IslandLife XpBonaire Feature Story
Harbour Village Beach Club is well known for its beautiful white sandy beach shaded by many coconut palm trees. Overlooking the Caribbean Sea and Klein Bonaire, it is one of the most stunning locations to watch a sunset. For 30 years Harbour Village has offered its guest excellent service, comfort and ensuring their privacy.
La Balandra
Right next to the beach you will find the restaurant and bar: La Balandra. Named after the historical Spanish war sloops, the restaurant is designed after the antique Spanish ships, giving guests the feeling of sailing on the Caribbean Sea, with its dining deck located on a jetty extending out to sea.
Most Unique Dinner
The most unique experience at the restaurant is to make a reservation for one of the exclusive beach tables, set directly on the sandy beach right next to the sea for your special dinner. Luis, chef at La Balandra and the whole team try their outmost best to make it the best dinner possible. Your dinner table is surrounded by torches, your feet are in the soft sand and you can enjoy the relaxing sound of the water just steps away from you while enjoying a great dinner in the best setting possible.
The Chef
Luis has joined the restaurant team in 2016. Luis, who was born in Venezuela finished his culinary school when he applied at Harbour Village for a cook position. After his visit to the island and getting to know the beach club and Bonaire itself he decided that this was exactly the challenge he was looking for.
Luis became a cook after a trip to France where he experienced food culture at its best. The great memories, flavors and the concept of pop up restaurants made him excited for his future as a cook.
Originally Luis had planned to join his future wife in Spain to start a new life in Europe but when he had the chance to start at La Balandra on Bonaire he didn’t hesitate and his decision was quickly made. The different cultural influences and their traditions in cooking makes it a great place to be for any creative cook and La Balandra and all its potential triggered his enthusiasm.
Luis enjoys the atmosphere of a hot steaming kitchen, working under pressure and high concentration to be able to serve consistent and delicious food. At La Balandra the many cultural influences are part of the menus creations and the chefs special likewise, you should give a try.
Here some of our favorites:
The lobster salad served on a bed of lettuce, bacon, mango dressing and cured egg is a beautiful combination of sweet and savory.
The locally caught fresh tuna is unbeatable by itself but sired to perfection with sesame seeds and wasabi mayo just enhances the rich texture and flavor.
A great chef special for the meat lover is the dry aged rib eye. The 42 day dry aged meat is as you can imagine tender and tasty like nothing you have tasted before.
Wednesday: Kebab BBQ
La Balandra offers a Kebab BBQ night on the beach on Wednesdays, serving a variety of meat and fish kebabs and even pineapple and watermelon next to Caesars salad, caprese, desserts and much more.
Friday: Tapas
The newest edition in La Balandra is on Friday the Tapas night where you can enjoy mixed tapas like marinated olives, sardines, prosciutto , bruschettas and other delicious bites depending what fresh produce is available on the island.
Please Note:
When you are planning a special dinner please note that you have to make a reservation and even more important when you would like to have a beach table. You can ask the chef to create a special menu for you when you plan it at least two days in advanced.
TIP:
Pick a day that you can go early for a happy hour drink to enjoy the sunset on this gorgeous beach.
La Balandra is of course also open for a la carte breakfast, lunch and all day snacks.
INFO
À la cart breakfast is from 7 to 10 AM
Lunch 12 – 3 pm
Dinner: 6 to 10 PM
Happy hour is from 5 to 7 PM
All day snack menu available
Reservation required
Phone: + 599-717-7500
E mail: frontdesk@harbourvillage.com
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