Our opinion on the Ô Ranch restaurant – Basse-Terre

We recently tried the brunch at Habitation l’Oiseau and talked about it in a dedicated article! At that time, we wanted to start writing more and more about restaurants in Guadeloupe to share our honest opinions, but I realize we’ve been seriously short on time. So here we are again with our opinion on the Ô Ranch restaurant, in the town of Basse-Terre, just five minutes from home.

As with the brunch article, the goal here is not to write a very long piece, but rather to give you a candid opinion on the experience we had at Ô Ranch. We haven’t had any bad restaurant experiences recently, and I’m not sure what we would do in such a case; at the same time, this is definitely not a sponsored post: we’re writing exactly what we want (although, to be fair, that’s always the case). That said, I don’t think I’d feel like writing a quick article about a place we wouldn’t recommend at all. What do you think?

To be honest, we drive past it every day, and we had heard more good feedback recently. So we decided to book a table for the four of us almost at the last minute, for a Friday evening. Booking made via Instagram: no problem at all, the team is responsive and very friendly.

The setting is honestly really nice. At the entrance, there’s a huge tree with beautiful aerial roots, and I have to admit I should’ve asked what it was, because I’ve seen it before here in Guadeloupe. Next time, I’ll find out. The entrance is very well lit, and there’s a large parking lot.

We booked for 7 PM, we’re on time, which is already something. We’re warmly welcomed, no issues at all; we’re shown to our table right across from the entrance, a bit off to the side, which is perfect, especially with two kids. Téo asks the server if he can have a booster seat, and one is brought over gladly, which isn’t always the case, so definite plus there.

The restaurant seems to be in an old stone building. There’s a beautiful wooden terrace, which creates a great atmosphere. Sure, it’s not far from the road, but with the background noise and music, you don’t really hear it, so no problem there. We’re right next to a small landscaped garden with running water, next to a pond. At the back, there’s an old mill wheel. You can really see they’ve put effort into the décor and blending in the space.

For the meal, the kids chose the kids’ menu with a beef burger, fries, juice, and a scoop of ice cream. For kids, that’s more than enough.

As for us, we looked at the menu and ordered a little aperitif – a pint of Hoegaarden for me (been a while) and a non-alcoholic cocktail for Mélanie. We were served quickly, the kids too, everything’s going well. They brought us some slices of bread to wait, and the kids obviously devoured them like they hadn’t eaten in days, as if we don’t feed them at home. Honestly, I think it would have been nice to have something to spread on the bread, which was a bit of a shame. It’s a kind gesture to bring some bread, but with nothing on it… Anyway, just a personal opinion!

Mélanie and I shared an appetizer – a raw tuna tartare; definitely brought back memories of Tahiti, even though obviously it’s hard to beat the red tuna tartares or sashimi from there. That said, we were very pleasantly surprised by the starter, as the fish was really good, super fresh, and the kids dove into it too, of course. The fish was served with wakame seaweed – you know, those little green Japanese seaweeds. We love them, and used to buy them often in Tahiti!

The kids’ meal arrived: a huge black-colored burger (probably ash bread) with fries on the side. The burger’s contents were a bit “simple,” though: just a slice of tomato and some arugula, which the kids didn’t want (a bit too bitter for kids in my opinion). But Louis loved it and ate the whole thing. Téo liked it too, but had trouble finishing, being only 5 years old!

As for us, we ordered a ribeye steak (origin: Argentina) and a rack of lamb. We were served pretty quickly, just right. The dishes looked great and the sides (two of your choice) came in small bowls on the side. If I had to nitpick, I’d say the presentation of the sides could be a little more polished, but they were still very good.

The two meat dishes were really excellent. Mélanie and I don’t eat much meat, and we truly enjoyed these dishes. The meat seemed to be very high quality, and we were told this was a place to come for meat anyway. They do have some fish dishes, but I’d still recommend the meat in a place like this.

They also have a great selection of meats, some to share for two, skewers, and even the famous Japanese “Wagyu beef.” The prices for some cuts are obviously quite high, but the quality is there.

I personally finished with a small dessert, a tiramisu. There was a small hiccup, because I had to wait over 15 minutes for my dessert, and it wasn’t the red berry tiramisu I had been told by the waitress. A communication issue between the kitchen and the waitress. Nothing serious though – Louis happily ate almost all of my dessert anyway… I thought it was okay.

That’s it for this article. Honestly, we really enjoyed ourselves. It had been a while since we went out to a place like this with the kids (outside of vacations, let’s say), and everyone had a great time. Yes, the prices are quite high, but in our opinion, the quality justifies it. The kids’ menus were €16 (a bit pricey in my opinion), and the meat dishes we had were between €35 and €40. In the end, €150 for four people including the aperitif (no wine).

So would we recommend it? Yes, absolutely. It’s a very good spot overall – great welcome, good service, really nice setting, and the meal was overall excellent, so for us, it’s a place worth recommending!

See you soon for a mini article on another restaurant.

If you have other places to recommend us to try, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments!

Thanks and see you soon!

Written by Sylvain PONS

Since 2021, I've been living in the Guadeloupe archipelago with Mélanie and our two children. We are exploring these beautiful islands and discovering the treasures that we are happy to share with you!

Despite our care, a mistake may have slipped into this article. If you find any, please don't hesitate to let us know so we can correct it as soon as possible and keep our information up-to-date!