Where to eat in Aruba: pan bati, fresh fish and the local table

Aruba is easy to eat badly in, because the resort strip will feed you the same food you get anywhere. The local table is the reason to leave it. Like Curaçao, the home kitchen is Krioyo, and the island’s dry climate and fishing history shape the rest.

What to order

Pan bati is the cornmeal flatbread that comes with almost everything, slightly sweet and cooked on a griddle, and it is what you mop a stew with. Keshi yena, the stuffed cheese, crosses over from Curaçao. And on an island this close to the water, the thing to order is whatever fish came in that morning, grilled simply, with pan bati and a funchi on the side.

The kitchens

Before you go

Ask what the fish of the day is before you order, and ring ahead for the smaller local rooms, which fill fast once word gets around. The number on each page is the restaurant’s own.