Friday March 13, 2020 – Aruba, Used to be Dutch Antilles.
We docked Port to Quay and although some tours were offered, we opted to go ashore on our own and enjoy wandering around Orangestat, the capital of the island. Aruba used to be part of the Dutch Antilles but gained it’s independence, albeit still part of the “Commonwealth” of The Netherlands.
We wandered the streets making it to the Roman Catholic Church for an hour, then wandered along the main streets before catching a taxi for 20 minutes to a recommended restaurant. Zeerover NV (297)5848401 (297)5842544 cell 5929080 Savaneta 279A, Aruba ERIC M. Bisslik owner, ikyzeerover@hotmail.com.
If you like to eat where the locals eat, and don’t mind scruffy, no service but a killer view and delicious food, this is the place. It is not a place you are likely to forget. Intrigued?
The deal is that as you enter, you queue up at a grubby counter. On the side is the menu, permanently painted on the wall – Fish, Shrimp, pickled onions, corn bread, tartar sauce, plantains (banana). That’s it, no amount, no price the only thing else on this board is the same menu in Papiamento! When you reach the counter – a sort of window in a rickety chipped wooden building, two people greet you. What do you want? Fish we reply. Today we caught X and Y – Which did you want? We picked one. How much? As the man dug a scoop into a cooler, picking up some fish and putting it into a clear plastic bag, and placing it on the scale. What else? Shrimp, we replied. He got another scoop in another cooler placing the result into another plastic bag, Enough? No a bit more. On to the scale. This continued until we had ordered one of each item on the menu. The lady would keep tab and after each item was weighed it was put into a plastic salad washing bowl. You paid and were give a piece of wood with a numeric on it. Next to another window to get drinks.
At which point, the rickety planks led you to a platform over the ocean with benches and a grubby table, seagulls on the fishing boats in front, and a gorgeous turquoise blue ocean. On the way to the tables, we passed the cooking pots, where you could see the your food being deep fried, with some sort of special tomato based sauce. The plastic bowl arrives at your table with napkins and no silverware. The banquet begins! At various strategic places around the eatery are wash basins to rinse / wash your hands as they get too grubby, or once completed. We thought the kilo (2.2 lbs) of shrimp would be too much, but none seemed to be left in the plastic bowl. Likewise with all the other bits of food. The six pack of cold beer in the ice bucket (they were small) helped the food to go down. A bottle opener was at each table. A truly brilliant meal, not for those who like fancy table service, but the locals flock to this place. Our taxi driver, admitted he goes there every Thursday. There was not one person from the ship and all the tables were filled with locals. Hot, all open to the elements, including birds, but they seemed to respect the artificial line between the fishing boat and the beginning of the restsurant. A 40 foot plank led to three tables under a palm tree roof area even further out to sea. Where we sat we had to be careful not to drop anything as it would have rapidly been at the bottom of the sea.
The coconut ice cream, served in half’s coconut shell, was the crowning glory.
As planned the taxi returned to take us back to the ship after a really great experience.
Roger & Anne Travels 