Last night we had the opportunity to review the brand new Caribbean Fish Market at the Elysian Hotel (the old Roberts). They are one of two new restaurants the St. Thomas Restaurant Group has opened, the first being Sunset Grille (they just won our St. Thomas Blog Award for Best Newbie Restaurant).

Caribbean Fish Market has been opened for over a month now so they’ve had time to work out all the kinks and are fully operational. They’ve completely re-modeled the entire restaurant. Locals will be SHOCKED at the transformation. Tourists will just think it’s really cool. And just to dispel the rumors that Caribbean Fish Market is expensive please scroll down for prices.

Back to their design…they have a cool fish tank tv:

A Nautical Theme:

A New Bar that looks huge and open since they took down the storage cabinets that hung over the bar on either side, and the blue colors are awesome…

We were greeted by a VERY friendly waiter known as “Big Life” who hails from St. Kitts:

Big Life is a professional server, ask for him as he was exceptional. He’s a really great guy and he took a lot of ribbing from our party with a smile, so cheers to Big Life.

We all perused the menu and were pleasantly surprised at the prices. Appetizers range from $10-$16 and 11 of the 16 entrees are UNDER $30. I was hearing rumors that this was an expensive restaurant, sorry guys, it’s very affordable compared to other high end restaurants.

Check out the menus:

One idea I really like is the “Build Your Own Fresh Catch” dish. You can basically choose between fish, starch, veggie and sauce. That way when you go back another time you can mix it up a different way. Great idea.

Okay so…off we go with the spectacular food. We started with a little something from the Chef, a Tuna Tartare to wet our appetitie.

We then ordered our appetizers: Grilled Stuffed Calamari (stuffed with rock shrimp, peppers, scallions, lemon chive creme fraiche)

We all shared every dish to get honest opinions and my personal opinion of the Grilled Stuffed Calamari is that it’s the bomb! If you like calamari and don’t try this you’ll be missing out. I’d rank this as one of the best appetizers I’ve EVER had, it was that good. And only $12.

Nicci had the Lobster Organic Wild mushroom Ravioli (goat cheese cilantro pesto cream, truffle, baby arugula)

The goat cheese and pesto cream really made this a unique scrumptious dish. It was quickly devoured by our group of 4. I must say I’ve never seen lobster ravioli done this way and if you’re open to new tastes I’d highly recommend it. There were three big raviolis, pretty filling.

Our friend Cristina had the Chesapeake lump Crab Cake (their secret recipe, tempura tomatillo, citrus buerre blanc)

I did not try this appetizer but the rest of our group loved, loved, loved it.

Okay deep breaths, that’s a lot of food. Time for some great conversation while our entrees were being prepared. You can’t help but love the beach front setting. Eating dinner under the stars on the beach is just so relaxing. I think food just generally tastes better when you here the ocean in the background.

For dinner Cristina chose the Black Bass Special with lemon risotto, cream sauce and asaparagus:

The fish was tender, juicy and well prepared. The cream sauce was a bit too spicy for her though. I don’t eat fish and didn’t try it but Alan and Nicci both tried it and really enjoyed their bites.

Nicci had the Fish and Chips (VI beer battered, truffle scented house cut steak fries, lemon tarter sauce, sriracha ketchup). I actually looked at Nicci cross-eyed on her selection, I’m not a huge Fish and Chips on the menu kinda guy but they’re a seafood restaurant. Personally (if I ate fish) I would have skipped the Fish and Chips and went right to the build your own Fresh Catch, but that’s me.

As you can see by the photos they don’t skimp on the portion sizes. We all kinda felt the portion sizes were large for a high end restaurant. The fish was talapia.  Nicci enjoyed the Fish and Chips but it didn’t wow her…but the hand cut steak fries were phenomenal!  Nicci is looking foward to her next meal from the mix-and-match section.

Alan actually asked Big Life to pick anything and surprise him. So what did Big Life choose?

Drum roll please….He chose a manchego crusted NY Strip with grilled asparagus and 4 onion veal broth with crab mashed potatoes. Damn Big Life, who’s better than you!

I tried this steak and as a steak eater can guaranfreakintee you it will be one of the best NY strips you’ll ever have. Grilled to a perfect medium. You could cut it with a butter knife. Kudos to the chef on this one, just fabulous.

And last but not least I had the Surf and turf (Filet and whole lobster)

Let’s start with the seafood medley stuffing, unbelievable. Light and tasty, I don’t care for a heavy stuffing. The filet is an 8 ounce grass fed Angus which was thick, tender and juicy. The steak was as a good as you’ll get in any steakhouse. This one you could cut with a fork The lobster was tender and sweet but tough to get out of the shell. I found myself wrestling with a fork and a knife but it didn’t hurt the lobster taste or tenderness.  Obviously this is a pricey dish and not everyone will order but for those that do, you’ll love it!

Desserts included the Painkiller Rice Pudding

Red Velvet with cheesecake

Flourless Chocolate Torte

And Key-lime Cake

All the desserts were fantastic BUT the Key-Lime cake was to die for. Seriously folks, get the cake if you go, yummy

Caribbean Fish Market will make a mad dash at being the best seafood restaurant on St. Thomas. I expect big time things from these guys and that super Chef of theirs. The St. Thomas Restaurant group is really putting out some great meals and their service has always been top notch. Kudos guys.

