Yemanja Woodfired Grill

Yemanja Woodfired Grill

Went back to Yemanja Woodfired Grill for another great dinner. Service was great as well as the food. We make a visit to this restaurant every time we are in Aruba.

We've ben coming here since it opened and always look forward to it every year. We always start with the Beef Carpaccio Bombe and it is "The Bomb". My wife had the tuna topped with wasabi butter and I had the Grouper Italiano. Both were superb! I always love the four sides that come with every meal. Black beans, mashed potatoes, basmati rice, and grilled veggies. If you haven't tried this place, it's a must! Make reservations for outdoor seating when you do

Normally visit this wonderful restaurant 2 or 3 time during our Aruba vacation. One of the best in Aruba.See you in May.

Despite the fact that the food at YEMANJA generally remains good, the community presentation of accompanying dishes continues to seem tacky to us. Addiitonally, we went here twice this year and found consistency from one visit to the next to be quite lacking and any effort to try to get consistency was futile. One day we were able to modify a dish by changing a sauce and the next it wasas if we were talking to a wall. Though we will continue to patronize this place (and encourage other to do so as well), until given reason not to, we will only be visiting it once a year - there are too many other equally good competitors.

We went to Yemanja last year on the advice of a friend. It was great and we went again before we left. This year we made reservations before we left home and went twice. Next we we plan to go three times. It is the best we have been to. Great staff and outstanding food. Don't miss the best!

Food, service and atmosphere was very good. Will definitely go back next year!

At the recommendation of our friend, we ate at Yemanja on our last night in Aruba. I only regret that we had not gone earlier as we would have had the opportunity to return a second (or even third) time during our trip.

Any restaurant will be judged primarily on the quality of its food. The food at Yemanja was absolutely excellent. The chevre salad was the perfect combination of sweet and tart and the fish chowder could have been a meal in and of itself. I ordered the grilled pork chop and was initially concerned to not have a steak knife. However, the meat was so tender and perfectly cooked, I could have used my butter knife without any difficulty. The flavor combination - Cajun spice, sweet mustard and garlic - was impeccable.

You must absolutely save room for dessert! The "hot and cold" dessert, which is a espresso affrogato made with walnut ice cream and candied walnuts, should not be missed.

There were 4 adults and 4 children (ages 5 through 9) in our party. The servers would have been at home in any 5-star restaurant, but were still patient enough to accommodate the children and promptly and patiently clean up the inevitable drink spills that accompany kids.

We ate at several good restaurants in Aruba (Papillon, Simply Fish, Hoshi Sushi, etc.). Ordinarily, once I return to my busy schedule, I would not take the time to post a review. However - given the quality of the food and the service - I truly felt I owed this review to the owner, chef and staff of Yemanja.

We'll be back!

I just arrived back from Aruba for my 17th year. This is the first time I have ever bothered to write a bad review for a restaurant. I feel your choice for food can be very personal. I might love a place and someone else might hate it, however, there is no excuse for VERY POOR SERVICE. Our server was so aloof and seemed to be bored. It took us an hour to get our salads and the restaurant was not crowded that night. She never explained the delay and never asked if we needed anything all night. When we received our salads there was no avocado on it and when we told our waitress she just looked at us. Another waitress overheard us and brought some. The meal took hours. We were 8 people and all 4 women had upset stomachs that night. I would not go back.

The total dining experience was fantastic. We came here twice during the week. We sat at the bar and the service from Jose was tremendous. We had Barracuda, Veal chop, Grouper and Wahoo. All were excellent. The 2 pieces of homemade bread were huge at least 3 inches high and infused with fresh herbs rosemary being dominant. not sure what the previous poster was talking about. The main courses were cooked perfect and the sides are very good. my favorite were the grilled veggies with the slight hint of wood smoke. The calamari duo appitizer was wonderful as was the greek salad. We watched the staff running around but aleays with a positive attitude. the 1st evening we went the place was packed. Watching the Chef thru a large window at the bar, she was masterful at the grille as was her plating and presentations of the main courses. The food here definitly had some OMG moments. You wont be disappointed

We were excited to eat here but that quickly faded upon receiving our food. Our meal started ok with some good bread served with an olive tapenade and herbed butter, but it's a shame that they give you 2 very small pieces of bread, not nearly enough to enjoy the tapenade. If you want more, tney will charge you. Next came my fish chowder, and before I could even taste it, our entrees were also served at the same time. Not sure how that happened but no one apologized for the poor timing. So after quickly eating my chowder, I noticed that my 10 oz filet was actually 2 petit filets. I felt like I was cheated as no top notch steak house serves petit filets unless it's written on the menu and if you look at their menu, it doesn't mention this. So I overlook this fact, however I had ordered my steak medium rare and one of the filets was cooked medium and the other was cooked rare. I had to send the rare one back. On a positive note, for dessert we had a brownie which was perfectly undercooked and served with a delicious chocolate chip ice cream. Overall, I'm surprise how this place received such positive reviews. I would not recommend this to others.

We chose this restaurant based on the reviews on restaurantsaruba.com. Very happy that I did. The escargot and onion soup were fantastic. The steaks were tender and cooked perfectly.

My 8 and 10 year old got the kids tenderlion and they loved it. The garlic mashed potatoes, rice, vegetable and bean sides were out of this world.

We paid much more on Aruba for food that wasn't nearly as good. My only dilemma was trying to choose between all of the delicious appetizers.

