77.8 F
Cruz Bay
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesPALM COURT AT ELYSIAN BEACH RESORT

PALM COURT AT ELYSIAN BEACH RESORT

Ambiance: *****
Food: ****
Service: *****
Value: ****
Palm Court
Elysian Beach Resort. Breakfast 7:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Lunch 11:30
a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner 6:30- 10 p.m. Continental. Danish-style buffet
brunch Sun. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. $$. Cards: AX, V, MC, D, DC, CB. $$.
775-1000.
If you are into a quiet, romantic evening at a beachfront café with rich food and impeccable service, Palm Court at the Elysian Beach Resort is for you. If you want to pig out on good food with a host of like-minded individuals, try the Sunday brunch. This establishment is almost all things to all people.
During the off season, at least, there is ample parking during the week. When the joint is jumping, you can park at the top of the property and take the public access walk some 150 + feet to the beach.
Here you will find a most roomy establishment with almost half the tables outside the building proper. The night I visited there was a piano player dishing out his renditions of popular 60's and 70's music which made for a most pleasant experience. The rest rooms are most roomy, quite clean, and well stocked. They even manage to smell OK, which keeps you in the mood to enjoy your dinner.
The waiters are gems. Quiet, quick, and unobtrusive. None of this constant harassment: "Is everything alright?" These Gentlemen simply keep you in view and make sure you do not have to motion or ask. They also handle multiple checks without any hassle treating one's proclivities as if they are the norm.
The Elysian is a Condominium/ Hotel. That is to say, all units have either a full kitchen or at least a refrigerator and microwave. As a result, regardless of the volume of business, the restaurant is definitely complementary to the hotel. This must cause a great deal of concern to the executive chef who can never tell just how much of any entree he will be expected to produce in a given evening.
The appetizer list is a bit limited. Shrimp cocktail with an excellent sauce, fruit compote, and conch fritters. The fritters had an excellent batter, but, in my mind, suffered from being too large a clump of dough. The flavor was really good, but the clump was a bit raw in the center. Better, to my taste, to roll the four clumps into eight little finger size fritters which would cook all the way through. They came with both seafood sauce and mango chutney. It was a most piquant seafood sauce, but I wiped out the chutney. Yum.
The shrimp with angle hair pasta was very well done and presented. The sauce was heavy cream based with a light flavor to complement that of the shrimp. The swordfish, on the other hand, was mushy and reminded one of a mashed potato cake in a cream sauce and capers. The steamed fresh vegetables were done just exactly to my taste and caused one diner to request an additional helping.
Desert was also a bit slim, probably due to the lack of scale. Four different kinds of cake including the obligatory carrot, coconut, and chocolate.
The tip was left to the discretion of the patron, but the service was so good even Scrooge would have been obliged to do a good turn. Will definitely have to try the Friday Caribbean buffet and an evening meat dish. After all, the ambiance and service demand a second go.
Palm Court is a participant in the Rotary East Dine Out program. If you don't already have a book, you are encouraged to get one from any Rotary East member or Color of Joy at American Yacht Charter, Red Hook. This fine dining program introduces you to some of the better restaurants on St. Thomas during the summer months allowing for a free second entr e, drink, or dessert; depending on the establishment. (See St.Thomas Source/ Community/ Organizations)
The Tottering Taster is a Senior Citizen dedicated to enjoying good food. He will dine in one local establishment a week and bring you a totally unsolicited assessment biased in favor of an ultimate experience.
Editors' note: The Tottering Taster is a senior citizen dedicated to enjoying good food. He will dine in one local establishment a week and bring you a totally unsolicited assessment biased in favor of an ultimate experience. We are using a pseudonym so that restaurateurs will not be able to identify the reviewer and try to influence the review.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.