Nusa Aruba — Restaurant in Oranjestad (city)

Our family of 4 recently dined at Nusa during our trip to Aruba. The food is outstanding and it is in a fun location on the pier near the cruise ships. They have an open air setting with lighting and decor that evokes an Indonesian vibe. The service was fairly good, but the only reason I can't give 5 stars was due to the booking process. I booked this restaurant on Open Table on a Monday afternoon for dinner on a Wednesday night. I received email confirmation of my reservation on 3/19 at 6:15pm...exactly as I had intended. I figured all was well. Then, while in the middle of our dinner on Monday night I received a call from Nusa at 6:45pm saying that they were waiting for us and (after 30 minutes of holding our table) asked if we were still coming. I informed them that the reservation was for 2 days from now and they said, "oh, ok, we will change it to Wednesday". (no apology for getting it wrong on their end, just implying I was a no show and wanted to change days) So , I hung up and went back to my meal, thinking that was very strange and referenced my email once again confirming my Wednesday reservation. On Tuesday morning I saw an email come through from Open Table that indicated my Wednesday reservation was cancelled. Now I started to wonder what in the world is going on with this restaurant? So on Wednesday morning I decided to call to reconfirm, especially since this was our last night of vacation and we were driving down from the Palm Beach area...I did not want to arrive without knowing we had a table. When I called Nusa, they indicated that they had our reservation for 6:15pm...so, I thought great, we are all set...no more back and forth. We arrived at Nusa for dinner promptly at 6:15pm on Wednesday ...after waiting a bit for them to find our reservation, I could tell there was a problem...then a gentleman told me that I cancelled our reservation. Now, I was extremely irritated and was almost ready to leave, just as they were able to find us a table. Once we were seated we saw a small chalk placard on the table that read "reserved for Kelly" ....my reservation! I seriously could not believe it...what is with all of the drama and man-hours surrounding a simple dinner reservation? I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes here, but it seems perhaps there are too many people involved in the reservation process (which should be quite simple and straightforward.) I had really wanted to speak with the manager about the situation, but at this point wanted to get dinner going and they were busy so I dropped it for the night, knowing I would have to leave this review to make other potential diners aware. In the end, the food was excellent, but it's a rough start to dinner when you sit down already annoyed with the restaurant. Further, since having this experience with Nusa, we have read other reviews claiming the same botched...

Outstanding hospitality and service, beautiful presentation and most importantly great food.

Small but beautiful restaurant. We love the atmosphere sitting outside after sunset, the lighting was beautiful. Some light music wouldn't hurt the ambience but I know the restaurant just opened and that may be coming in the near future.

The staff was well trained and extremely personable and friendly, and they struck a perfect balance of checking up on us for water and drinks but gave us plenty of space to relax and talk without us feeling rushed at all.

We ordered 7 dishes to share and both the prawn bread and peanut dip and soup appetizer. The prawn bread (Kroepoek) was delicous- like big, light pork rinds but subtle seafood taste. The soup Soto Ayam reminded me a bit of Japanese ramen, complete with soy marinated eggs that were delicious.

For the main courses, we ordered the chicken spring rolls, Rendang beef stew, Fish stew, chicken stew, Bali Ribs-, Chicken Skewers, and green beans.

The highlights for me were the Rendang beef stew (my #1 favorite) and the Bali Ribs which were both fantastic. The fish stew and chicken skewers were also very good. The fish stew reminded me of a Thai green curry flavor, and the chicken skewers were covered in a yummy peanut sauce.

I also loved the taste and texture of the side of noodles (Bami Goreng) and the fried rice (Nasi) was tasty as well. Only a little underwhelmed by the chicken stew, which wasn't as flavorful or interesting as the rest of the dishes we ordered. Still, we ate until we were completely overstuffed and picking at the table still because of how delicious the food was. Overall an A+ experience and very memorable shared...

This was our second time at Nusa. The first was a year ago and they were located in a neighborhood off the beaten path and the food was incredible. So our second time to Aruba, we thought we must visit again. They have moved location and they're now where the ships come in next to Lima. Anyway, our second time fell short. Not sure if some of the recipes changed, but expectations fell a little short. "Isle"? (sp) our server was great and she made sure we were taken care of, often coming by to see how we were snd if we needed anything. Maybe, if was a one off night, I dunno. We were expecting more spice bowls, like last time. Most the dishes were really good. Only a couple missed the mark. Wontoon dumpling soup, fish curry, spring rolls, fried dumplings, were all really good. Bali ribs were ok, I was expecting more flavor and the beef stew was dry, no "stew" involved. Our last visit, the beef stew was our favorite, and there were several spice bowls to mix or top with each dish. Like I said, maybe it was a one off night. It's worth a visit if you're looking for something different. The rice table is the way to go to allow shareable plates. You will find something for everyone. Not dragging them under the bus so give...