My first time here and I will definitely be back. We opted for a table inside with the a/c. I got the filet mignon and it was the best steak I think I’ve ever had in my life. It melted in my mouth like butter. It came with some sort of truffle butter on the side which I could have consumed by the spoonful it was so good. We got sides of mashed potatoes, rice and veggies. The mashed was good but didn’t try the rest. The 3 others at our table all got the porterhouse which they said was mouthwatering. This is also our new favorite! I got the grand marnier crème brulee which was good. I can’t believe we’ve never tried this restaurant.

This is on the top of our top 10 list. Food, decor, and wait staff always exceed expectations. Save room for dessert.

The restaurant isn't in the greatest location on the island (behind the Renaissance in town but it is quite nice inside and the food is magnificent. We both had steak (USDA); I had the ribeye and my wife had the filet mignon. Both were cooked to perfection. And, we got to see our favorite server, Marloes. Go on a night when she is thereto see a young Bo Derek.

This is my absolute favorite restaurant on the island!! i go once a week!

Beef carpaccio was amazing!!!

Loved it Loved it Loved it!!!
This was THE BEST food I had during my week in Aruba!! The whole dining experience exceeded my expectations - Atmosphere is excellent and the duck - absolutely amazing - Loved the sides and the way they were presented - Everything was perfect - Wish that I'd experienced this on the FIRST day not the Last day of my holidays - Menu is extensive and exotic - most difficult thing about the experience is trying to chose what to eat - Can't wait to go back - ENJOY!

A year ago, we had a terrific dining experience at Yemanja, and wanted to try it again after we had found old favorites (e.g., Sole Mare and Old Cancuna House) disappoint so much that they "fell of the list" to ever visit again.

The one issue that I had remember with Yemanja in the prior year was it was one of the more pricey eateries in Aruba - very good but pricey. I am here to tell you that this is no longer the case. It is not that Yemanja got any cheaper - but the other restaurants caught up in pricing. So for now, still great and unquely tasting food but prices on line with most of the better restaurants.

The menu is very diverse with food quality, portions and taste superior enough to make everyone happy (seafood as good as angus steak)with a variety of side dishes served family style for the entire table. With the wood burning oven used to cook most meals, the food has a distinct and unforgettable taste. We all left happy with our meals and the price was in line with the other restaurants.

In case you are driving, we parked the car for free at the marina and walked the two blocks (one block off the main road past and a half block over). It is more than worth the short trip from the high rise hotels.

The last two nights of our holiday we found this restaurant and it was SUPERB! Take as a starter the Carpaccio "BOMBE"...it's so nice and well presented.

Yemanja has now surpassed Madame Janette as our favorite Aruba restaurant! Had dinner there on 9/13/11 and it was great! We both ordered from the specials menu -- I had wahoo and my husband had ribs. Both were incredible! I love the side dishes for sharing, especially the stir-fried vegetables! I'm looking forward to our next visit to Aruba so that we can dine at Yemanja more than once!

We always say that we're going to dine here but never have. This year was our 1st time but not our last. Had their early bird special and it was delicious. I got the fish which was a piece of grouper, wahoo and red snapper. My husband had the meat special which had a piece of steak, sausage and pork. He also said it was delicious. He got the tomato soup and I got salad which were very good. We had desert and the coffee which was too strong for our taste. Service was excellent. Short walk from the bus station. Will definitely be back.

We continue to go to this restaurant every year since they opened, and have never been disappointed. The trend continues after our July visit. We\'ve tried many of their seafood dishes over the years, they\'ve all been good. Our constant is their tuna carpaccio: wonderful presentation and taste. Service is friendly and efficient. Although we sat indoors, their patio has been significantly upgraded and probably our choice for next year

This was our second time at the restaurant and was without question our best meal this trip. We had the puff pastry appetizer, which was terrific. My wife had the jumbo shrimp, which turned out to be seasoned with the right amount of spice. I had the pan-fried snapper special - skin on. The piece was the size of the plate and was great. Without a doubt, this has become one of the best, if not the best, restaurant on the island.

The location of Yemanja was perfect for where we stayed in Aruba. The bar is very nice and staff was friendly. I recommend the Kyoto! However, once we sat at our table, we had as many as 4 different waiters throughout our meal. We had the shrimp bisque to start which we both enjoyed as well, but a smaller portion would have been better in our opinion. It didn't leave much room for our main meal. We asked our first waiter for menu suggestions and the grouper with boursin cheese was highly recommended, so I ordered it. It unfortunetely was not my favorite. There was much to much cheese in my opinion. My husband had the scallops which I thought were much better prepared. The side dishes were an interesting idea but we really didn't eat that much of them. All in all, I would try Yemanja again, but I would opt for a grilled menu option rather than the grouper with cheese.

We've been living on Aruba for about 2 years now. Although we've tried a lot of restaurants, we'd never been to Yemanja.
I heard from friends that during May locals received a discount (USD = AWG).
So I made a reservation for 4 at 20.30 hours. The employee who took my reservation told me to bring my local ID so I could receive the discount.
However, when we arrived at the restaurant we soon found out that the discount was only valid if the reservation was made between 17.30 - 19.30. We told the waitress about the situation and that we were told about the discount on the phone, but nothing about arriving at a certain time.
She explained the situation to the manager but there was nothing they could do. We should've paid more attention to the information on the flyer....I didn't see any flyer!
Although the food was great, this kind of service is pathetic, I will never come to this restaurant again!