Cote Plages, St. Martin

This little French restaurant sits on one side of the Orient Bay square.  With its white painted wood and navy cushions, it truly feels like a seaside bistro.  Each table is lit by small candles casting a warm orange glow.  As it was during the holiday season, the whole  square was lit with colourful lights strung from one side to the other.  It added a festive air to our experience.  

Our meal began with a wonderful amuse bouche - a little shooter glass of cumin carrot soup.  This was the perfect beginning, preparing the palate for yummy things to come.  Although French in influence, the menu included its Caribbean locale both in ingredients and freshness.  Our starters reflected this.  The first was a carpaccio of marlin in lime and coconut milk and the other was a lobster bisque with truffle shavings and creme fraiche. Imagine these flavours at their very freshest!

The main course was both tasty and adventuresome.  We had whole shrimp steamed in cognac with risotto and cauliflower salad.  We had great fun de-heading and peeling these critters knowing how scrumptious the reward would be.  Not only were they succulent, they were huge!  None of this imported c**p!

We finished with a more traditional French dessert - bananas flambé - local, fresh Caribbean bananas made it all the more flavourful.  A fabulous meal in a beautiful setting.