Papiamento Restaurant Aruba Review: Garden Dinners and What to Order

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Is Papiamento worth it? This Papiamento Restaurant Aruba review says yes if you want the setting as much as the plate: The Infatuation recommends the outdoor tables around the lit pool for a date night. Papiamento Restaurant dates back to 1983, according to Aruba’s tourism board, and it is set in a historic Aruban cunucu house in Noord. The menu mixes Aruban classics with seafood and meat dishes, several of them served sizzling on a hot stone.

Dinner in a country house garden

The Ellis family runs the restaurant, and My Aruba Guide names Eduardo Ellis as owner and chef. The Infatuation notes that the house is filled with European antiques, some from the 1800s.

You can eat in the tropical garden or by the pool. The outdoor tables sit around a lit pool, under large trees strung with lights.

Before or after dinner, take a look inside. Aruba.com suggests a tour of the house, with its antiques and wine cellar, and The Infatuation mentions a cigar lounge and a 2,000-bottle wine vault.

What the guides say

Aruba’s tourism board notes that Papiamento is a member of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. The Infatuation suggests a poolside table for a date night.

What to order at Papiamento

The menu pairs Aruban standbys with an international list of seafood, meat and stone-grilled dishes, so a dinner here can mix both.

Begin local. Keshi yena, Aruba’s stuffed Gouda cheese, is one of the Aruban standbys The Infatuation highlights, along with the oyster soup. My Aruba Guide lists ayaca, another traditional island dish, among the Aruban classics on the menu.

Try the stone. According to the menu, the stone dishes arrive lightly seasoned and still sizzling, cooked partway so you can take them to the doneness you like. Options include shrimp with basil tartar sauce, a wahoo and Caribbean shrimp plate with a mild papaya pepper sauce, and rock lobster, mahi-mahi and shrimp finished with lemon butter.

Or go for a house special. Fish lovers can choose a fillet pan-broiled with fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, basil and garlic, or an oven-baked fillet topped with shrimp and scallop. On the meat side, there is bone-in lamb simmered with spices and apricots and served with couscous, an Indonesian-style stewed beef rendang with fresh ginger, cinnamon and star anise, and a pork shank on the bone, cooked with pineapple and spices and served on cassava purée.

For dessert, The Infatuation’s tip is the pan bollo, a bread pudding made with ponche crema, an eggnog-style liqueur.

When Papiamento makes sense

This is a date-night restaurant. Aruba.com frames it as a place for romance, and The Infatuation lists it for date nights. If your table mixes seafood lovers with steak lovers, the menu covers both, from the stone plates to the grill.

Price level

Price level: $$$$. Price level is our estimate, not exact pricing. It is based on Fodor’s price category for the restaurant.

For more on the island’s classic dishes, see our guide to Aruban food and local dishes, and for the rest of your dinner plans, our best restaurants in Aruba guide lists Papiamento Restaurant with other favorites.

FAQ

Sources

• The Infatuation: Papiamento review
• Aruba.com: Papiamento Restaurant
• Aruba.com: 7 restaurants in Noord you should try
• My Aruba Guide: Papiamento Restaurant