Banana Tree Grille

Description:

• This place offers candlelit dinners, sweeping views over the busy harbor, and a decor that includes genuine banana plants artfully scattered through the two dining rooms. The cuisine is creative and changes frequently; the patrons are often hip and laid-back. Start off with grilled bacon-wrapped horseradish shrimp over a mango glaze. Main dishes are filled with flavors influenced by Asian, Caribbean, and Italian cuisines. Especially noted are the house specialties of sugar-cane-and-cocoa-lacquered tuna, lobster tail tempura with an orange-pepper sauce, and the divine mango-and-mustard-glazed salmon. Try the aïoli shank, a house specialty, if it's offered: a shank of lamb is slowly braised in chianti and served with an aïoli sauce over white beans and garlic mashed potatoes. The desserts are truly decadent. The hotel itself, once the most famous in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is now devoted to timeshares.

• © Frommer's 2013