person. Additionally, La Villa was one of the few restaurants in Grand Case that allowed a 1 for 1 exchange for Euro to Dollar, making this prix fixe menu an even better value.
For an appetizer, Shyawn selected the
Lobster Ravioli with a lightly flavored ginger cream sauce. The pasta was very delicious and Shyawn commented that he wished there had been more ravioli to eat!
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| Lobster Ravioli at La Villa. |
Choosing my appetizer from the menu was quite easy. As soon as I saw the listing for
Crab Meat Profiteroles with avocado guacamole and fresh tomato tartar it was a no-brainer as both crab and avocados are two of my top favorite food items. This dish was definitely one of my favorites of the entire trip. The crab, avocado, and tomato that were sandwiched between two layers of pastry melded together in perfect harmony. I ate this dish as slowly as I could, savoring every single bite.
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| Crab Meat Profiteroles at La Villa. |
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| Crab Meat Profiteroles at La Villa. |
For my entree selection, I went with the
Seared Black Pepper Crust Tuna Steak with soy and sesame oil sauce, asparagus tip risotto, ginger, and wasabi. This dish was yet another standout on the trip. The tuna was incredibly delicious, moist, flavorful, and, of course, paired perfectly with the wasabi. I also thoroughly enjoyed the asparagus tip risotto which was a soothing reprieve to my palette from the spicy wasabi.
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| Seared Black Pepper Crust Tuna Steak at La Villa. |
Shyawn's entree choice was one of the specials of the evening, the
Red Snapper Fillet Roll with Lobster, mashed plantain, fennel sauce. This was yet another strong and memorable dish.
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| Red Snapper Fillet Roll with Lobster at La Villa. |
Our visit to La Villa happened to occur on a Tuesday, which is when the weekly Harmony Nights festival occurs. From January through April, this weekly event features a street festival as well as a parade with live music and dancing. We were able to view the parade from our seats and one of the costumed women came into the restaurant enabling me to snap a few pictures of her beautiful costume!
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| Harmony Night in Grand Case. |
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| Harmony Night in Grand Case. |
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| One of the performers from Harmony Night in Grand Case. |
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| One of the performers from Harmony Night in Grand Case. |
After the excitement of the parade, our desserts arrived. Shyawn chose the Hot Chocolate Cake with melted center, vanilla ice cream while I went with my personal French dessert favorite of Hot Chocolate Profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and grilled almonds. If you ever find yourself in this restaurant, please do yourself a massive favor and order the hot chocolate cake. I can assure you beyond a reasonable doubt that you will be thankful for this tip. The chocolate cake was incredible in every way; the cake was moist, warm, extremely rich, and the chocolate center that came oozing out of the cake was beyond decadent. The vanilla ice cream on the side was a nice addition to help subdue the richness of the chocolate.
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| Hot Chocolate Cake at La Villa. |
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| The ice cream portion of the Hot Chocolate Cake at La Villa. |
My profiteroles were quite delicious on their own, although it is slightly unfair to compare as they just couldn't even come close to the hot chocolate cake. You'll have to eat these quickly as the chocolate sauce on top is as the description indicates hot and the ice cream melts quite quickly.
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| Hot Chocolate Profiteroles from La Villa. |
La Villa lived up to its number one rating on Trip Advisor. Overall, it was definitely the best meal we had on the entire trip. Every single dish was amazing and if you only have time for one restaurant while on St. Martin, make sure its this one!
Le Pressoir:
Located inside a restored 19th century Creole cottage in Grand Case, this wonderful and charming restaurant serves its patrons beautifully presented food that combines both traditional French and contemporary cuisine.
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| Le Pressoir |
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| Le Pressoir |
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| Le Pressoir |
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| Le Pressoir |
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| Le Pressoir |
I loved the container that the butter was placed in for the bread service.
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| Butter for the bread service at Le Pressoir. |
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| Bread service at Le Pressoir. |
For an appetizer, we decided to split the
Fricasse of Langoustines with baby veggies and reduction of lobster broth. Although we did not request this, the restaurant literally split the appetizer into two separate portions, which was a nice gesture. This appetizer was very delicious and a strong start to our meal. The langoustine was cooked perfectly and paired wonderfully with the lobster broth. Additionally, there was some sort of crispy noodle that was served with the dish creating not only a unique presentation but also providing great texture when eaten with the rest of the dish.
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| Fricasse of Langoustines at Le Pressoir. |
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| Fricasse of Langoustines at Le Pressoir. |
For our entrees, we both decided on the same dish, the
Crispy Grilled Mahi-Mahi Fillet breaded with cruesli, and saffron sauce. Although it is quite unusual for us to order the same dish, we both love mahi-mahi and saffron and neither one of us could pull ourselves away from ordering it! Every aspect of the dish not only looked great, but also tasted delicious. The fish was cooked perfectly and tasted great with the accompanied ratatouille.
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| Crispy Grilled Mahi-Mahi Fillet at Le Pressoir. |
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| Crispy Grilled Mahi-Mahi Fillet at Le Pressoir. |
Prior to dessert arriving, Shyawn ordered a
Cafe Latte in an attempt to perk himself up which he stated was extremely good and of the best quality.
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| Cafe Latte from Le Pressoir. |
We decided to split dessert and went with one of their daily specials. Unfortunately, I misplaced the receipt that the restaurant had so kindly written down the name and details of the dessert. The dish was a medley of fruit slices, raspberry sauce, a tiny piece of cake with apple gelee, and a chocolate dipped marshmallow. It was all very delicious, especially the fruit and the cake.
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| Dessert from Le Pressoir. |
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| Dessert from Le Pressoir. |
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| Dessert from Le Pressoir. |
Le Pressoir is a great choice for those looking for a wonderful and intimate French meal in Grand Case. It was one of our top five favorite restaurants on the island.
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