Lunch in Philipsburg, a Minute From Front Street

Philipsburg has jewellery, rum and a boardwalk. For years it did not have a French counter, which is why we opened one at 6 Hendrikstraat, next to the Courthouse. If you are in town around midday, on a ship day, a shopping morning or a working day, this is how lunch at La Sucrière Philipsburg works: what we have, what it costs, when to come and where to take it.

Where exactly is the bakery?

At 6 Hendrikstraat, beside the Courthouse, the white and green building in the middle of town that turns up on most postcards of the island. From Front Street it is about a minute on foot. From the boardwalk on Great Bay it is about two. Look for the green doors. If you would rather let your phone find it, the plus code is 2XF3+GP. The map, hours and everything else are on our Philipsburg page.

When can you have lunch there?

The Philipsburg counter is open from 7 AM to 3 PM, Monday to Saturday, and closed on Sunday. The savoury counter is stocked from opening, so quiche and sandwiches are there well before noon. Nobody makes you wait for an official lunch hour.

What you cannot have is a late lunch. We close at three, so plan your morning around that. On Sunday the town counter is closed, but our Simpson Bay maison at 130 Welfare Road is open from 6 AM to 6 PM with the full lunch counter and a terrace on the lagoon. It is about twenty minutes by car.

What is on the counter at lunchtime?

Everything is baked overnight in our Simpson Bay kitchen and brought into town for the 7 AM opening. Prices are the same at both maisons, in US dollars. Simpson Bay is the larger counter and carries the wider range, so not every item on the price list is in Philipsburg every day. If you want something specific, reserve it twenty four hours ahead and it will be waiting for you.

These are the lunch prices from our published price list:

• Quiche, $4.75. Ham and cheese, mushroom, spinach or chicken. Cut thick, and good warm or cold.
• Classic baguette sandwiches, $6.50. Club, chicken, ham and cheese, tuna or crab.
• Croque monsieur, $6.50. Ham, cheese and béchamel, grilled until the top browns.
• The larger sandwiches, $8.50. Italian, goat cheese, American, bagnat, salmon or brie.
• Bagel, $7.50.
• Salads and soup. Tuna salad $8.00, chicken salad $9.00, soup $7.00.
• For a late breakfast instead. A ham and cheese croissant at $4.25 or a breakfast sandwich at $4.50.

Then the part of lunch a bakery cares about most, which is something sweet afterwards. A lemon tart is $5.00, an éclair is $4.00 in vanilla, chocolate, pistachio or coffee, and the raspberry, strawberry and blueberry tarts are $5.75. If you only want a little something, a butter cookie is $1.75. The full sweet counter is on our tarts and pastries page.

Lunch for under ten dollars

Most people eat well here for less than ten dollars. A few combinations from the price list:

• Spinach quiche and a lemon tart: $9.75.
• Chicken quiche and a vanilla éclair: $8.75.
• A croque monsieur and a butter cookie: $8.25.
• A tuna sandwich and a chocolate cookie: $8.25.

Add a coffee if you like. Coffee prices are shown at the counter, and an iced coffee is what most people order once the late morning heat arrives.

Vegetarian lunch, and allergies

The spinach quiche and the mushroom quiche are the easy vegetarian lunch, and the whole sweet counter is vegetarian too. Sandwich fillings are built that morning, so ask at the counter what is in each one before you choose. What we cannot offer is anything gluten free. Our kitchen works with wheat, dairy, eggs and nuts every day, so if you have an allergy, please tell us before you order.

Where can you eat it in town?

The Philipsburg counter is set up mainly for takeaway rather than table service, and that suits the town. Front Street is a minute away. Great Bay beach, with the boardwalk running along it, is about two. Take a sandwich down to the water, or a quiche back to your desk.

A few things we have learnt about lunch in this heat:

• Eat sandwiches soon. A baguette is at its best on the day it is baked, and island humidity is not on its side. Our lunch page explains why the bread matters more than the filling.
• Quiche travels best. It is good cold or warm and it does not mind a walk to the beach.
• Carry tarts flat. Ask for a box if you are taking pastry any distance.
• Want a table with a view? That is Simpson Bay, where the terrace on the lagoon has around sixty seats.

Lunch on a cruise day

Ships call at Great Bay by Philipsburg. From the Point Blanche cruise pier, take the water taxi or a short drive into town, and from the boardwalk or Front Street the bakery is a walk of a couple of minutes.

A plan that works well: walk Front Street as the shops open at nine, collect lunch from our counter at the end of the morning, eat it on Great Bay beach, and head back with time to spare. If you would like to carry something back aboard, croissants and breads box well. Ship rules on food vary, so check yours, and skip anything that needs a fridge. For the whole day ashore, our cruise day guide and the Philipsburg guide cover the rest, and this page covers getting to us from the ship.

Lunch for an office in town

If you work in Philipsburg, lunch can come to you. For a meeting or a team, the format most offices ask for is sandwich platters cut into halves, quiche cut into squares, and a salad on the side. Count one and a quarter sandwiches per person. Forty eight hours of notice is comfortable, and we deliver island wide. Regular orders can be set up as a standing weekly order, invoiced monthly. The details are on our office catering page.

Paying, and tipping

Prices are in US dollars and identical at both maisons. Tipping is optional, and 100% of every tip goes directly to the staff behind the counter. We explained this year's price changes, and what has not changed, in a letter to our customers.

Lunch in Philipsburg does not need a reservation or a plan. It needs about ten dollars, a free half hour before three o'clock, and the green doors on Hendrikstraat.