Casual Eats in Curacao?

[gdenny]

:06:
Hi all,

I am lucky enough to be traveling to Curacao for a week and a half. I leave next Wednesday. The more I read about this island the more it sounds kinda upscale in the dining and entertainment categories. My wife and I are more the shorts and sandals types while vacationing. We live in San Francisco so we get our fill of fine dining. I guess we'd rather end the day at a local watering hole than to get dressed up for dinner. I'm not even bringing a belt.

Anyone know of a few casual places to eat and drink on Curacao? Any good reggae bars? Open air bars near the water in Willemstad? Suggestions for Westpunt area? All reccomendations are greatly appreciated.

Regards,
G

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

Zanzibar at Jan Thiel beach is a good spot for mixing activities, with no dress code (which results in good scenery). And there's decent shore diving off the beach there with "the world's easiest shore entry" as shown on shorediving.com. There's a large mantis shrimp in a sand burrow if you go east from the cove where the beach entry is on a shore dive. Nice beach in general too, and small admission charge put us at ease regarding vehicle security there. On-site dive operator Scuba Do at Jan Thiel is good.

Porto Marie is a good spot to spend a day for shore diving and a decent lunch, but Zanzibar is better for food. Paid admission required for Porto Marie too, but parking area is outside admission area. We had no security problems either beach.

I recommend you treat Willemstaad as you would if vacationing in any other decent size city as for "street smarts" - it's not Kralendijk of Bonaire.

Have a great time!

 

[sharon]

You are right that there are many nice places to dine in Curacao, there are many places that you will enjoy in your shorts and sandels. We liked the Fisherman's Wharf, it sits along the water just east of Williamsted out towards Lion's Dive. The restaurant at Lion's Dive is good and they usually have a local band playing everynight. I understand there is lots of bands/activity at Mambo Beach at the SeaAquarium, there are also many places to eat casually there also. My favorite local place is Playa Perla Kanoa, it is just a small place in fact when my husband took me there the first time I thought he was joking about eating there. Great local people place with fabulous fresh fish dishes. It sits along the north shore east of Williamsted, you have to find the road that goes to Landhuis Brievengat and you will find your way. It is closed on Mondays, have live music on Sundays and Thursdays they serve lobster but you have to call ahead to let them know that you are coming so they save a lobster for you. Go early and enjoy the north shore line it is beautiful. If you get to the windmills you missed it. Hook's Hut has great food, it sits right on the water and it is located at the hotel just west of the Marriott, very casual.
If you don't dine at Fort Nassau, I highly recommend going there and go up in the fort to enjoy the views, you can do this without actually entering the restaurant. Great during the days and also seeing the lights at night are amazing.
Out on the westend there is not much in the way of dining. There is a local/tourist place Jaanchies. They serve mostly lunches. There is also another place Playa Forti, sits up on a cliff and overlooks the bay in Westpunt. They are also mostly a lunch place but if they know you are coming for dinner they will remain open, we enjoy the Keshi yena there. We always stay in Westpunt and we usually travel to Williamsted for dinner if we are not planning night dives.
I hope you enjoy your trip, we love Curacao and can't wait till we can return. I also recommend that if you are planning to go out to the fabulous remote west end beaches that you stop at the Centrum market in town and have sandwiches made and pack your lunch with you. We loved touring thru the park and stopping and having our picnic on some high bluff with no one else around for miles.

:06:
Hi all,

I am lucky enough to be traveling to Curacao for a week and a half. I leave next Wednesday. The more I read about this island the more it sounds kinda upscale in the dining and entertainment categories. My wife and I are more the shorts and sandals types while vacationing. We live in San Francisco so we get our fill of fine dining. I guess we'd rather end the day at a local watering hole than to get dressed up for dinner. I'm not even bringing a belt.

Anyone know of a few casual places to eat and drink on Curacao? Any good reggae bars? Open air bars near the water in Willemstad? Suggestions for Westpunt area? All reccomendations are greatly appreciated.

