Ingridiënts Restaurant — Restaurant in Bonaire

This was such a disappointment. First we made a reservation about two weeks ago for a table at the waterside. What we got was some table at the side. Excuse was that the one (?) table at the front waterside was reserved for a birthday. Ordering the Truffle‐Parmesan-Pasta we always loved, this was just boring this time. Being asked if everything was alright, I said it was not. The waitress walked away with that information and never returned. After, idk, 20 minutes sitting in front of half eaten dishes that we didn't like, I had to call her again, asking what is happening. She told me that she was discussing with her manager what they could do. Clearly she didn't, for 20 minutes. At the end we were not offered anything to compensate, but had to pay the full price for both dishes, which we ate only some bites of. We made bad experiences with the service at Ingredients before in the last few years, but this was just too much. They try to appear like an upper class restaurant, they are clearly not. We went again and again as it is close to the Sanddollar where we stay and the restaurant is at a nice location. But staff is just inexperienced and don't meet expectations for a good restaurant.

Update Thanksgiving 2022:

After my review last time I have been contacted immediately to make my experience better. I accepted and we had a nice evening (not exceptional, but good). I also agreed to keep our reservation for Thanksgiving, based on that good experience. Well, I have to say, Ingredients is not equipped to meet higher expectations. We were still not getting a front row seat. On my question what I have to do, I have been told that people book a table up to one year (!) in advance. And stupid me thought three weeks would be enough. I like good wine and hoped to get one of their "Noble Wines". Three of those were not available. On my question, why that is, I hear that "we have a new wine list". Ok then, bring it on, I say. Oh, I can't, was the answer (not telling a reason why). Then it takes for ever to come back with an alternative, except, there was no alternative. The Saga goes on. Our food got confused not just ones but twice. Looking around, people getting annoyed as their food got confused, too. Also, for us, the wait time was kind of acceptable, others were waiting for their food for about an hour or so. For something as simple as "Bread and Dip" which was supposed to be with Aioli (I know they have a good one they serve as a starter) and something, it was just butter, salt and olive oil (well, ok, you can dip that, I suppose) . Confirmed by the neighbor table, they had the same issue. Tbh, I don't know why we go there again and again. Probably just because it's walking distance from Sanddollar. They tried to make it up and fail again and again. If you are looking for some upscale dining experience, do yourself a favor and go to Sebastians, or even better Capriccio's.

To the management of Ingredients: you cannot run an upscale restaurant on...

The best thing about this restaurant was the view. Food was middling. Waiter was good. Manager duped us.

The burrata was good. Could have used some bread, but was fine by itself. The parmesean truffle pasta wasn't terribly flavorful. Too bad because they put a lot of effort into the presentation when they serve. Perhaps they should put more effort into the flavor. Definitely needed more garlic. The catch of the day was okay. Not the best fist dish I've ever had, but also not the worst. Again, not terribly flavorful. The eatamess was good and tangy. Probably the most flavorful thing we had.

Our server was attentive. The manager, who sat us though, asked if we wanted sparkling or flat water. Most places we have been to when you say flat they bring tap water. They brought a bottle out, and served it to us. No big deal, lots of restaurants use bottles to serve water. However, when we asked for more, the waiter opened up the new bottle at the table and we realized that it was bottled water we had to pay for...clearly the manager had duped us...1 star...

The restaurant itself is beautiful. We went after dark so you can’t see well but it looks out right over the ocean. A great view and scenic dinner.

The service itself was on the tougher side. We were sat at 6:50pm and left after 9pm. There were only about 7-10 tables sat in the place with 3 servers around. We had to ask the bar for water at one point because our server never came back. A nice guy but not great service.

The menu itself is small. Only a few dishes to choose from in terms of main courses. We got the Hong Kong style sea bass, spicy seafood pasta, and the scallops. The seafood pasta comes with the catch of the day and our server didn’t know what fish that was… they gave us a side of fries, we asked which dish it came with and they said we shouldn’t have gotten fries. I wouldn’t say any of them blew us away. They were all fine dishes but lacked flavor.

Overall just an okay experience. We paid $120 for 2 people with 2 drinks, 1 app, 2 dishes, and a dessert. Everything was fine quality but...