On The Waterfront

I don't spend a lot of time discussing the aesthetics of restaurants because, frankly, the aesthetics don't matter all that much to me.  I appreciate a beautiful room as much as the next person, but the true measure of a dining experience (for me, anyway) lies in the food. 

That being said, I had a dining experience last night where the ambience seriously contributed to the overall quality of the meal.  We ate at Pinchos Grill and Bar, a local Aruban restaurant out on a pier literally over the water.  And talk about weather-dependent.  This particular spot had no provision for rain, so when the downpour hit approximately 20 minutes before my party of four arrived, waiters were sent scurrying with towels and fresh table settings.  I anticipated a legitimate catastrophe when raindrops started to fall mid-meal, but, luckily, said rain disappeared into the passed Caribbean sunset. 

The food at Pincho's was simple.  I had a cucumber salad dressed with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds followed by skewered shrimp with a mango dipping sauce.  Dessert was a large slice of 'banana split cake,' which tasted more like a sublime and chocolate-frosted slice of banana bread. 

Yes, the champagne mojito was good and the food, overall, tasty, but what left the greatest impression were the swings that served as seats alongside the circular bar, the blue lights underneath the dock that lit the evening plankton, the glowing walk down the pier onto a dining room suspended over water.  I would go again just for that feeling of eating on top of the sea, minus the motion sickness.  

I should add a caveat: I would go again, if I ever made it back to Aruba.  

*

Pinchos Grill and Bar

L.G. Smith Boulevard 7 at Aruba Surfside Marina

St. Cruz, Aruba

297.583.2666