Good-bye to St Martin

For our last dinner in St Martin, we wanted to do a special meal.  We debated about going back to Bistro Caribe where we had such a fabulous dinner earlier in the week but decided to take the advice of our speed boat captain and went to Mario’s Bistro in Marigot.  Finding a parking place turned out to be not as difficult as had been warned and we were given a table under two fans which was a necessity given the temperatures.

We all were intrigued by the soup course which was a Cream of caramelized onion soup with baked Gruyere crouton.  This was some of the best soup I have ever had … the caramelization of the onions was so perfect we insisted that the chef had added some sweet liquor to the pan (a claim he indignantly denied).  Paired with the wine (a Beaujolais – Villages from Louis Jadot) this made for an excellent introduction to the meal.

For our main course, two in our party purchased the sea bass platter with fresh crab and lobster sauce served over a bed of potatoes and asparagus.  The other two had fresh grouper with a creamy risotto and asparagus.  We actually let Tom pick out a white wine to go with this course.  It was a French Sauvignon Blanc and I don’t have pictures of the bottle (it was white).  For a white wine it was not bad and paired successfully with the fish.

This was a great dinner … the wait staff was very friendly and helpful … and we believe it was the perfect way to say good-bye to St Martin.