Sal the kitchen — Restaurant in Curaçao

The service was good to a point. The waiter was very warm and friendly; the waitress was more business like. We had to ask for bread and butter, because they were not automatically provided. The food was pricey, the portions were small.

We tried 3*Penechillin-Blended whisky, lemon juice, home made tamarind liqueur, ginger-honey syrup. It was pretty strong, it knocked me out. I felt a bit dizzy.

4*Limoncello Spritz-homemade limoncello topped with Prosecco: Original and tasty.

2*Cauliflower Baklava: Served with walnut vinaigrette, rosewater emulsion and pistache powder. It tasted predominantly sour and nothing else. The portion was extremely small. I wouldn’t order it again.

4* Crudo: thinly sliced conch served with pickled ginger, roe, mango, sriracha cucumbers and garlic oil. It was great combination of texture and flavors.

3*Angus Neck n' Nopal-A grilled local cactus, topped with braised angus beef neck, salsa macha, pico de gallo and pickled radishes. The portion was very small, probably 3 pieces of beef that were cooked tender, nothing memorable about the taste.

4*Sauteed Mushrooms- mushrooms served with yoghurt ice cream, pumpkin puree, mint and chive oil: creative and the sauce was pretty good, but a bit salty.

4*Paella: Served with calamares, mussels and chorizo. The menu indicated that it was served with prawns, but we didn’t see any. The socarrat bottom was crunchy and flavorful.

3*Spicy, crispy mango-Inspired from McDonalds in Shanghai. It was a combination of vanilla ice cream, chili crisp, topped with some fresh mango and Prosecco: very creative and it was not that sweet but...

I was truly excited to dine here… I of course made reservations (thinking it was Saturday night and perhaps it'd be busy on the island) but there was no need… we were dropped off here by a cab b/c it was a trek from our hotel… and I was tired and I didn't want to be sweaty for dinner. The reservation was at 6 pm and we walked in and literally, there was no one there. For a moment I was worried they were closed.

The servers greeted us and told us to pick where to sit. It's outside so there's no AC… We sat by the gate, and ordered the following: 1) Ricotta dumplings = it was amazing delicious. The portion was just right and I ate most of it. 2) Curry Sprouts = My cousin ate most of this and it was good. 3) Paella Socarrat = This was a unique way of doing paella. It was good but surprised at the presentation.

For my drink… I had the Penichillin' - it was good… I didn't want to be tipsy walking back so I nursed it the whole dinner.

The main reason why this review is under "average" is b/c of the flies… yup… apparently if you have dinner early at 6ish… it's the time of the flies (that's what our server told us) b/c she too was shocked at the amount of flies that were flocking into our food. My cousin and I ate so fast… b/c we didn't want the flies to come near it. The Citronella candle couldn't stop them but us eating so fast… My cousin ended up getting a tummy ache from eating too fast.

The food and service were amazing. The ambiance of the flies… not so much. Thus, please make your...

Sal The Kitchen. I have eaten wonderful food all over the world. The major thing besides service and atmosphere, well, the best thing is this. True culinary expertise as I define is this. It is when a chef can make a flavor stand alone and then walk it into another flavor and marry them together. All this is happening in your mouth. It is the true mark of greatness. Sal The Kitchen did this over and over again. It has been awhile since I experience something special in the culinary arena, this place delivered. If you are visiting the island. Stop by this restaurant. First of all the prices aren't outrageous. Super adorable. In fact that you are getting a top of the line experience with food that you will be talking about at a reasonable price. We had the following. Marinated tuna. You will die. Fabulous. My wife had Sautaited Mushrooms. Wonderful, light and super flavorable. I choose Thick Chic. Packed full of flavor and best chicken hands down. The thicc Chic was so good that I refused to try my wife's paella in order not to contaminate my pallet. She loved her plate so it must have been good too. I had the martini for dessert, which I chose not to share. Screw you all cause it was delicious. My wife the watermelon infused with curry and passion fruit. Holy cow! I died.

A must visit.

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