Gasparito

Gasparito is truly a wonderful restaurant and we will go back again. I read a review below that tore the restaurant apart and having just been there, have no idea where that person was coming from. Everything from the Food, Presentation and Service was first rate.

We loved this restaurant! Fantastic food, friendly service with a beautiful patio under the stars. Can't say enough about the Keshi Yena and the Shrimp Coco, both were excellent with a wonderful Island flavor. You can also visit the Art Gallary to see lovely works of art by several local artist. This place is a must visit while in Aruba, we will be back!

This e-mail is in response to the review by "ton" on July 2, 2008.
We do not usually respond to comments, but because of the situation, we are forced to present our side of the story.
We have a policy of standing behind the quality of the food we serve and will replace any items served at Gasparito that a guest does not like.
The Alicia fish soup is a consommé. Even so, if you had advised us of your displeasure, we would not have billed you for it. You requested the chicken roulade, rolled baked chicken, with the sauce on the side. We advised you that it could turn out dry without the sauce, but you insisted. After it was served, you complained that the sauce did not have mushrooms in it, it did, and you did not want the sauce on the bottom of the chicken. We prepared you another chicken, and again with the sauce on the side as you demanded. As per our warning, the chicken was drier than you liked. When you complained, we did not charge you for the meal.
If there was anything else we could have done, as was offered to you, we would have done so.
The lady at the reception is an American. She has a limited understanding of the Dutch language. When you arrived, you addressed her in Dutch and she responded in English, based on her understanding of what you said. You elected to continue to speak to her in Dutch, although judging from your e-mail, English is not a problem for you. Not responding in Dutch is not arrogance. The lady at the reception seated you, excused herself politely and asked me to talk to you, which I promptly did. We consider this case closed.
Gasparito Management

Since this restaurant had so many good reviews we looked forward having diner with the whole family.
What a disappointment!. Never had such a worse diner before.
Really everything was bad.
Alicia's Fish soup was a vegetable soup without any fish. The chicken to dry for consumption.

The service was extremely bad. It was waiting all the rime for fresh drinks. Waitresses didn't understand English.
The lady at the reception was very arrogant and unfriendly.

We only have one recommendation. Stay far away of this restaurant.

My sister, mother, aunt, and I dined at Gasparito's on the recommendation of the concierge at the Hyatt Regency. We had originally planned on Madame Jeanette's, but it was closed for the month. Gasparito's was certainly a worthy substitute and we had one of our best meals of our trip. The restaurant is in a residential neighborhood and off the central dining strip - a plus in our book. We sat on the patio and were treated to a lovely sunset during our appetizer course. We opted for traditional Aruban fare - who would have thought melted cheese would be so delicious on top of spiced chicken? We enjoyed a lovely dessert of pineapple and pear streusel with our capuccinos. I would highly recommend Gasparito's to anyone looking for something off the beaten path with fabulous food. Additionally, Gasparito's has a lovely art gallery that diners can browse and purchase works that strike their fancy. Also available are beautiful pieces of jewelry with sea glass accents crafted by one of the restaurants owners.

We've been dining at Gasparito's for over 10 years now and it's still as good as always.

Their outdoor patio is a nice, relaxing setting for dinner (inside is also nice with artwork for sale by local artists.)

I always like to ask for my fish (Wahoo, which is my favorite) broiled or grilled with just lemon - no sauce, no butter, etc. I like to taste my fish with a little lemon without all of those heavy cream sauces. They seem to be the only restaurant in Aruba that is able to get it right - and I love them for that!

My husband and I celebrated our five year aniversary at Gasparito. We were very eager to go, because we heard many good things about the restaurant from our close friends. First, I must say that the combination of the decoration and the atmosphere was enchanting! The food was very good, and the service was attentive and friendly. My husband and I wanted to celebrate someplace that was local, and had character (but not a tourist trap) and we found it ALL at Gasparito. We took some pictures by the old well as a reminder of our incredible night. I think that this was the best aniversary celebration my husband and I have ever had in our five years together! Thank you Gasparito, we will see you soon!!

I have been to Gasparito before and thought it was very good. I just went again this year and the service was terrible. We stood by the front desk for 5 minutes before the owner rushed by and said I'll be with you in a minute. After we were seated we waited @10 minutes before we saw our waitress. Noone ever came by during our meal to see if we were ok and we had to ask 4 different people including the owner for our check. Then we had to panic because we put a $100.00 bill in the folder to pay and they couldn't find it after they took it from us. Besides the poor service the food was good.

It was good until after dinner. We have been there before and loved it. I don't know if this was a bad night -- not too busy, but I think our waitress fell into a big black hole in the kitchen? They never picked up our dinner dishes. We had to find someone to give us the check --- needless to say, we never had dessert. The food was delicious but the lack of service really ruined our meal...not sure if we'll go back.

Gasparito must be the most romantic setting I have dined in.
My husband and I were there during the week of Jan. 20th and had a great dinner on the terrace.

The owner, Reimundo came to explain to us the entire menu shortly after we were seated. The sun had just set and the lighting, surroundings and beautiful music made for a very romantic ambiance.

We started off with appetizers. I had the raviolis with kerry kerry (shredded fish) in rose sauce and my partner the coconut shrimps and a fish soup. The shrimps and soup were very tasty but the winner of this round was clearly the raviolis. I would not let them take the plate until I got every drop of the sauce in my mouth.

Since we had gone to Gasparito to savour the local cuisine we chose from the crioyo lovers samplings.

My husband went for a combo plate suggested by Reimundo (not on the menu) of stoba di bestia chiquito (goat stew) and Aruban chicken.
I went for the Keshi yena combo (half chicken, half seafood).
Everything was good but each plate had a winner. The goat stew was one of the best we ever tasted (even better the one we had in St-Martin). As for the keshi yena we preferred the chicken version given that the seafood one had mostly shrimps in it. The side dish of coconut rice (the best I've ever had), plantain, polenta and veggies just added to the already excellent main dishes.

The service was excellent throughout the evening with then entire staff on the lookout to make sure we had everything we wanted.

Although we were rolling by this point, everything had been so delicious we couldn't resist trying a desert. Again on Reimundo's suggestion we tried the fried banana. The not-too-sweet cinnamon coating and beautiful presentation made it a perfect ending to the meal.

We finished off the evening with a visit indoors to the art gallery where Uthana, Reimundo's wife, took the time to explain the origin of many of the paintings.

It was the most enjoyable evening we spent in Aruba and we are very much looking foreward (dreaming constantly is more like it) to going back.