Entertainment and restaurants in Willemstad, Curaçao

The Antilles - and that includes Willemstad - make up a melting pot of at least fifty different cultures, and this background is reflected in the cuisine. Culinary experts will identify Creole, Dutch, Spanish and even Indonesian ingredients. And, because Curaçao has such a dry climate, the chefs here have to import almost all the products they use - with exceptionally varied results.

• Rice table
• Pea soup
• Funchi (side dish composed of cornmeal, salt, butter and water
• Yuana (braised iguana, also served as a soup)
• Keshi yená (stuffed cheese - the most popular dish on the island)

• Are you interested in tasting genuine Curaçaoan food? Then be sure to stop in at Jaanchi's. This funny little restaurant - especially its fish soup or yuana - enjoys an outstanding reputation for miles around.
• Also recommended is a visit to the Old Market (Marshe Bieu) located behind the post office where real mamas cooking in pans set over charcoal fires will cordially ask you to take your place at a long wooden table.
• Yet another excellent choice - if only for its beautiful view of the Juliana Bridge and Willemstad's harbor and bay - would be Fort Nassau, a fish specialty restaurant located atop a hill.

The ‘local’ drink in Willemstad is Curaçao, a liqueur distilled from the laraha, a sour, regionally grown orange. The liqueur is available in various colors but the most familiar is (you guessed it) Blue Curaçao. If you’d like to see how it’s made, be sure to visit Landhuis Chobolobo where the liqueur has been distilled with the greatest of care for many decades.

Top 5 liqueurs

• Cafe Korsou (coffee liqueur)
• Chocolate liqueur
• Crème de menthe
• Crème de banana
• Coconut liqueur

People who live here know how to enjoy an evening - with each other and for each other. It’s all about just relaxing and having a good time. Some of the hot spots:

a popular beach bar where local as well as many Dutch performers appear on stage. Sunday is designated as Soulful Sundae.
Sea Aquarium Beach z/n, Willemstad

for those who love delightful food and good ol’ disco
Mahaaiweg 32, Willemstad

A nice restaurant with an unusual menu (what you think of as tapas are known here as tutus)
Plaza Mundo Merced z/n, Willemstad

 See for yourself how Antillians celebrate here in a historic building restored to its former glory
 Brievengat z/n, Willemstad

Elegant restaurant with an open-air stage