[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] virgin islands on line : St. John : restaurant & dining reviews

Paradiso 02/10/2009
Reviewers Rating: Good
Located on the second floor of Mongoose Junction, Paradiso bills itself as an upscale Northern Italian eatery. There’s indoor and outdoor seating. The indoor has AC, but we prefer to sit outside on the railing. Our dinner got off to a bit of a rough start with the appetizers. The “pizza margharita” was a piece of grilled pita bread with light tomato-cheese-basil topping. The toppings were fine but the taste and texture of the “crust” left a lot to be desired. We also ordered a bocconcino salad. This was extremely disappointing—a huge pile of salad greens (not even Josephine’s delicious tender greens, but just standard salad mix, heavy on the radicchio), with, I kid you not, TWO cherry tomatoes, and four teeny cubes of cheese—maybe ˝” cubes. I actually took a picture of this “tomato-bocconcino” salad because I could not believe it!

But, I have to confess that the entrees redeemed the entire experience. They were excellent! I had the seared tuna—accompanied by a HUGE seared scallop, cooked medium rare, and four butter poached shrimp. The fish was spectacular, all of it perfectly cooked, and perfectly seasoned. John’s grilled mahi mahi was equally delicious. We were too full to try dessert.

Another quibble: we’ve eaten here three times. On each occasion, they’ve been out of the wine we selected. That does happen, but instead of bringing the wine list back, the waitstaff simply recommended a different wine—which would be fine if the recommendation was in the same price range as the original selection. In our experience, it has not been. That is annoying. Make them go get the list and choose another wine yourself—we do.

The entrees were delicious enough that I would be open to giving Paradiso another try on a future trip, but in my opinion there are many other places in this price range that I think provide a better experience—both in terms of food and service.

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