Dining Out - Restaurants
Google Map Link: Favourite Restaurants
There is a binder on the table at Canaruba that has cards for some of our favourite places. Please add your favourites!
Here are our top favourites:
Anna Maria's www.annamariasaruba.com. They are great and a little more off the tourist path - relatively close to Canaruba in fact. Truly a fine dining, family-run experience. Be sure to try the limoncello!
Wacky Wahoo - no website - the best seafood we have had ever, anywhere. Very small place. Just steps away from the main area in Palm Beach. There is no website, but this link will give you some info.
Note: Wacky Wahoo is only accepting walk-in guests and is not accepting reservations. Anytime after 5 you can expect a short wait. Enjoy a drink at the (small) bar! ... or do some window shopping at the store next door. (You'll see what I mean.)
Papiamento - An amazing experience all-around. Perhaps one of the most "Arubian".
Gasparito - www.gasparito.com - if you are looking for a true Arubian meal, this is the place to go. Incredible food and awesome service. We've got to know the owner and he is super.
Oak -www.oakaruba.com - Fine dining close to home. Reservations a few days (or more) in advance recommended.
Madame Janette's - www.madamejanette.info - a wide variety of food, all of which is great. This is the largest place on our "top favourites" but we'd still recommend a reservation.
Quinta Del Carmen - Classic. Another "backyard" style fine dining restaurant.
Zeerovers - no website, no reservations +297 584 8401 - On the south / east end of the island, this is the most amazing, but simple (and affordable) restaurant in our favourites - your choice is shrimp or fish (no selection, just whatever was caught that day) and you order it by the pound. You eat at picnic tables by the ocean. A great way to end the day if you are coming back from Baby Beach.
Dutch Pancakes? - So good. Check out Linda's.
Maybe not the healthiest breakfast you've ever had, but one of the best.
In no particular order, but here is a list of other places that ourselves or other guests recommend:
Passion on the Beach - enjoy the sunset at Eagle beach while you eat dinner
Flying Fishbone - another sunset meal, further south on the island (if you reserve far enough in advance you can request a table with your feet in the ocean!)
Alfie's - a pub in Oranjestad. Thursday night rib night is great if you want a change from seafood. Alfie's was started up and is still owned by a Canadian couple so you'll see some of that flavour on the walls - and a good beer selection! Biggest feature here is the live music most nights - great talent.
Ike's Bistro - a meal by the pool at the Manchebo Beach Resort
King Ribs - in Oranjestad (only open on weekends)
Charlie's Bar - in Sint Nicolaas (near Baby Beach, right by the Texaco refinery) - worth checking out just for the sights inside!
Lima (Peruvian restaurant in Oranjestad)
Cafe080 - great fish & chips down the road
Ruiz - a late-night food truck. The oyster chowder is amazing and the fries with peanut butter sauce is unexpectedly delicious (it's a Dutch thing)
If you are looking for a restaurant that delivers, check out food-aw. It's kind of like UberEats, Aruba style.
And finally, our favourite lunch / brunch place is Eduardo's. Eduardo's Beach Shack is on the beach in front of Playa Linda. Eduardo's Hideaway is closer to Canaruba (0.9 miles, right beside Ng grocery store). Try the Acai bowl!
If you are going to or from Baby Beach we have been told that La Granja Savaneta is worth a stop for lunch or dinner.
Stealing a page from VisitAruba.com...
For a true taste of the island’s diverse flavors, we suggest trying one (if not all) of these Aruba eats:
Marina Pirata, O’Neil Caribbean Kitchen, Chupa Dede Snacks, Lings Restaurant, Fish House Island Bar & Restaurant, Nos Local Snack Truck, Dushi Deli, Candela Food Truck, Happy Day Snack, Urataka Pizza, Coco Plum, Don Pastechi Factory, Kulture Cafe, Nisbon Snack, Kamini’s Kitchen, Grote Berg Snack, My Good Idea’s Takeaway, and De Suikertuin Bistro.
To discover more food trucks on the island check out this list for some of our favorites.