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Comments on Morgan's Mango and Cafe Roma?

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Comments on Morgan's Mango and Cafe Roma?

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(@graysondave)
Posts: 6
Active Member
Topic starter
 

I will be spending 2 nights at Grande Bay followed by 4 nights at Caneel Bay, where our package includes meals. For the first two nights we will dine within walking distance of Grande Bay so I don't have to worry about getting into a car after having a drink or two. My wife doesn't eat seafood.

So with that in mind I have tentatively zeroed in on Morgan's Mango for our first night followed by Cafe Roma the second night. Comments on those two? The only place I have eaten in Cruz Bay is the Banana Deck, which we enjoyed but I always like to try new places.

 
Posted : February 8, 2010 11:18 am
(@diana)
Posts: 269
Reputable Member
 

I'm not a seafood eater myself and these are 2 of my favorite places to eat on STJ, although my last meal at Morgan's Mango was only so-so and the service was not good at all. If you want to splurge ZoZo's has really great food (but $$$). If you have a car go up the Marketplace and try out La Plancha Del Mar. Really great food and super service too. Of course you can't go wrong at Lime Inn or Rhumblines. There's lots to chose from in easy walking distance.

 
Posted : February 8, 2010 11:44 am
 RM
(@rm)
Posts: 106
Estimable Member
 

Cafe Roma was the first place I ever ate on my first visit to STJ in the year 1977, I have not missed a meal there since. I still remember sitting and looking out over the street below. I must tell you the street has changed somewhat since then.

Morgans Mango is fine also, but I never miss at least one visit or more to the cafe.

RM

 
Posted : February 8, 2010 2:10 pm
(@reefrunner)
Posts: 27
Eminent Member
 

My wife and I love Cafe Roma. It's ultra casual with really excellent Italian food. Their salads are large enough to share, if you are ordering an entree.

Morgan's Mango has a good variety of non-seafood. They have great drinks and certain nights have live music. Very nice atmosphere.

Margarita Phil's is right next door to Morgan's Mango. They have some excellent drinks and good Mexican food too.

 
Posted : February 8, 2010 3:31 pm
(@lisab)
Posts: 67
Estimable Member
 

We ate at Morgans Mango a few years ago while we were there and thought it was not the greatest. A few months ago during our visit we ate at Cafe Roma and it was our favorite restaurant of the trip.

 
Posted : June 23, 2010 7:37 am
(@misterduffy)
Posts: 66
Trusted Member
 

My Morgans Mango experiences have also been pretty mediocre. I join the earlier suggestions to try Zozos and also within walking distance for you is the newish Cactus on the Blue that went in the former Stone Terrace location; we tried it in April and were very pleased with the food and service. Have a great trip!

 
Posted : June 23, 2010 11:35 am
 rose
(@rose)
Posts: 129
Estimable Member
 

Waterfront Bistro is great. They have good seafood and great steak. Also, they are on the waterfront. I would do that rather than Morgan's Mango. We do like their coconut shrimp, but the rest of it is not that special to me. We also ate at Cafe Roma for our very first meal on St. John. It was evening when we got off the ferry, and we drug our luggage up the stairs. There was a long wait list so another couple asked us to join them. It was a great start to a fantastic vacation. We realized later that we probably got the last taxi out to Maho that night. We arrived at Maho about 11:00 or 10:00pm. We just returnd from out 8th visit, and I regret that I didn't fit in Cafe Roma.

Have a great time!

 
Posted : June 23, 2010 3:44 pm
(@stjohnjulie)
Posts: 272
Reputable Member
 

I'd like to start off by saying that if I don't have anything nice to say...I usually don't say it, but I think I ought to chime in here. I was recently at Cafe Roma, with a larger group of 7 people, and the food was just not good. I ordered something off their menu, that I've had more than a few times, and has always been good, but when I was there last week it was not. Also ordered a special shrimp appetizer that was not good. It was very fishy tasting, like they hadn't rinsed it before it was cooked, or it was just kind of old. Another person ordered a special Stromboli and it was very burned on the bottom. The place was very very cramped as well. I could not scoot out my chair to get into the table because my chair was back to back with the person behind me. We DID have good service though! Our guy John was attentive, even though he couldn't walk around our table. The vibe from the locals is that Cafe Roma has become very inconsistent over the past year or so. Sometimes good food, sometimes not. If my son hadn't made the decision to go there, the 6 adults in the party would not have been there.

How I ended up at Cafe Roma is another story. It was my son's 9th birthday, and he wanted to go to Cactus on the Blue. We had been there once before and we all loved the food. It was really delicious! I called them on a Thursday and made reservations for 7 for the following Monday. Gave them the day, date, number of people, name, and phone number (even though they didn't ask for it). On Monday, I called them to add another person to the reservation...I just had a funny feeling. No one answered at 4:30pm, so I left a message. I called again at 5pm and left a message when no one answered. And again at 5:30pm, no answer. Their answering machine had their hours stated, bar open at 4:30, restaurant 5:30. So we went down there, and it was CLOSED!!!!! My son was pretty bummed out. I was none too happy. I didn't get a call from them at all. Not even after they reopened and heard my messages on their machine attempting to add to the reservation. No call, no apology, and they have lost my business for good. Good service is as important to me as the food, if not more important. What they did was unprofessional and pretty much as bad as you can get in my book.

Two of my favorites are La Tapa and La Plancha del Mar. Zozo's has a great location, and has been a long time favorite with travelers and locals. There is also a new (casual) place called The Dog House, which is directly across the street from Cafe Roma, in the upstairs part of Crazy Cracker's. The food is fantastic and the prices are even better. Went there recently, party of 4, with entrees and two drinks each, and the entire bill was $107.

 
Posted : June 24, 2010 4:18 am
(@lisab)
Posts: 67
Estimable Member
 

We also did Cactus on the Blue in May and was not impressed.

 
Posted : June 28, 2010 8:58 am
(@blaze)
Posts: 119
Estimable Member
 

We dined at ZoZo's a month or so ago and the food was o.k., not great and quite pricey. The appetizer was better than the entree.

 
Posted : June 29, 2010 4:51 pm

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