Senses Fine Dining Restaurant — Restaurant in Aruba

Let me start out by saying in the 100s of google reviews I’ve left this is the first negative one I’ve written.

From start to finish our evening was a complete disaster at Senses. The menu lists a bourbon old fashion, it says ask your server for the bourbon list. I ask and the server has no idea of any bourbon. She goes inside for ten minutes and comes back out. Not a big deal. When it comes to ordering main entree, each entree has two wine suggestions. I ask about those and she had no clue about them other than the price of one is slightly more than the other (obviously it’s on the menu).

Here’s where things get even worse.

Food comes out, presentation is ok, nothing great, underwhelming for a $60 steak and $40 snapper. Their wine dispenser doesn’t work for the glass I ordered, so she goes back inside and gets something else, and that dispenser also doesn’t work. At this point I tell her DONT WORRY ABOUT THE WINE. I was done with my meal! She brings it out a third time and finally pours me a glass. 15 minutes later. Again, I told her I didn’t want it as I was already done eating. I’m assuming at this point it’s complementary at the least. Nope!

Now it really gets interesting!

My wife’s ribeye was probably the worst steak above $20 we have ever had. It was 90% fat. My red snapper was covered in skin and had zero flavor. Potatoes tasted like they belonged at a breakfast buffet. I can grill snapped with lemon salt and pepper that would’ve blown this one out of the water.

I ask the server about the wine not being charged as it wasn’t served with my meal, so she goes and gets her manager. The manager informs me there is “nothing she can do” and that the wine “must be charged” as they poured it. What?!? I told her not to pour the wine! I also told the manager how bad the steak was and she goes “ribeyes are a fatty cut”. Really?? Almost like we’ve had 100s of ribeyes in our lives. We are from the Midwest!

The entire thing was an absolute mockery and disgrace and it’s unfortunate as this place has quite good reviews for the food and wine pairing event. I would stay FAR AWAY from the a la carte dining.

Literally all the manager would’ve had to do was not charge us for the wine I said NOT TO BRING, as I had finished my “meal” and maybe take 10% off given the poor quality of both entrees.

For the special nights in Aruba, take yourself to OceanZ, The Wine Room, etc. $200...

My family has been coming to Aruba for over 25 years and Senses is our favorite dining experience, hands down.

My parents visited Senses last week for dinner and swooned over it, so when I arrived, we scheduled a time for Monday brunch.

We were greeted with a wonderful glass of champagne on the porch, which was incredibly tranquil since the restaurant is on the Bucuti & Tara hotel grounds. The chef (who doubled as sommelier) and sous chef came out to introduce themselves to us and proceeded to show us to the chefs counter.

It was just my parents and I at brunch because the other party had a late cancel so it was a private dining experience!! The 2 chefs were personable, did not hover, and were great company overall.

The food is on another level. Everything was phenomenal. The chefs pull from Dutch and Indonesian influences and the food is inventive, tasty, and more than enough to fill you up. My mom and I don’t eat meat and they accommodated us without question.

The flavors are paired perfectly with the different wines. The brunch comes with a wine pairing (white from Seattle with the salmon dish, Riesling from Seattle with the lemongrass soup - forgot to photograph*, red with snapper, white sparkling from Italy with dessert).

If you were on the fence at all, don’t be. It was truly a 5 star experience. The chef is hosting a pop up in NY (where we live) and we can’t wait to participate!

Cleanliness - 5 ⭐️ Food quality - 5 ⭐️ Food inventiveness - 5 ⭐️ Personality of team - 5 ⭐️ Service - 5...

Wow. That’s all that really needs to be said! We had a fantastic meal for our honeymoon last night. Chef Geert blew us away with the flavors and textures in every dish. You can tell he takes so much pride in his meals as you watch him cook and his precision with plating. He took us through a journey of multiple countries and was happy to speak with all of us and answer questions. The pop rock sensation he added to the mousse was probably my favorite part, and the food rivaled our meal at The French Laundry. The service was also fantastic (thank you Elisa!) - I highly recommend the wine pairing with the meal. I can’t eat red meat or pork so they actually poured me two different wines to make sure that I had the best pairing with the flavors of my dish. Don’t miss out on the Chef’s Table here when you’re in Aruba. We can’t wait...