Le Piment
On a casual Thursday night, my husband and I were strolling around Orient Village to grab a bite to eat. It is low season so not all of the restaurants were busy that evening on the popular dining square. Le Piment, however, was packed – there were even people waiting in line for a table!
Curious, we approached the entrance of the restaurant. As we were looking over a long list of specials written on a blackboard, a charming hostess asked us if we wanted to eat. She assured us that it would only be a five-minute wait. We were ravished and the crowd indicated that the food must be good, so we said yes. It turned out to be the best decision we both had made all week!
Although the restaurant was very busy, the small staff somehow managed to make us feel like we had their full attention. Due to the crowd, the atmosphere was very lively and welcoming. The combination of the casual seating setup, stylish decoration and friendly open kitchen gave the restaurant an understated chic feeling.
Our menu was presented on a touchscreen tablet, which was fun to navigate. They had a fully stocked bar and had a nice selection of wine as well. Because so many dishes sounded delicious, we took quite a while to decide what to order. The waitress brought our drinks and some bread; the latter being the only disappointment of the night as I’d have expected such a good restaurant to have tastier rolls.
We chose the snails in Gorgonzola sauce, a special, as appetizer. My husband had somehow managed to live his life without ever tasting snails, which he regretted after tasting our flavourful choice once it was presented to us.
As the restaurant had many lamb-related options, my husband decided on the puff pastry lamb with Indian spices for his main course; and I chose the seven-hour cooked lamb shoulder. Our friendly neighbours on another table had the tiger shrimp and chorizo risotto, which also looked “to die for” and I will order next time.
Both lamb dishes were unique, and we enjoyed each of them to the fullest. My lamb was perfectly cooked, and the sauce gave it a great finish. The puff pastry filled with the spiced lamb was a pleasant surprise. My hubby ate his plate clean.
Although we both were not hungry any longer, we still decided to order a dessert, as we expected it to be as delectable as the rest. The tiramisu seemed to be a crowd-favourite but we decided on the molten “lovers” chocolate cake – because chocolate simply makes me happy. The cake, as expected, was also excellent – and we decided that Le Piment was our new favourite restaurant on the island!
Info:
Le Piment
Orient Bay | Place Du Village | 97150 | Saint Martin
Phone: +011 059 0590 524 312
Cuisine: French, Italian
Open: 7 days a week for dinner, from 6:00 until 10:00pm, closed on December 24.
Good: Perfect for a romantic night out, special occasions, celebrations and any reason to have a fabulous meal.
Price range: €9-37
Payment methods: Cash (euros and dollars), Visa, MasterCard and Discover.
Reservations: Not required but recommended.
Vegetarian dishes: Not many choices but available.
Other services: Takeout, Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Parking, Highchairs, Wheelchair Accessible, Full Bar, Free Wi-Fi.
Ratings:
Staff friendliness: *****
Service speed: *****
Restaurant cleanliness: *****
Food quality: *****
Value for money: ****
Ambience: *****
