liamsaunt

Chicken and pepper stir fry

Nephew's dinner request: Creamy tomato soup and crunchy grilled cheese. Easy enough. The cheese was gouda.

Not homemade. They were Laoban ginger chicken flavor. They had a nice gingery flavor, but were a little too salty for me. Weekend dinners: Friday we had spaghetti with spicy turkey meatballs Saturday we had apple sausages with sauerkraut, potato pancakes and applesauce And Sunday we had spinach and ricotta stuffed shells with a lemony arugula salad

Some recent dinners. Corn and cod green curry from a NY Times recipe. I had a lot of corn to use up, but think the curry would have been better without the corn. I added some spinach too. cod and corn green curry Chicken milanese Jackfruit and avocado tacos Grilled chicken with tzatziki and salad Wonton noodle soup with bok choy and mushrooms

Jumping back in after two weeks away. Sunday we had a spiced chicken and rice dish with roasted broccoli. And last night we had a spicy white bean stew with spinach, and some olive bread that I baked. This went over better than I thought it would. Everyone cleaned their plates.

Four our last dinner, we headed over to Cambridge Beaches resort for dinner at their open air restaurant, Breezes. We rented a house adjacent to this resort a few years ago, and there are incredible sunsets from here. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. Restaurant Menu Drinks. There was a clear tarp between the tables and the beach, and my camera made it look like everyone was in front of a blue screen. We shared two appetizers, the Jamaican spice tuna and the hamachi turadito. The tuna was basically a standard tartare. We all liked the hamachi better Nephew just got a burger Sister had the sole and husband and I both had the catch of the day, which was wahoo Dessert We tried the sticky toffee pudding, which was not sticky, and the yuzu caramel tart, which we all agreed was weird Here are a couple of scenic pictures from our last day to wrap up this visit. See you on the dinner thread!

I am sure I could have, but I decided that vanilla sounded better than hazelnut, so I was happy with my choice. Watermelon and tuna has been a popular combination on Cape Cod for a few years now. I am ok with it, but don't really see the point. I know it's clever that they are the same color but have such completely different textures, but frankly I would rather just have all tuna. Some restaurants on the Cape compress the watermelon to make it more firm, but I don't really think that is so great either. I do love watermelon, feta, kalamata olive, mint, and red onion salad. Yesterday was a pretty poor weather day. We got over six inches of rain, and there was a lot of flooding. We all got a lot of reading done. For dinner, we returned to Blu since we enjoyed our first meal there so much. We should have just left it at that because the meal was problematic. First off, they brought my sister the wrong cocktail, and it took over 20 minutes for the bar to replace it, which threw off the timing for the whole meal. Then, no one could agree on appetizers. That's our fault, I know! Nephew wanted a sushi roll. I didn't try it and am not sure what was in it I ordered a salad with watermelon, plums, and burrata (feta would have been better haha). It had bresaola on it too, but husband ate that part of it. sister wanted oysters Rockefeller and husband ordered a guinea chick lobster For entrees, nephew had lamb chops. He very much enjoyed his meal. sister had seafood fra diavolo with the shrimp omitted. She said the fish in it was woefully overcooked. I had sole almondine. The fish was good. The potatoes with it were cold. Husband ordered carbonara. This was a solid, gloppy mess. I could not believe they served it. The server never came to check on us after the runner dropped the food so he did not have the opportunity to send it back within a reasonable window. I shared my fish with him instead. Nephew ordered a tiramisu for dessert and the rest of us shared a lemon souffle, which was very delicious. Not every meal can be a winner, I guess. The weather is much better today, and I am sure our dinner will be too. That said, we fly home tomorrow, and I am very much looking forward to home cooked food for a while.

Yesterday we spent the day swimming, and I did not take any pictures. My nephew and husband went snorkeling, but said the visibility was terrible. I guess it's good that we got some good snorkeling in at the beginning of this visit. Last night we had dinner at Cafe Lido at Elbow Beach. It was too windy to sit outside, but they did have the windows cracked in the glass house we were seated in, so at least we got some nice breezes. Menu They had a couple of mocktail options I tried the Mollins, but it did not taste like much, so I switched to club soda. Everyone else enjoyed their drinks. Tasty olive bread Nephew wanted a sushi roll for an appetizer and the rest of us shared the tuna tartare Sister and I both got the catch of the day. They had a choice of amberjack or snapper, so we got one of each. Snapper Amberjack Husband got the tuna. There was an olive tapenade under the shaved snow peas that was really delicious. I am stealing this idea for cooking at home. And nephew, unsurprisingly, chose a pasta. If there is pasta on the menu, he is ordering it. Dessert Sister and husband ordered affogatos. I wanted one too, but did not want the kahlua in the featured dessert, so just ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream and an espresso and made my own. Nephew had flourless chocolate cake Today is pretty much a washout, weather wise, but a day out of the sun is OK.

