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June 12, 2007
by Marga Hart
Last weekend we were on Saba. About a decade ago we lived there for a couple of years, some of the best years of our lives. We love the beauty of its nature, the quietness and the friendliness of its people. As was obvious from the many remarks, Sabans do read the Out 'n About and the dining out page, so they will know where to go if they come here for shopping and visits. What they don't like is that I call my husband my partner, because I feel he is more my "partner in life" than "just" my husband. "We're too old-fashioned for that," one of them said.
We stayed with friends of ours and they told us that there was a very good new chef at Queen's Garden Resort, so we immediately invited them for dinner to see whether or not they were right. We followed their advice and asked the chef to prepare a surprise menu of five courses with matching wines.
Queen's Garden Resort is situated high above The Bottom and is surrounded by lush gardens. The restaurant has a gazebo on the patio covered with vines and we had managed to book the single round table there. There are also many mango trees in the area and once in a while we could hear a mango drop down.
Waiter Wilco came to pour us some water and soon arrived with the amuse bouche, which consisted of three small titbits: crostini with chicken liver mousse; cold cucumber soup and a mini maize pancake with tuna tartar. If this was just to tease our taste, it made us really curious about was to follow.
The first course was home-made cannelloni filled with king crab, a delicious combination. This was followed by pan fried scallops covered with Prosciutto ham and a soft mustard dressing. Next were some delicious slices of duck, followed by a tender, small rack of lamb. The final course was a grand dessert, which appeared to be an apt name for it. There was a small slice of delicious chocolate cake, a glass of coconut Malibu, fruit in red wine sauce and, my favourite, sumptuous tiramisu.
With each course came a different wine and Wilco explained to us why the particular wine was the right one to go with the dish and where it came from. My favourites were a Sauvignon Blanc, Matua Paretai, from New Zealand and the Chianti Classico from Italy. After finishing his education in the Netherlands, Wilco went to Scotland to practise and get more training. He got interested in wines and plans to get more training for this.
According to me there was perfect timing between the courses and the whole meal, which we closed off with coffee, lasted over three hours, during which we were not bored for one minute, as there were lots of things to talk and laugh about.
Chef Jeroen arrived on Saba in March. After finishing the hotel school, he worked, among other jobs, as an assistant chef in Restaurant Da Vinci in Maasbracht with chef Margot Reuten, one of the top restaurants in the Netherlands. His problem on Saba is getting the ingredients he needs. This also makes it an extra challenge to make the gourmet meals he likes to cook, so he needs all his creative skills. Remco and Jeroen have started their own kitchen garden with seeds they brought from the Netherlands and now can use fresh basil and other herbs for the dishes.
They both like it when guests ask for the surprise dinner, so they use all their skills to really surprise the diners and they definitely surprised us.
It was a wonderful weekend and although I was happy to see St. Maarten's beaches again when approaching the airport, I am looking forward to a repeat trip as soon as possible.
Info:
Queen's Garden Resort
Troy Hill Drive #1
The Bottom, Saba
Tel. 00599-416-3494
Cuisine: International
Good: special dishes
Not so good: can be cool outside; bring a sweater
Price range: appetizers start at US $9.50
Main courses at US $18
Reservations: necessary for gazebo
Credit cards: all
Children's menu: available
Vegetarian dishes: available
Opening hours: Daily from 11:30pm until 2:00pm
6:00pm until 9:00pm
Closed on Tuesday
Ratings: Staff friendliness 5; Service speed 5; Restaurant cleanliness 4.5;
Food quality 5; Value for money 4.5; Ambience 5
Total: 29/30
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