Kamini's Kitchen — Restaurant in San Nicolaas

My husband and I have been going to Kamini’s Kitchen for years, ever since she opened her current location. For years, we couldn’t say enough great things about Kamini, her husband (chef), servers, and the food. Her food has always been great. It is still excellent in flavor; however the portions have drastically gotten smaller (especially the very tiny shrimp in her curry). The prices have increased; but that is to be expected. That’s everywhere you go. People understand the cost of everything has gone up; but don’t charge me more and give me less. Kamini herself was, at one time years ago, a very humble lady who appreciated every person who walked into her restaurant. That beautiful and kind woman is long gone. She has gotten a taste of success and money. Actually, after she appeared on a menu magazine cover just a few years back, Kamini has become an arrogant and very greedy woman. This is sad, because if you look at the reviews, including the negative ones, there are many. I will say that her food is still very good; but both she and her servers have become simply not nice. For one, Kamini will hand you a squeeze bottle of her special hot sauce made from peppers she gets from Trinidad. Then, she will proceed to TELL you how to use it…. drop by drop. And don’t waste a drop. She seriously reprimands you if you use even the tiniest amount too much. That’s fine because of how she has to source the peppers to make it. But a nicer approach, that wouldn’t make you feel like you are a two year old, would be to offer it (IF YOU ASK FOR SOME) in a very small 1-ounce paper soufflé cup…. the same way some establishments still serve ketchup. There’s no need to treat any paying adult human beings like they are idiots. And then there’s the issue of getting a complimentary glass of water when you’re first seated, in addition to any refills. She no longer gives out glasses of water for free. Ever since the pandemic, she has taken advantage of every opportunity to nickel and dime her customers. She MAKES you purchase bottles of water…plastic bottles bog water!!! This is absolutely unheard of and ridiculous, and quite possibly not even legal. You are on a hot desert island which is known to have the best drinking water in the entire Caribbean, if not the world. Every magazine and tour book comments on Arubas drinking water. I don’t recall her exact excuse for forcing me to purchase bottled water; but I believe it had something to do with “old pipes”. Her restaurant and that building is not that old. So that is just a plain old bull crap excuse to take more money from her customers. I have traveled to Aruba more than 35 times over the past 22 years, spending three weeks at a time here. I never cook a single meal while on vacation in Aruba; therefore eating all of my meals at the MANY amazing restaurants of Aruba. Kamini’s Kitchen is the only place, other than one VERY OLD establishment in San Nicolas that charges me for water. She simply will not give out complimentary tap water to her customers, forcing me to drink water from a single-use plastic water bottle. Shame on you, Kamini. You need to RE-LEARN the Golden Rule. TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WISH TO BE TREATED YOURSELF. It goes a long way. It pains me to be writing this review; because it honestly takes more effort and energy to say and do something negative, than it does to just say kind things. Unfortunately, I just cannot say all of the great things about Kamini and her restaurant that I said in the past. The food is still good; however, I just cannot bring myself to support her greed. Instead of responding in such a negative way to those who are not experiencing your best, be appreciative and learn something. With the long list of negative reviews, not on your food, but your service and demeanor, everybody cannot be wrong. Please learn from this, Kamini. You will be so much more rewarded if you learn to give more than you take. My husband has taught me that exact thing. And it...

All in all an experience I am glad I did not miss. Before even ariving in Aruba, Kamini's Kitchen was on my list of must visit eateries, so when I arrived it was to satisfy a week old craving for good food. Everything was good, except our dish of choice.

I visited after enjoying a relaxing sea bath at Baby Beach, and so was famished. I live in the Caribbean, so I did not have a desire for curry - having eaten it just the day before I traveled - I opted for the meat platter with fries. It contained fried pork chops, wings and pork ribs. Only the ribs and fries were edible. The pork chops tasted old and the wings were simply terrible. We did not eat 2 of the 3 meats.

When our server came to enquire how was our meal, we politely stated our observations on the wings and the pork, and asked for the bill. We were hungry and needed to get something elsewhere to eat. We did agree that with such great reviews for the curry dishes that we would return before the end of our stay to try the duck or goat.

Kamini visited our table to clarify what was wrong with the meal, once again we explained, she did acknowledged that the better dishes were the curried ones and even mentioned that they were serving curried mutton on the menu today. After a lovely hr long conversation and a mini tour of the establishment - Kamini has done an excellent job with her resturant and it has very modern facilities. I'm happy for her - we paid the bill - USD $51.00, tipped our server and left.

We were not offered a replacement meal, a reduced bill for being unable to eat the meal - the plate was cleared away with all the wings save 1 and all the pork chops except the 2 pieces that we tasted. The possibility of good curry is not sufficient to make us return again, to be honest, any resturant can have a bad food day or just a bad dish...but its how its handled that...

This establishment was recommended by one of the guys working at the resort we stayed at. Finally was able to get there and was not disappointed. Was greeted by an all smiles server and immediately had a connection. Our other server a young man from 🇯🇲 was extremely friendly and took our order. Gave us some ideas off menu to chose from. I was pumped b/c had "doubles" a Trini delicacy so got that as my appetizer. Fresh juices included mango and passion fruit so had a mix of both. Water is bottled so if want that too you pay for it. The restaurant that has a very open concept is very busy. The breezy atmosphere this offers is a gr8 addition w/ the Aruba heat. It looks like a hse that was turned in2 a restaurant. No fancy, fru-fruness, it's perfect for the location. Wafting thru the air are the different smells from the kitchen can tell everything being prepared is fresh and made at time of order. The food came out piping hot and oh so flavorful!!! Hubster had the polenta (corn meal) fried w/ gouda on top. The main was curry goat w/ rice and peas, fresh salad and mixed steam veggies prepared as a stir fry. Hubby had the curry snapper w/ bami (noodles and veggies mixed). We were quite satisfied by the portions given and the taste of the dishes chosen. The price was reasonable. So if looking for a good Caribbean restaurant pls chk out this hidden gem in San Nicholas u won't b disappointed. It would be on rotation every time I return to Aruba no doubt.... added fun fact it is woman owned by a...