PALM BEACH ★★★★☆
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Beach Bar Review, Orient Beach, St. Martin
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Palm Beach
Just the Facts Price Level: $$$$ Restaurant Category: Beach Bar Meals Served: Lunch, Afternoon, Dinner Location: Orient Beach, St. Martin
Credit Cards: Visa Currency: market rate Parking: Nearby lot Good for: Groups Other Restaurant Info: Open every day
Phone: 0690.35.99.06
Pros Great spot to enjoy Orient Beach away from all the craziness Comfortable lounge chairs on the beach Extensive menu, something for everyone, and great french fries, refreshing salads
Cons Get used to European sunbathing habits; music is a little loud by the bar
Overall Rating ★★★★☆ One day we went wild and crazy, and drove at least 2 miles to the next closest beach from Grand Case: Baie Orientale, or Orient Bay/ Beach. We had gotten a couple recommendations for places to go in Orient Bay, and it wasn’t until we got there that we understood why – the place is enormous. Huge. Expansive. The beach must be at least a mile long, if not longer, and it is covered in beach chairs and bars… and yet, still manages to feel empty and wide open because it’s just so huge. Being on the Atlantic side of the island, the surf was more than Grand Case (it would be hard not to be), and the sand was beautiful and soft. We spent our day at Palm Beach, which is a relatively new bar/ lounge/restuarant close to the northernmost end of the beach.
Palm Beach !
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Mood Romance
★★★★☆
Relaxation ★★★★☆ Fun
★★★★☆
Family
★★★☆☆
Value
★★★☆☆
Food Taste
★★★★☆
Innovation ★★★☆☆ On my second trip, my mom and I visited Palm Beach after a successful day of shopping in Marigot. !We were hot and tired and thirsty; Palm Beach was an excellent pick-me-up. !We sat on the breezier upper deck, and could enjoy the views without getting sandy from the beach.
Food at Palm Beach The Palm Beach menu was extensive – everything from sushi to burritos to steak au poivre – and yet of course Steve had a cheeseburger. Which, don’t get me wrong, turned out to be delicious, with yummy fries. In an attempt to stem the effects of rampant butter consumption, I ordered the salad caprese, and it was decent, though the tomatoes could have been better (I know, it was March, silly me) and I had to content myself with stolen french fries. Overall, I get the sense that the food was far better than the average Orient Beach destination. We ate at the outdoor bar, but they also had a large dining room area.
Display
★★★★☆
Drinks
★★★☆☆
Service Attentive
★★★☆☆
Speed
★★★☆☆
Knowledge ★★★☆☆
Atmosphere Views
★★★★★
Decor
★★★☆☆
Comfort
★★★★☆
Noise
★★★☆☆
At the second visit, my mom and I were more thirsty than hungry, but still a little peckish. !We both ordered from the salad side of the menu: Mom had the shrimp cocktail with mango slices; I had the caesar salad with chicken. !The shrimp cocktail was beautifully presented, with the shrimp and mango dangling delectably from a cocktail glass filled with salad greens and diced tomato and peppers. !On the side was a dressing that appeared to have both chopped egg and mustard mixed in with the mayonnaise base. !The
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Chicken Caesar: Light and refreshing, perfect for a hot summer day.
dressing tasted great with the shrimp, and the whole dish was both elegant and tasty, far beyond what Americans expect for beach food. ! The chicken caesar salad was large and beautifully dressed. ! Complemented by a basket of baguette slices, !a glass of white wine, a can of lemon iced tea and a bottle of water, the meal came to just under $50, and was just what weary shoppers needed.
Atmosphere at Palm Beach Palm Beach is located at the northernmost end of Orient Beach take the exit next to the paint ball place instead of going to the main entrance. Because it is so far north, it is a far more relaxing experience than some of the more hectic, party atmospheres at other Orient beach bars. The highlight of Palm Beach, and in general Orient Beach, is the fact that
Palm Beach !