Yes, the beach at the resort is private, and there are only two access points, one from the club side and one from the hotel side. They put up signs when they don't want people in the water. The pubic beaches also put up signage. I took this picture yesterday. There are only two beaches on the island that have lifeguards, so swimming at the others is at your own risk. Yesterday was definitely calm enough to swim, so I think the workers just had not come around to remove the signage from the prior day's big waves yet. Calm Church Bay yesterday The water was still too stirred up to snorkel, so we walked down to the beach, but did not go swimming here. I took this close up picture of the sand to show you why it is pink. The sand is a mix of coral, shells, sea glass, pebbles, etc. It is illegal to remove sand from Bermuda as an FYI. They check people's luggage for it when you leave, and will confiscate any that they find. They dump it all in a massive pile at the airport. If you really want some, you can buy it from local artisans in small bottles or holiday ornaments, etc. Nephew golfed in the morning (nobody else plays), and then we spent the day swimming. Dinner was at Little Venice, the oldest Italian restaurant in Bermuda. I think it's been around for 75 years. I picked this one for my nephew, as he loves Italian food. They are famous for their cacio e pepe prepared table side in a giant cheese wheel. None of us wanted that particular dish last night though. Many people around us ordered it, so we got to watch the show. Menu Nephew and husband shared a plate of Iberico ham and burrata and my sister and I shared a plate of tuna carpaccio We all wanted pasta for dinner. Nephew got the veal ragu My husband and I both got the truffle paccheri and sister had the linguini with clams Dessert menu Nephew chose the tiramisu I had an affogato. The presentation was very neat, with a frozen chocolate shell perched on top of the gelato. You poured the hot espresso into the chocolate to melt it into the gelato. It was very delicious, but unfortunately after about four bites, the side of the glass shattered. I think the glass was too thin to handle the cold gelato, hot espresso, and metal spoon combination. They offered to make me another one, but I didn't want any more after picking glass off my lap. Sister ordered the baked Alaska, flambeed table side. There are lots of flambeed things in Bermuda, so we figured we should try one. Being flambeed after The ice cream inside of it was delicious. It was a nice ending to a good meal.

Some things are grown here, but most are imported like many other islands. There are some local crops that are generally widely available: bananas, pineapple, watermelon, coconut, papaya, dandelion greens (yuck), onions, potatoes, carrots off of the top of my head. Milk is local, there is an island dairy and they produce the milk, eggs and cream for the stores. There is a farm for mutton, pigs, and goat. Local fish are always available in the markets and restaurants. It is also sold on the side of the road (this is regulated too). There is one organic vegetable farm operation that also raises chickens and has a CSA. So yesterday the ocean was too dangerous to swim in. In the morning the beach was completely covered by the ocean waves. I took a photo from the top of the stairs At this point they were not even letting people down on the beach. We went for a hike, then walked up to the golf course where my nephew is playing this morning, so he could time how long it would take him to get from the hotel to the check in area. Of course, since it was football Sunday, he then persuaded my husband that we should go inside the adjacent sports bar and watch a bit of the game. Sigh. Mocktail menu Sunday brunch menu Lemon drops menu I got the cucumber coconut drink Everyone else just had a beer. Nephew also wanted nachos And the rest of us split a mushroom flatbread I went back to the beach later in the afternoon, when it was a bit calmer and they opened it back up, and took a few more pictures We just went to the clubhouse for dinner. Drinks Fettuccine with spinach and wahoo Teriyaki vegetables with wahoo Nephew had a pizza Key lime tart Ice cream cake

