Aruba and New York

Hi everyone!

I am back!  Back in New York City, back to blogging, back to life.  I was in Aruba for a little bit, and I had a great time!  I got some great workouts in with the hotel trainer (barefoot run on the beach), caught up with Mom, attended happy hour daily, and had delicious dinners for 6 nights in a row.

What delicious types of foods did I eat?  Well, crab legs of course.  All sorts of fish.  These delicious dessert shots on the right.  The dessert shots - genius.  10 different kinds you could order.  $2 per shot.  It was called "Dessert Tapas."  So we ordered three.  Lets face it - most people want a little dessert, but don't always want to spring for an $8 piece of cake, especially when they are kind of full.  These dessert tapas were perfect.

Ok what else - fish, dessert, and of course, some great meat.  At one restaurant, I got shrimp, steak, pork, chicken, and chorizo on a skewer with honey mustard and bbq sauce.  It was to DIE for. Just look at it - perfection.

 But, you are in NY.  And maybe you are not planning a trip to Aruba, so this meat skewer at Pinchos, the dessert tapas at Chefs Tables, and crab legs and Hadicurari mean nothing to you.  There are still a few useful things I can share with you though from my experiences and observations.

1.  Dining outdoors all year round in Aruba is great.  So many places have half of their restaurant outdoors, maybe on the water, in the sand, or even just with open tops so you can see the sky.  We don't have this luxury in NY as much due to the weather, but it does make summer dining in NYC a fun treat. 

2.  I love vacation, and I love Aruba, but there is NOWHERE in the world that turns tables over at quickly as NYC.  One night in Aruba, we were told that our table was not ready yet.  Mind you, there were at least 12 empty tables.  They just do not move as quickly. 

3.  If you love fine dining in NYC, and you want to go to Aruba, you can find similar fine dining.  Aruba has several amazing restaurants.  Everyone at the hotel chats with other people on the beach about restaurant recommendations.  Many are in walking distance, so you can order a bottle of wine.  If you think vacation just means eating somewhere else in the world, go eat in Aruba.  You won't be sorry.

4.  Aruba restaurants frequently offer a hummus, or a spread, a special dip, etc. with bread.  I loved it. Some restaurants do that here, but in Aruba, we always seemed to have butter, oil, and some fun dip.  I loved it. 

All in all, I ate a lot of delicious dinners, enjoyed being outside while drinking a bottle of wine!

Have a delicious day, wherever you are!

NYCMenuGirl