Regards,
G

 

[gdenny]

I appreciate the suggestions. This will help us hit the ground running so to speak. My wife and I really like to have a few things in mind when we arrive. I'm definitely headed to Playa Perla Kanoa, Jaanchies, and Hook's Hut. I love the picnic idea, my wife will dig that. Is this a market in Willemstad? Is there a similar place on the west end? We are staying at Habitat Curacao so we won't necessarily be in town to start each day.

Thanks again,
G

 

[fins]

:06:
Hi all,

I am lucky enough to be traveling to Curacao for a week and a half. I leave next Wednesday. The more I read about this island the more it sounds kinda upscale in the dining and entertainment categories. My wife and I are more the shorts and sandals types while vacationing. We live in San Francisco so we get our fill of fine dining. I guess we'd rather end the day at a local watering hole than to get dressed up for dinner. I'm not even bringing a belt.

Anyone know of a few casual places to eat and drink on Curacao? Any good reggae bars? Open air bars near the water in Willemstad? Suggestions for Westpunt area? All reccomendations are greatly appreciated.

Regards,
G

Hi G,

I was in Curacao last October for the first time, and am lucky enough to be heading back again this fall.

In Willemstad you have many choices: For quicky meals on the Punda side there is a subway, a pizza hut and a kfc. Also for a not quite so quick a meal in Willemstad there are several open air places at the waterfort arches (right on the water). Also just across the floating bridge on the Otrabana side is La Bahia, a 2nd floor open air restaurant with a great view of the waterway seperating the two halfs of Willemstad.

Down at the Seaquarium (or Mambo) beach which is great place to spend the afternoon are a couple beach bar/grill type places with your standard beach fare.

On the Northwest side of Willemstad you will find the Marriott and the Hilton. The Marriott has a small deli with great sandwiches, breads and desserts. They also have a little beach/pool side grill.

There's not much between Willemstad and Westpunt except for a few scattered restaurants and a whole bunch of snack shops.

The restaurant at Habitat Curacao has a nice open air setting with a view of the water. The food there was OK, however we did really enjoy the bbq night. I believe it was a Sunday night.

In Westpunt you really need to stop at Janchies. Local Curacao fare, fresh fish, conch, etc and quite a unique setting.

Most of the restaraunts in Curacao (outside of the larger hotels) are open air with no air conditioning. We did find a family style restaurant (actually an old Applebees...sorry don't remember the name, maybe Jerry's? The place was billed as an American style family restaurant) just east of the Seaquarium beach that did have air conditioning, as did a place called Thai Sawadee on the Otrabana side of Willemstad.

Also, nearby the old applebees is a little tex/mex place where you can eat inside or outside. Right next to Thai Sawadee was a small Mongolian BBQ style place. Neither of these places had A/C.

Hope this info helps. Please feel free to send a pm if I can be of any other assistance.

Have a great time in Curacao.

p.s. When exiting the airport you will be given a bag with lots of tourist info in it, including a restaurant guide. Be aware that this guide may be very out of date.

 

[Damselfish]

Downtown:
3rd floor of Riffort on the Otrabanda side there are a couple of casual restaurants, some local food, all tables outside overlooking the ocean and channel. Don't recall the name of the one we tried but food was very good.

There's a place on the Punda side of the channel, you'll see a bunch of tables with umbrellas on the sidewalk right next to the water, across the street from the buildings. Looks tempting but the food is not all that great. Good place to sit and drink and watch the world go by though.

 

[marisa-t]

:06:
Hi all,

I am lucky enough to be traveling to Curacao for a week and a half. I leave next Wednesday.
Regards,
G

I don't know of any place cause September wil be my first time to the island as well. I do hope that upon you return home you can give us a dive and trip report of Curacao!

Have a great time!

Marisa-t

 

[gdenny]

Yes, I'd love to give a trip report. I'm not much on fish ID. I'm new to this, 15 dives. But I can definitely give one from that perspective. I leave in 72 hours. Can't wait to get in the water.

Gotta go pack,
G