Salina Local Cuisine — Restaurant in Aruba

Ate here for a late lunch on a whim, it was the day after Christmas 2024, so not sure if understaffed or they just didn't care. Our party of 7 was quickly seated and there was only one other table of 2 in the seated indoor dining area. We were handed menus and then were pretty much left alone for about 10 minutes, just long enough for happy hour to end. We weren't really planning on ordering any drinks anyway but that seemed a bit too intentional. It took about that long to be given glasses of water and although we were short one, it took them another 5 minutes to notice or care. We then ordered our food, got the food, and two of our three fried fish (grouper) sandwiches seemed undercooked (the meat wasn't remotely close to being flaky and cooked through). We had these two sandwiches sent back and after about 10 minutes fresh sandwiches came out. This time one of the sandwiches still looked undercooked. I guess I haven't eaten enough grouper but I guess I'm not used to undercooked fried fish or aware that it's supposed to be served a bit undercooked? Regardless the waitress seemed a bit rude, and seemed annoyed that I didn't just eat my sandwich as is, which was undercooked. Pasta servings are tiny, saliña chicken bites were over fried and dry. Food wasn't horrible, just took longer to come out than expected for being so empty and the waitress seemed annoyed to be working. Not the most pleasant experience and it seemed to be reflected in the attitude of two other diners who came in after us and seemed to also have some issues with their meal. Would not return and wouldn't recommend this place unless you're actually staying inside the resort complex,...

Went for a swim at Saliña’s and stopped by for some dinner. There was also a live singer making the evening even more relaxing and wonderful! Dinner was so so delicious. We got:

🐠 One of the best Ceviches we’ve ever had! So fresh and delicious, absolutely loving how well the red onion, fish and lime go together.

🥩 Super juicy, medium rare steak with the best mushroom sauce ever. It was so creamy and made very well without the mushroom flavor or smell being too pungent or overwhelming. Liquid gold sauce right here!

🐟 Grouper is our new favorite fish now! So buttery when lightly fried, just the best kind of texture to bite into for fish. The funchi was interesting to have for the first time, deep fried polenta, I liked it as a vehicle for my ceviche. The plantains were so deliciously caramelized, each bite was so warm and gooey!

🥩 Churrasco Steak came with chimichurri sauce which was very light with EVOO and herby, pairing together with the steak quite nicely.

🧅 Onion soup was super cheesy and surprisingly light with some bread cubes underneath the melted layer of cheese. So tasty!

🍹 Drinks were freshly made and paired well with each of our plates!

What a great, lowkey night and a delicious dinner with a relaxing live singer and attentive staff. Highly recommend checking this place out next time you’re...

Located inland, Saliña makes me think of the restaurant of a modern private country club. It is not too difficult to reach, but you must know where to look; you drive into a guarded settlement of new villas (the Gold Coast), telling security that you are going to the Saliña restaurant, and follow the signs. The place itself has a big terrace next to a swimming pool with sand and palapas around it, looking into some large pond with a free view all around (though the coast is not visible). Being completely in the open, there is no protection from the wind, but some tables near the bar are partially sheltered (I also saw an internal section). We found the ambiance pleasant and welcoming, with a degree of informal elegance, some customers were there only for a sunset drink (happy hour discount before 7pm). They had a good choice of drinks, and the food was very good, we enjoyed the fried calamari and the fresh grouper. Service was cordial and efficient, though we were not successful in pointing out that the wi-fi was not operating well (the router needed a simple reset, but this was beyond the scope of the conversation with our waiter). Overall a nice evening, we will keep Saliña on our map for the future, both for a full meal and only...