IL NETTUNO ★★★☆☆
GUIDEBOOK COMPANY
LO
LUCINDA’S LIST
OK
IN
CA FO SU R AL LU C RE RES IND VI TA A’S EW U RA NT
SID E
Casual Restaurant Review, Grand Case, St. Martin
Just the Facts Price Level: $$$ Restaurant Category: Casual Meals Served: Dinner Location: 70 Grand Case Boulevard Phone: 0590 87 77 38 Website: Il Nettuno
Credit Cards: Visa, Amex Currency: Market rate Outdoor seating: Overlooking beach Parking: Nearby lot Good for: Kids, Groups Other info: Closed September Open for lunch during high season
Pros On the water, with several tables overlooking the sunset Decent, filling italian food, generous portions and served hot and fresh
Cons Food and ambience unmemorable - they are definitely relying on their water views to carry the day Beware the wandering minstrel
Il Nettuno
Overall Rating ★★★☆☆ Reviewed by Vicki, Lucinda’s mom, a.k.a. “Grey Squirrel”
Granted, we went to Il Nettuno when we were dog-tired from spending a wonderful day at Pinel. ! And granted, both of us come from cities where great gourmet Italian food is easily available, so maybe we’re jaded and fussy. !Within that frame of reference, Il Nettuno is just OK. !It’s one of the larger restaurants on Grand Case’s Restaurant Row and has a beautiful view of the bay, but the food, well, it’s just sufficient.
Food at Il Nettuno After being greeted by one of the charming owners and passing by the shrine to the Washington Redskins (the owner spent time in
Il Nettuno ! McLean, Virginia), we were seated and almost immediately given some bruschetta to whet our appetite, along with a menu. !
page 3
Mood Romance
★★☆☆☆
Relaxation ★★★☆☆ Fun
★★☆☆☆
Ah, the menu… Heavy on veal and chicken pasta dishes, standard marsala, saltimbocca and piccata, no pizza (at least at dinner). ! Both pastas and desserts are homemade. !Actually, homemade is a good description of the food in general: this is the food that your Italian Nonna would prepare for family gatherings at her home near the Jersey Shore, i.e., generous servings of solid, carb-heavy nutrition.
Family
★★★☆☆
Value
★★☆☆☆
Entrees, priced in euros, run from about 18 to 28. ! There is a small, but adequate wine list, and wines are available by the glass. !Two pasta entrees, a shared dessert, a bottle of water, and two glasses of wine came to $90, typical of the casual non-lolo Grand Case restaurants. !
Attentive
★★★☆☆
Speed
★★★★☆
My tagliatelle with spinach and chicken was not too oily and not too heavily spiced: good, but not spectacular. !The same verdict applied to the chicken marsala with spaghetti enjoyed by my daughter. !The lemon torta we tried was acceptable, if a little too sweet and heavy on the crust component. !
Atmosphere
Food Taste
★★★☆☆
Innovation ★★☆☆☆ Display
★★★☆☆
Drinks
★★☆☆☆
Service
Knowledge ★★☆☆☆
Views
★★★★★
Decor
★★☆☆☆
Comfort
★★☆☆☆
Noise
★★★☆☆
If you were traveling with children, Il Nettuno would be an especially good dining option, although we saw no children while we were there. !A number of couples seemed to be enjoying romantic dinners at tables just overlooking the beach, although the lighting was more senior-friendly than seductive.
Service at Il Nettuno The service was casual, but politely attentive. !We were probably too tired to attempt much interaction, but didn’t feel that the wait staff encouraged camaraderie with the guests, at least not to the degree that most Grand Case
Ample portions: Huge plates of handmade pasta get the job done.
restaurants do. !They didn’t provide much in the way of direction or recommendations. The restaurant was not crowded when we were there, and the good news is they brought the food out relatively fast, and it was hot, straight from the pot.
Atmosphere at Il Nettuno The decor is reminiscent of some restaurants I went to years ago in Atlantic City: sentimentally overdecorated, although with enough airy Island vibe mixed in to make it pleasant enough. There is a huge mirror on one wall, reflecting the view, but kind of cheesy.
Music tip: If you enjoy table-side guitar serenades, then during high season, this is the restaurant for you.
Though the sound of the water lapping underneath the balcony is pleasant, they have a large fountain for the lobster that makes a loud splashing noise, competing with the noise of the Caribbean, which seemed like a waste to me. The chairs are of the bad wedding variety, and didn’t really encourage you to want to linger.
Il Nettuno !
page 5
page 5
Large dining room: Plenty of room for a large family outing.
When Lucinda visited Il Nettuno during high season, she was fairly horrified to find they had roaming musicians going around to the tables; she and her husband made it clear they weren’t interested in that brand of “romance,” and they weren’t bothered again.
Bottom line Il Nettuno is the sort of restaurant for a reliably adequate meal in pleasant surroundings, especially when you don’t feel up to a three-hour event, but it’s not a gourmet destination. Though it has beautiful views overlooking the beach and sunset, we would recommend it more for a large family outing than a romantic evening.
LUCINDA’S LIST
GUIDEBOOK COMPANY
page 6
Orient Beach
LUCINDA’S LIST
GUIDEBOOK COMPANY
ABOUT LUCINDA’S LIST In Fall 2009, my husband Steve and I thought we had it all figured out. Beautiful house in Berkeley, CA, the requisite yellow lab, great technology careers... and I was pregnant. But when the fourth miscarriage hit in December, we were heartbroken. We needed time to heal. A break. From everything. We decided to go to St. Martin, and after an incredible six weeks, it inspired us to change our lives. The people we met, the experiences we had, the living in the moment, the food we ate... we were forever changed. And we wanted to share what we found with others. So instead of returning home to our old lives, we decided to take our Silicon Valley knowledge to help create a community of people who love the Caribbean. We figured something special was bound to come out of bringing together
LUCINDA’S LIST
people who shared this special experience.
Two months later, we’re already the largest St. Martin fan page on Facebook - 25,000+ fans and growing! - and already we’re discovering the value of bringing people together. We’re not only working on GUIDEBOOK COMPANY
publishing the kind of in-depth reviews of our favorite destinations that we wish we’d found when we were researching, we’re hoping the size of our fan base will attract group discounts for all of us. Stick around, there’s so much goodness for St. Martin - and other islands yet to come! The result? beautiful property, immaculately maintained andbecome managed...one and if Ayou aren’t already a fan, click here to
Oh, and one last note... we need to o!er up a brief legal disclaimer. Although all details in this document are based on information supplied to us or gathered by us at press time, changes occur all the time in the travel world, and Lucinda’s List cannot accept responsibility for facts or circumstances that become outdated or for inadvertent errors or omissions. So always confirm information when it matters. If we have missed anything, please let us know on our fan page!
© Lucinda’s List 2010. All Rights reserved.
OTHER LUCINDA’S LIST REVIEWS Gourmet Restaurants
Casual Restaurants
Beaches & Beach Bars
Hotels & Activities