After the Bubly’s experience, I came to the conclusion that travelling long distances for curry can be rewarding. Combine this with my girlfriend’s love of beach vacations and it was decided that I should do a review of curry in the Caribbean. We decided on the old Dutch colony of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles. I argued for the Old Dutch colony of “Sour Cream and Onion” but was told by our travel agent that it only exists on the chip package.

Actually, I was hoping that the lessons learned by the Dutch East India Company in the mid 1600’s would somehow translate into a tasty meal today in the 21st Century Dutch West Indies. Those hopes were somewhat tempered when we found the Jaipur Restaurant within the confines of a Disneyland like resort in central Willemstad.

We walked into the empty alfresco dining area and were seated next to the pool. The pool had a giant cascading waterfall attached to it and was polluted by plant material. As we settled into our seats, a saxophonist and lounge singer started in on a Frank Sinatra tribute in the adjacent courtyard. Clearly, Jaipur was vying for the oddest of curry dining experiences.

Somewhere between Strangers in the Night and Love and Marriage we were presented with menus. The plus 30 degree night demanded that we order cold drinks. Diana went with an ice cold Amstel. Impressive choice. I chose a tasty concoction called “Mango Madness”. I secretly hoped it was inspired by the aptly named 80’s UK Ska band, “Madness”.

The menu was a bit disappointing. I didn’t recognize many of the items and worse yet, some dishes were very non-Indian. Take for example, the Gaeng Phed Gai, better known in English as “Thai Red Curry”. The worst menu offense was the listing of Pad Thai (Thai fried noodles) under the heading of TRADITIONAL INDIAN DISHES. No excuse for that.

We got samosas for an appetizer. They were beef and pea filled and seemed a little pre-manufactured. Here again, Jaipur seemed a little confused; serving the samosa with a Thai Sweet Chili sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweet chili sauce and think it should be used anywhere chicken, shrimp or noodles are found. However, considering I had just completed a tour of Curacao’s local ostrich farm, where the guide pointed out the native Tamarind trees, I found the choice a little suspect. Always choose local and fresh ingredients. Especially, if you are being attacked by a herd of ostriches.

When we finished the samosas, the lounge singer had run out of Sinatra material and had moved onto Louie Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World. For entrees, Diana went with the aforementioned Pad Thai while I had Butter Chicken with rice and naan. While Ren is really the butter chicken specialist, over the years he has taught me a few things about what it should taste like.  I found the dish to be well prepared and appropriately sour. The naan and rice were both spot on.

We finished our entrees and the plates were cleared away. We declined dessert and waited for our bill. And waited. And waited some more. Twenty minutes went by before we just decided to go up to the bar and ask to pay. This pretty much summed up the quality of service at Jaipur.
Ultimately, while the butter chicken was a good dish, I think there was just too much confusion about the identity of Jaipur Restaurant. And really, there shouldn’t be. Jaipur is a city in Rajasthan, not on Phuket or Ko Pha Ngan. The management team might consider either a rebrand as a Thai restaurant or adding more Indian dishes.

Jaipur scores 6/10

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