Peanuts Restaurant — Restaurant in Oranjestad (city)

Order: Keeshi Yena, Aruban Seafood Plater Price: $35 Positives: Really good pricing, mouthwatering cheese, great selection Negatives: Freezing cold in here tldr: great Danish food and very reasonable prices

Thoughts: We had just about given up on finding any food that wasn’t expensive when we stopped in Peanuts. Our Airbnb host had highly recommended it for the local food, is basically seafood and Dutch [weird at first but they are a part of the Netherlands]. I’m not sure what the name Peanuts had to do with anything, but the food was some of the best we had in Aruba.

We weren’t starving so we skipped appetizers and went straight for the main course. I went with a casserole style dish with chicken, olives, some other veggies marinated in a flavorful tomato sauce and they topped with a large thick slice of Gouda cheese. Exceptionally delicious meal that almost had a Greek/Italian taste to it. Everything was cooked really well, and all the flavors marinated together to make an amazing dish. The only thing I wish was different is the cheese. When the dish came out the cheese wasn’t quite melted into that amazing gooeyness that makes cheese dishes the best.

My wife though had the winning dish of the night, and honestly one of the best dishes on our Aruba trip. It was called the Aruban Seafood platter, which honestly doesn’t really make sense, it should probably be called something like the Danish fish shepherd’s pie. It’s basically a casserole with chunks of grouper, covered with light, whipped mashed potatoes, and melted gouda cheese. It was a magical combination of mashed potatoes, fish, and cheesy deliciousness. No one component of the dish really jumped out at me but despite that, or maybe because of it, the dish was packed full of flavor.

To top that off we realized that all the prices on the menu were in florins so not only was this one of the best restaurants we had been to in Aruba it was also one of the cheapest which was amazing. We sort of order their two most expensive dishes (or at least close to it) and walked out of the restaurant for under $40, not a bad deal at all. I would urge you to go check out Peanuts if you’re looking to try some local food (again, local food is sort of Dutch) or just looking to save some money but still get...

Unfortunately, I wish that I could give zero stars. I can overlook slow service, especially when our server was very kind. However, something that I cannot overlook is the ‘10% service charge’, which was actually 20% when you do the math, that was applied to our bill. When I questioned our server about it he informed me that the service charge was for the restaurant and not the servers. THIS BLEW MY MIND! What is the purpose of this charge, where is it actually going, and why was I not informed about this charge prior to ordering my food?(Keep in mind, I read the entire menu, top to bottom as I’m not familiar with Aruban food, and I wanted to see what my choices were.) Despite my confusion about the service charge, I tipped our server on the amount of the food & drink and continued with my evening. Nonetheless, the service charge bothered me so much that I felt the need to write a review and inform other tourists on this ‘happy island’ of this restaurants SCAM. Also, I cannot agree with the majority of reviews as I found the food to be horrible, but then again I’m...

Saw this place on a day when I filled the rental car up with gas at the station across the street. It looked interesting. but there was an Indonesian place nearby that looked more interesting. So we walked there for dinner from Divi Dutch Village, about a 2 mile walk. Unfortunately, the Indonesian place was closed so we ate here. We were seated immediately. I ordered a vegetarian chow mein dis and my wife ordered fish with plantains, polenta and local aruban bread. My wife ordered a local beer. And we waited and waited and waited. Waiter was very friendly, it was just super slow. Everytime the kitchen door opened we thought the food was for us, but it was not. About an hour later we got our meal. She didn't care for the fried fish. I had the polenta and liked it. She did eat the plantains. I was hoping she wouldn't. The bread was okay. I started feeling nauseous and stopped eating. i wish I'd just left some money for the beer and left and gone somewhere else. There was a huge party there of maybe 15 people, but that's no excuse....