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Quiet: Away from hubbub of the rest of Orient Beach.
is is very, hmm, shall we say European? What I mean by that is the vast majority of the beach tends toward topless, and, well, at the far end, it tends toward… everything-less. I didn’t wander to that end of the Thanks Beth!: Fabulous photo from our fan. beach, but Steve, in the interests of science and representing all those males who couldn’t be here, did make the walk. Alas, in the immortal words of Seinfeld, there was a lot of “bad naked” — or so he claimed. When Steve returned from his walk to find three young nubile 20-something French girls had taken up residence next to us, and were gleefully frolicking, topless and in thongs, with their perky little bits and pieces poking out… well, I think that made up for the bad naked. Suddenly he started talking about moving to St. Martin.!Even though I stayed at my end of the beach, I did get a treat when I watched an Relaxation Tips: older couple walk by in their If you want a more peaceful matching animal print thongs. Both experience, sit further away from the of them. Thongs. Yikes. But I digress. bar; If you want to eat lunch inside, One benefit (or downside?) of make a reservation when you arrive Palm Beach being so far to the north is that you don’t get nearly
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as much of the local scenery walking by as you do further south. At Palm Beach you also get far less crowded beach chairs – all of which were comfortably ensconced in proper pillows, with proper umbrellas. None of that plasticonly beach chair nonsense that you find at many other beach restaurants. However, there was a fair amount of techno-ish music being played during the day. We were sitting close to the bar, so it was kind of our own fault; just know that you want to venture a little farther away to be music-free. The upper deck at Palm Beach was very inviting, comfortable and airy. !The tables were spaced far enough apart that you could have an easy conversation, the bar music was muted if still a little intrusive, !and several patrons brought their dogs, who lounged under the tables. !A dog’s life at Palm Beach is enviable.
Service at Palm Beach Overall, we had good service at Palm Beach. They didn’t forget about us sitting out in the sun, and brought us whatever we needed. !Our waitress for the second visit was extremely pleasant, and seemed to understand exactly what we needed. ! On the second visit, we admired her chic butterflybacked, ruched top and flowered harem pants outfit, which was available for purchase downstairs. !She was a walking advertisement for their wares.
Bottom line
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Palm Beach Lounge offers a lovely, convenient respite from Orient Beach crowd overload, but still with beautiful sun, sand and food.
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Orient Beach
ABOUT LUCINDA’S LIST In Fall 2009, my husband Steve and I thought we had it all figured out. Beautiful house in Berkeley, CA, the requisite yellow lab, great technology careers... and I was pregnant. But when the fourth miscarriage hit in December, we were heartbroken. We needed time to heal. A break. From everything. We decided to go to St. Martin, and after an incredible six weeks, it inspired us to change our lives. The people we met, the experiences we had, the living in the moment, the food we ate... we were forever changed. And we wanted to share what we found with others. So instead of returning home to our old lives, we decided to take our Silicon Valley knowledge to help create a community of people who love the Caribbean. We figured something special was bound to come out of bringing together
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people who shared this special experience.
Two months later, we’re already the largest St. Martin fan page on Facebook - 25,000+ fans and growing! - and already we’re discovering the value of bringing people together. We’re not only working on GUIDEBOOK COMPANY
publishing the kind of in-depth reviews of our favorite destinations that we wish we’d found when we were researching, we’re hoping the size of our fan base will attract group discounts for all of us. Stick around, there’s so much goodness for St. Martin - and other islands yet to come! The result? beautiful property, immaculately maintained andbecome managed...one and if Ayou aren’t already a fan, click here to
Oh, and one last note... we need to o!er up a brief legal disclaimer. Although all details in this document are based on information supplied to us or gathered by us at press time, changes occur all the time in the travel world, and Lucinda’s List cannot accept responsibility for facts or circumstances that become outdated or for inadvertent errors or omissions. So always confirm information when it matters. If we have missed anything, please let us know on our fan page!
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