Peanuts

Location: Aruba

Order: Keeshi Yena, Aruban Seafood Plater

Price: $35

Positives: Really good pricing, mouthwatering cheese, great selection

Negatives: Freezing cold in here

tldr: great Danish food and very reasonable prices

Thoughts: We had just about given up on finding any food that wasn’t expensive when we stopped in Peanuts. Our Airbnb host had highly recommended it for the local food, is basically seafood and Dutch [weird at first but they are a part of the Netherlands]. I’m not sure what the name Peanuts had to do with anything, but the food was some of the best we had in Aruba.

We weren’t starving so we skipped appetizers and went straight for the main course. I went with a casserole style dish with chicken, olives, some other veggies marinated in a flavorful tomato sauce and they topped with a large thick slice of Gouda cheese. Exceptionally delicious meal that almost had a Greek/Italian taste to it. Everything was cooked really well, and all the flavors marinated together to make an amazing dish. The only thing I wish was different is the cheese. When the dish came out the cheese wasn’t quite melted into that amazing gooeyness that makes cheese dishes the best.

My wife though had the winning dish of the night, and honestly one of the best dishes on our Aruba trip. It was called the Aruban Seafood platter, which honestly doesn’t really make sense, it should probably be called something like the Danish fish shepherd’s pie. It’s basically a casserole with chunks of grouper, covered with light, whipped mashed potatoes, and melted gouda cheese. It was a magical combination of mashed potatoes, fish, and cheesy deliciousness. No one component of the dish really jumped out at me but despite that, or maybe because of it, the dish was packed full of flavor.

To top that off we realized that all the prices on the menu were in florins so not only was this one of the best restaurants we had been to in Aruba it was also one of the cheapest which was amazing. We sort of order their two most expensive dishes (or at least close to it) and walked out of the restaurant for under $40, not a bad deal at all. I would urge you to go check out Peanuts if you’re looking to try some local food (again, local food is sort of Dutch) or just looking to save some money but still get a great meal.