- Location-Front la Mer, Marigot,St. Martin
- Cuisine- BBQ and a la Carte poissons.
It is open again. My favorite place of 10 years worth of memories is now back , the Bar de la Mer , of the past and many great meals for Foodiechic and myself is reopened as Bistro de la Mer, same location, same grill master, Jean Paul,the grandfather, and the same if not better Ouassous.
I drive past the restaurant on the way to my French side hotel, and lo and behold, it is open, new sign as shown above , and I hope for Ouassous,fresh water sweet shrimp from Gaudalope, only here and hopefully now available again. I park,walk in and I know I will have my precious Ouassous for I am greeted by Jean Claude, the grill master of Ouassous,shown above, and of course with his favorite drink beer.
I am seated in the smoking section , anywhere I want here in this outdoor restaurant, order a Riccard and light up a fresh Partagas #4 , while I decide on my main course, yeah right.I finish my drink, order a Heiniken light for Jean Paul and myself and tell the server ,Xavier, to tell the Grandfather to put the Ouassous on the grill,shown above,and make them perfect.Jean Paul adds his special touches, oil, salt, pepper, and magic as I wait for the Shrimp to finish grilling.
The meal is served, the Ouassous ,as shown, about 12 of these about 12 inch long creatures about equal in size to a Lobster body, packed witha sweet flavor and taste and served with a homemade creole sauce on the side a total taste experience that cannot be duplicated anywhere in the world,and that is a fact.This meal also comes with a whole baked potatoe and a salad both shown, but definitely not needed for the Shrimp was enough for the only course needed with this meal.
I know the desserts are great , Chocolate Mousse pudding and my favorite here, vanilla ice cream with a homemade caramel sauce , but I pass and only have espresso and finish the Partagas. It is taken for granted that I will be back not only for BBQ , beef and chicken kebobs, red snapper and mahi , lamb chops, and of course steaks of many varieties. In addition,the Bistro offers many french specialities as well as pizza to really enjoy with hot oil on top.
Let the Truth be Told, Bistro de la Mer is not only a restaurant my family has enjoyed but one that should be enjoyed by all who visit the Island. I watched the show by Tony Bourdain on Saint Martin and he visited some great places, Poulet d’Orleans especially, but he he missed the best one Bistro de la Mer and the Ouassous.Last year, I followed Tony’s trip to Rafas in Roses , Spain and then to El Bulli and even though Rafas was as good as it was shown by Tony, it did not have the Ouassous that the Bistro de la Mer offers and as far as El Bulli is concerned, 30 courses by the master Ferran Adrian,do not come close to one course of Ouassous by the master Jean Claude and about $450.00 less.Tony , try it and you will agree , I am sure.
[rating:4.5]