CUR: Ronde Markt

Delightfully thick, slimy ladyfinger soup with salted beef!

Before leaving for the airport, my BFF and I made it a point to go to a traditional indoor market called Ronde Markt to savour humble local cuisine. There are many food stalls to choose from on the second floor of the building, so we randomly chose to order from one of them.

I'm pretty sure the prices are marked up for tourists, but they are still cheaper than restaurant meals. I recall the portion of each dish being pretty huge.

Giambo NAƒ 15.00 (~S$11.15)

Taste: 8.5/10

Right from the start, I knew that I'd fall in love with the local soup made of ladyfingers. Served piping hot, it was thick and hearty. Besides the said vegetable, it came with other ingredients as well, but the most memorable would be the salted beef that added some zing to the overall taste.

Galinja di Smoor NAƒ 20.00 (~S$14.90)

Taste: 7.5/10

Presented before me was what I believe to be the origin of Indonesian meat stew called semur. Although somewhat different from what can be found in the huge archipelago, the chicken stew served that afternoon was pretty sweet with a savoury note. The white meat could be tenderer though.

Piska Hasa NAƒ 20.00 (~S$14.90)

Taste: 8/10

Red snapper is popular in Curaçao. Having firm flesh, the fried fish was adequately salted to balance its natural sweetness. Similar to the smoor, it came with spiced rice that was really filling. In addition, there were pan-fried plantain slices and cucumber slices with the middle part removed.

Lemonade NAƒ 3.00 (~S$2.25)

Taste: 8/10

To beat the heat, each of us had a cup of homemade lemonade that was zesty enough for my liking. To be even better, it could be just a bit sweeter.

Melon's Rating

Taste: 8/10

Ambience: 6/10

Service: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

I heard that Curaçao is also famous for its pumpkin pancakes. I tried to find those at the market, but to no avail. Pika's advice: It's better to pay in the Netherlands Antillean Guilders than in US Dollars as their rate isn't very favourable. That's if you've got hold of the former, of course.

Ronde Markt

Marshe Nobo

Willemstad

Curaçao

(Daily: 9.00am - 6.00pm)

*Prices quoted are nett prices.

Have a nice meal,

Cliff(y)