The Caribbean Blend Beach Bar & Restaurant on the half-French half-Dutch island of St. Maarten was a great find that we almost missed. We were on a Caribbean cruise that had a port call on this island. We have been there many times and have always searched out one of their amazing beaches (Baie Rouge on the French side of the island being one of our favorites). This time we had planned to do some shopping and get a bite to eat at one of the local restaurants near the cruise port in Philipsburg.
We started to stroll the boardwalk in search of a place to eat and were drawn into the Caribbean Blend by the wonderful aromas of smoked meat coming from their open flame grill. It was our very first stop and, since we weren’t starving yet, we decided to have a drink and continue our search for food and get a little shopping in along the way. We walked the entire length of the boardwalk checking out all the restaurants and couldn’t find anything that looked that great. We probably passed by several more-than-adequate restaurants, but we couldn’t get that incredible aroma from the Caribbean Blend out of our minds. We hurried back to the restaurant to have lunch, having now worked up an appetite. Sometimes you just need to go with your first choice.
Looking over the menu, it took me a long time to decide what I was going to order from the grill (jerk chicken breast, jerk chicken wings, ribs, grouper, mahi-mahi, marlin & conch). I finally decided on the chicken wings and I am glad I did. The wings were smoky, with crispy skin and a spicy BBQ sauce. Exactly the way I would expect to get wings in the Caribbean. The other item we ordered was the grilled Mahi-Mahi fish sandwich, firm and flaky with tons of flavor. They were both served with rice, beans, fried plantains and a salad.
A perfect day sitting next to the ocean in the sunshine with great food and a beautiful breeze. What an incredible lunch we had on St. Maarten at the Caribbean Blend Beach Bar & Restaurant. I just loved it.
