The next night we headed into Gustavia to the Carl Gustaf hotel
perched just
atop the village for a drink (Lime Daiquiris) with the
manager and a glorious
view of a burning red sunset. After a site
visit of this wonderful 12-room
property, we had dinner at Victoria's,
a tiny bistro in the hotel where sadly
the smoke filters over from the
lounge nearby. I fear we shall never escape
the smoke here!
We ordered a bottle of St VERAN Henry Fessy 2007 which had
aged well
and really made it a tasty Chardonnay. A divine amuse of
artichoke
foam, beef juice, sea scallop and hazelnut arrived.
Samuel
ordered the Cheeseburger "made in France" without the cheese
and three
adorable mini-burgers arrived shmeared with remoulade which
he quickly
scraped off eating only the meat and no buns; not a big
deal as we have
enjoyed all the fresh bread so much our carb counts
are through the
roof.
Will ordered the Yellowfin TUNA TARTARE which had Coconut foam
and
Lime (which he said he could not taste at all). On the other hand,
my
TOMATO GAZPACHO which was an innovative modern take on the
traditional
dish made with a mustard ice cream in the center (that you broke
up to
spread the flavor) and cottage cheese foam atop with basil. A
large
bruschetta slice was on the side with marinated red pepper
and
mozzarella. This dish should win a prize.
Will ordered the SOLE
MEUNIERE which must come from the UK or such at
42Euros (or $60) and it
arrived right after the appetizer was cleared,
despite my explaining in two
languages to the server that we like to
dine like the French and have a good
break.
The manager took the dish away and we waited 20 minutes until
it
returned again with great fanfare and was filleted (a bit
un-daintily)
tableside. Will raved about his side of BLACK TRUFFLE MASHED
POTATOES
(many places we have been to use the Perigord black truffles--even
one
place with Truffle popcorn) and Samuel had a side of French fries.
My
main course was simpler but tasty in the form of a LOBSTER CLUB
sandwich.
There were 3 pieces of bread, so I just removed the middle
one separating the
thick pieces of local lobster and the remoulade
with tomato. Oddly, the
traditional bacon was missing, but this was a
superb club.
Samuel's
dessert was entitled CHOCOLATE TEMPATION and was a molten
cake filled with
vanilla creme brulee-OMG!! On the side was a caramel
ice cream with toffee
crunch that I ate most of. Will had a LIME
CHEESECAKE with Raspberry Sauce
that he raved over. The sauce came in
a plastic tube on top that was stuck in
the cake, but it was not
explained nor clear what that was, so when Will bit
into it, the
raspberry sauce exploded; need I say more.
Victoria's is a
bistro, but they also do multi-course tasting menus
should you be in the mood
(2,5,7 courses) and this allows the guests
to eat so many different items
even in a many night's stay. Another
great island treat.
