Anguilla

Anguilla

Just returned from Anguilla. 6 days and 5 nights. We had a great time. Stayed at the Viceroy. The hotel was truly wonderful. Breakfast was included in our deal and everyone at the hotel was very nice. No pretensions. Breakfast was a large buffet and the fruits were great. I pigged out on passion fruit every morning except one when they did not have any. Our room was unreal. Plunge pool on the terrace overlooking the ocean.The bathroom was huge.

They have tennis courts, kids club, rock climbing walls, state of the art basketball court, 3 pools and 5 restarurants. Except for breakfast we did not eat at the hotel. The restaurants were expensive and the main one was Italian, which did not interest us. For the time of year their a good amount of people. Chairs and umbrellas were provided on the beach and they provided bottled water in ice buckets on the beach.

The hotel does not nickel and dime you and no one is looking for a tip. The service is good. The manager is all over and tries to run a top flight place. He saw me hitting tennis balls by myself and apologized for not playing tennis with me. Next time he offered.

We ate at a number of restaurants.

Jacala - French restaurant on Meads Bay, 1/2 mile from the Viceroy. The owner allowed us to bring a bottle of wine since we brought it from home. It was a Chalone 2008 Chardonnay. He told us that if we bought a bottle on the island he would charge us $70. The food was OK. I had a whole snapper grilled. It was a tiny fish and I am not a big eater. My wife had crayfish because they were out of lobster. Of course they did not tell us until we were about to order. The service was very slow.

Gerauds http://www.anguillacakesandcatering.com/about.html One of my favorite places. Geraud and his wife are delightful and so different. I asked him to cater a dinner for us with the condition that we did not have a way to heat the food. He made us chicken Caesar salads and a plate of cheeses and meats. Brie, Swiss, pate, ham, turkey and of course french bread. For dessert we had 2 chocolate mousse pastries. Everything was wonderful and reasonable.

You can eat breakfast and brunch at Gerauds.

E's Oven - Geraud told us to go here. We brought our own wine - no problem. I brought an 09 Bordeaux that was good. Chateau Les Eyquems. See below.

We had red snapper. I had it grilled whole and my wife had fillet with some sauce. Everything was good and the place is cute. No AC but we sat on the porch. We had flour less chocolate cake for dessert.

Pimms - This is the restaurant at Cap Juluca, another of the top hotels on Anguilla. The restaurant is right on the water. Our table was actually sitting on rocks on the water. see below.They had a very good wine list and there were several 09 Bordeaux's on the list that were reasonably priced. They had a young wine person who was very knowledgeable. I ordered one bottle that the list said was a St Emillion but when they brought the bottle it was a generic Bordeaux. I asked about another wine and he brought it out. However this wine was from 2007 and I did not want it. He was also embarrassed by the 07 so he brought another bottle that he said we would enjoy - the Haut Caillou-- below. This wine was $75 on the list but he gave to me for $50, the price of the wines that I was looking out.I thought it was a very nice gesture from one wine guy to another. The wine had great depth, good fruit and was very good. I have not been able to find a reference to it in the US. It is a Lalande De Pomerol.

Sandbar - This restaurant is in Sandy Ground which a harbor with about 10 restaurants in the middle of the island. Sandbar serves small plates and is rated the one of the top restaurants in Trip Advisor. It is a cute place, right on the beach. The menu was small and interesting. Not local style food. The female chef was from Canada. We had small plates of fried shrimp, polenta and duck pancakes. Everything was good and reasonable.

SunShine Shack - This small place is on Rendezvous Bay between the Cuisinart Resort and the Great Anguilla Beach House hotel. Rendezvous Bay is on the Caribbean side of the island and you can see St. Martin from the beach. The water is gorgeous. Garvey? runs the shack. He has ribs and chicken and will cook fish if you call in advance. There is one table and some chairs. For $20 we had a plate of ribs and chicken and a beer and soda. We chatted for a while and he gave us 2 beers for the road. Our kind of place. Food good, ambiance - priceless.

Smokeys - This is another beach place down a small road to a dirt road. It is a regular place despite its surroundings and is open for dinner as well. They have music several times a week. WE had a fish sandwich which was tasty. I believe it was mahi- mahi.

Wines of the week

Chateau Haut Caillou , Lalande de Pomerol 2009 $50 in a restaurant.

Chateau Les Eyquems 2009 $13

Chalone Chardonnay 2008- A regular wine which we enjoyed as usual. Brought to Jacala. Good fruit and oak integration.

Gilbert Picq Chablis 2010 $20 - Drank with Geraud's food in our room. It was a decent Chablis but I expected more. It a slight alcohol finish. Good fruit and mineral Chablis taste.

Codorniu Cava $7. A favorite for us. Crisp, fruity but dry. Great bargain.

Les Vignes De Bila Haut Cotes di Rousillon France Michel Chapoutier- white 2011.$11 The red is great. See last posting. The white is good but something did not click. A blend of different grapes. Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris and Macabeu. Try it. Nice fruit and interesting flavor. Definitely not a chardonnay.

Local Produce
Farmer's markets are in full bloom and my garden is doing great. Blueberries are in season in NJ. My Kale and lettuce have been great. I have an eggplant ready to pick and we picked our first cherry tomato the other day. I just bought the first sour cherries of the season. I am salivating over the thought my cherry tart.

Good eating and drinking. Enjoy.