As always we are fully transparent, Caribbean Fish Market is a paid advertiser and this was a paid review but had absolutely no bearing on how we rated the restaurant. we’re 100% honest and our clients are told that in advance. 

I’ve been waiting for Sunset Grille (an advertiser with us) to get a month or so behind them to work out all the little things brand new restaurants need to work out before I did an actual honest review. Last Tuesday night was the night.

Nicci, her mom/dad/aunt/uncle all joined in as restaurant critics for the night.

We arrived at 8:05 and were promptly escorted to our table for 6 over-looking the beach. You really can’t beat the atmosphere Sunset Grille has to offer. Our waitress Sara (pictured below) was quick to the table, very pleasant and nice and got us going on our cocktails (here she is delivering the wine to Nicci’s family – her uncle is very happy to see said wine):

Sara soon reappeared and took our order for soups, appetizers and our main course – all the while answering any questions we had and steering us to different selections based on what we were asking. She knew the menu through and through – signs of a great server.

Bread soon arrived at our table, two flavors, with a delicious vinegar/oil mix and butter.

We were happily surprised when an absolutely delicious “Amuse-Bouche” was presented to us next. The little bite was a sweet potato curry samosa topped with cucumber Greek yogurt Tzatziki:

Scrumptious.

Our carefully timed meal continued with the arrival of our appetizers…I had the Maryland Style Crab Cake ($16) with coconut slaw and rooster sauce (pictured below). I love spicy food and this was by far the spiciest Maryland Crab cake I’ve ever had. But the coconut slaw is a great equalizer to the dish as it compliments the spice. I loved it but be forewarned, it’s spicy.

Uncle Gordon had the crispy Lobster Roll Martini ($15) with cucumber curls and sweet Thai chili sauce, he liked the lightness of the mixture and the shell was very crispy:

And then several others had the shrimp and sausage jambalaya soup ($7) which was utterly fantastic. We were told Chef Charles won an award in New Orleans for his jambalaya – we could tell. Get it if they have it, yummy

Whew, you’d think we’d be stuffed by now but bam, they bring out a melon sangria intermezzo:

A nice cleanse of the pallet for the dinner.

Also a good time to lay out some major compliments to our server, Sara! At one point every person at our table complimented her on her service. And I’m not so easy all the time. She was fantastic but above all she literally never stopped smiling. Next time you go out and get service here in St. Thomas count how many times the server smiles. You may only need one hand.

Okay so back to dinner. Uncle Gordon and Nicci’s mom Margaret both had the local Red Snapper ($35) with lemongrass rice, baby spinach and pineapple sauce. I was surprised at how large the portion size was on this dish:

This was a big hit as both Margaret and Gordon are from England where they eat Fish and Chips daily So they really enjoyed the Red Snapper. Very moist with a crisp skin and cooked to perfection were the exact words they used.

Nicci also enjoyed a fish dish but this was flown in that morning from Italy; a fish called a Mediterranean Branzino ($36). It came with lemon scented gnocchi, artichoke hearts, oven dried tomatoes, kalamata olives and pesto cream. The is supposed to be served whole – tail to head with all the bones, but Sara mentioned the kitchen could fillet it so she went that route. Nicci pretty much chowed the whole dish, nothing left to take home, which is a pretty impressive feat for her.

Nicci’s dad Tony went with the Pork Tenderloin ($29) with sweet potato puree, braised cabbage and whole grain mustard demi. He never shut that Italian pie-hole about how great the sauce was. “Scott, this is the best sauce ever”. Yes Tony, we know you liked the sauce

Aunt Irene ordered the Butter Poached Caribbean Lobster Tail with pumpkin truffle risotto and champagne nage ($45). She loved it but she has a small appetite. If I had ordered this I may have felt it was on the smaller side. You’ll have to decide on this one but she was very happy and it tasted superb.

On the recommendation of Sara  I went with the Flat Iron Steak. For the record I never order flat iron. If I’m getting steak it’s usually a filet. But Sara said the choco bacon sauce was to die for so I said bring it on.

The choco bacon sauce WAS to die for. It was something I’ve really never tasted before. It came with smashed new potatoes and melted leeks. I asked my steak be cooked to medium and as you can see it was a perfect medium.

We were all leaning back in our chairs once our dinner plates were cleared – to say we were full would be an understatement…but somehow dessert menus found their way into our hands and we continued on like eating champs.

They made us a special desert from pastry chef Trish which was an Espresso Bread Pudding…Kahlua soaked topped with caramel creme anglaise and bourbon chocolate. The bread was light with a silky chocolate sauce.

Nicci and her mom loved, loved, loved the daily cheese selection which included Nancy Hudson’s Valley Camembert, Purple Moon Cabernet soaked cheddar and Tomme de Savoie.

I had the Chocolate Decadence ($10), molten chocolate cake topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Good and to be honest I was so stuffed it was hard to eat, but I managed.

Entire meal with a bottle of wine, three cocktails, soups, appetizers and main course came to $375 plus gratuity for 6 of us. More than fair at this level of restaurant on the beach.

My total take on Sunset Grille St. Thomas, it’s a top 5 restaurant with stunning ocean views, waves splashing below your feet and the occasional cruise ship passing in the distance…

This is a new top restaurant in St. Thomas and we give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to Server Sara, Chef Charles, pastry Chef Trish, Manager Andrea and all the staff at Sunset Grille for making our meal and evening fantastic!