Aruba is a small island country located in the southern Caribbean Sea – north of Venezuela
– that is known for its beautiful beaches and warm weather.
Together, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao are known as the ABC islands.
In this video, we’ll provide an overview of our December 2022 visit to Aruba when our
ship – The Holland America Rotterdam – docked in the capital city of Oranjestad and we visited
the very popular Dutch Pancakehouse and the highly-rated Pastechi House.
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After back-to-back full days exploring Bonaire and Curaçao, we opted for a more relaxed
day of trying some local food during our visit to Aruba.
We started our day with breakfast at the very popular Dutch Pancakehouse, which was located
in the Renaissance Marketplace.
The restaurant was about a 15-minute walk from the cruise port area along one of the
island’s main roads, Lloyd G. Smith Boulevard.
The walk along the boulevard was the same route we followed in the video of our previous
visit to Aruba, which we’ve linked in the description below.
To avoid potential wait times, we arrived just a couple of minutes
after the Dutch Pancakehouse opened.
We were happy to find there were still plenty of seats available at that time.
The restaurant offered a wide range of options for breakfast, including both savory and sweet dishes.
We ordered a ham and cheese savory pancake that was as large as the plate,
a nutella and whipped cream sweet pancake that was also as large as the plate,
and a small order of poffertjes – or mini Dutch pancakes – that were served with powdered
sugar and butter on top.
The total cost of our three selections was roughly $26 before tip.
Two syrups were available at our table, but our food was so good on its own that we didn’t
use either one.
We finished our delicious meal about 45 minutes after arriving and by the time we left, the
restaurant had filled up with guests and there was a line of people waiting for a table.
It’s worth noting that the Dutch Pancakehouse had free WiFi available during our visit and
our server provided the password for access.
Later in the afternoon, we decided to try pastechi from the highly-rated Pastechi House.
The Aruban snack consists of a deep-fried, crescent-shaped pastry filled with various ingredients.
To get to the Pastechi House, we used the complimentary trolley that previously traveled
from the cruise port area to downtown.
During our ride, we noticed the trolley route had considerably fewer stops compared to our
visit a few years ago and, unfortunately, the street with the Pastechi House was no
longer on the route.
Luckily, the trolley made a ten-minute stop at a nearby shopping area and we were able
to walk the few extra blocks to the Pastechi House.
We ordered a cheese pastechi and a pizza pastechi, which both cost about $1.50 US.
After getting our pastechi, we headed back and enjoyed eating our tasty snacks as we
rode the trolley back to the cruise port area.
After the trolley dropped us off, we took some photos at the “I [heart] Aruba” sign
before heading back to our ship.
During our visit, the sign was located at the end of the trolley line near the shopping
plaza located just outside of the cruise port area.