Dining
Dining
Foodie Finds by Susan Campbell Are you ready for an adventurous culinary quest to discover all the best creative cuisine, local flavors, and gourmet offerings this island has secreted away? Then you’ll have to pry yourself out of your beach chair to follow trails blazed by all the bona fide foodies that went before you!
When’s the last time you really pushed your boundaries on the food front? Has it been too long? If so, with over 250 top quality restaurants on this island, you’ve chosen an ideal place to expand your horizons. And if you’re not already a foodie, by the time you leave... you certainly will be! Foodie defined
So just what is a “foodie”? Do you have to be well versed in all the edible arts and techniques to really claim that title? Be willing to try anything? No, not at all. According to Wikipedia, “A foodie seeks new food experiences as a hobby rather than simply eating out of convenience or hunger.” So all you really need is a sense of curiosity, an appetite, and a deep love for finding highly satisfying food experiences. Cool, new, trendy, and avant-garde are simply optional. Your ideal foodie encounter might be simply finding the best version of a classic you already love, or trying a fusion of flavors you never thought would work together... and finding out that they do! It’s all a matter of getting out and trying as many different spots and dishes as you can instead of sticking to your go-to tastes and those same old favorites.
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No doubt, if you’re really into food, you’ve already done your fair share of pretrip research, checking menus online and the like. But true foodies also realize that sometimes the most exciting meal might appear on the daily blackboard specials, or that seasonal offerings might provide the most rewarding food experience at the time. And even the fanciest establishments can have off nights, while unassuming hole-in-the-wall type enclaves might end up providing you with the absolute most exciting food revelation of your life! Then there are food trucks, pop-up restaurants, food festivals, and farmer’s markets where you can try a wide range of new tastes and flavors. This island delivers an ever-changing kaleidoscope of culinary possibilities. International options
Aruba is a delicious melting pot of over 90 nationalities, and it’s no wonder there are so many different types of fine fare to choose from. Beyond typical Caribbean, North American, European, Mediterranean, and Asian influences you’ll find menu surprises like Australian wagyu beef, Canadian cedar-planked salmon, Peruvian lomo saltado, Swiss fondue, Cuban ropa
vieja, and even African ostrich meat. East Indian and Indonesian delights are easy to find, and Latin America figures prominently due to its proximity. Think Venezuelan arepas, Colombian paisa, Spanish paellas, and huge skewers of Argentinian style gaucho meat. And feisty Mexican food? You bet! Both authentic and Tex-Mex – it’s all here and more... Sometimes you can take your taste buds on a world tour without even leaving the table. Many dining spots here specialize in international fusion cuisine, and with all of those influences continually seeping into Aruba’s home and restaurant kitchens you often find unique flavor combinations in the same dish. Shrimp Pina Colada? Yes, please! Carnivores will be well sated with killer-good steakhouses offering their own versions of sauces and beef preparations using premium quality cuts while vegetarians and even vegans will find great gourmet mains. Fresh fish and seafood by the boatload is a given, but you never know what the catch-of-the-day might be, so therein lie the best surprises. Another unexpected fish specialty you’ll see appearing on many menus is lionfish. This invasive species is ruining the reefs and E
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