Friday my sister and nephew arrived, and we moved to our new condo. All the three bedroom condos are on the first floor, so the views are not as good, but you can still see the ocean. Unfortunately for me, the condo is the unit right next to the Club pool. I am not a super social person, so this is a big negative in my book. Some people love this location, but not me. Luckily the pool closes at 6 PM, so at least there's nobody there at night. I thought about asking them to move us, but we don't have much bargaining power. You can only stay in the club if you are an owner, or if you book through Third Home or Elite Alliance, which is what we did. The owners of course get first dibs on which units they want to be in, and the three bedroom condos look like they are all occupied this week. It's still nice, so I will stop complaining now. 😂 Nephew, as I suspected, wanted to go to the pub for dinner on Friday. Menu and their special lobster menu for lobster season Nephew could not have any of the appetizers he would have liked off the pub menu, and he really wanted an appetizer, so we ordered a few sushi rolls to start. This pub is actually half traditional pub, half sushi restaurant, and you can order off the sushi menu in the pub side and they'll bring it over to you. I had the catch of the day, which was wahoo and my sister had the other catch of the day option, which was pan fried snapper (note the dreaded banana on top) Husband and nephew both had curries. Nephew had chicken vindaloo and husband had the tikka masala Nephew was still hungry, so we ordered dessert. Sticky toffee pudding Bread and butter pudding Yesterday we spent the day swimming at the hotel beach. It was too rough to snorkel. For dinner we went to Hamilton to have dinner at 1609 at the Hamilton Princess hotel. Approaching the restaurant Menu They told us that normally nephew could have had most things from the fryer, but that night they were only operating one since they were not expecting a large crowd. He was a little disappointed that the chips were off the option list, but he had lots of options regardless. Everyone but nephew had some wahoo seveche and he tried the jalepeno cornbread Drinks. Mine is the mango rosemary mocktail in the front. I made my nephew order the drink in the fish glass because I wanted a picture of it 😂 This was called a frozen goose I think. It was frose with a bottle of frozen vodka in it. Weird, I say There was a nice view from our table Entrees. My sister and husband both got the fish tacos, which were made with wahoo nephew had the carne asada and I changed my mind at the last minute and ordered the cauliflower al pastor. Dessert Nephew had the cuarto leches and the rest of us split a sundae The ocean is extremely swelly today with huge waves breaking on the beach. It's too dangerous to go in the water, so we are planning on doing a little hiking. Nephew is advocating for eating dinner at the hotel clubhouse so he can watch football. We will see...

Me too! They are beautiful, but sharp. My sister cut her foot wide open climbing up one when we were teenagers. Good guess! You are correct, and the sauce was a truffled blue cheese to put on top. Yesterday I snorkeled out around the rocks and was stunned to see the shape of the coral. Compared to what I have been seeing on my trips to the USVI, this coral was dense and lush. I was practically crying inside my mask because I was so happy. Here are a few pictures White spot phase Bermuda chub The Reefs Club from the water. The round section is the reception and dining part of the original hotel, with the hotel rooms beyond to the right. The Club section was built about 15 years ago. I think there are around 60 hotel rooms, plus the 15 or so apartments at the Club, that make up the property. After snorkeling I went back to reading on the beach, where I was attacked by a beach umbrella. The umbrella set up by the couple next to me was lifted out of the ground by the wind, and the sharp end of the pole smashed right into my thigh. Luckily I was still wearing the thick swim leggings I use while snorkeling, which helped to mitigate the damage to my leg. There's a nice hole in the leggings now, but I only have a nasty bruise, not a cut on my leg. It's always something! Dinner last night was at Aurora. We had reserved a table on the patio, but the wind was so strong that eating outside was impossible. Menu and the view from our indoor table We ordered two appetizers to share. Tuna tartare and a special of rainbow runner crudo Husband had the lobster linguini. They offered it with Bermuda lobster, but it was twice the price of the Maine lobster, so he passed I had local tuna au poivre with scallion mashed potatoes and a side of grilled asparagus Dessert menu We ordered the chocolate soufflé to share. They brought out some complimentary shortbread, an espresso for me, and a Grand Marnier for my husband while we waited for it to cook The souffle I prefer non chocolate desserts, but this was good. We ate about half. Today my sister and nephew arrive, and we also move to a larger condo in the Club since we need a third bedroom. We have no set dinner plans, but I am guessing we will end up at the pub up the street for a curry. Time will tell!

Yesterday was fairly uneventful. My afternoon views Neither my husband nor I felt like a fancy dinner, or really even going anywhere, so we just went to the Clubhouse for a casual meal. Drinks: cranberry lime spritzer mocktail for me, martini for husband Shrimp seveche to share (nephew arrives tomorrow, so this might be it for shrimp) Burger for husband grilled wahoo sandwich for me and a show from the sky during our meal Hurricane Kirk is passing by to the distant east today and tomorrow, so the weather will be impacted a bit. I'm not complaining though.

MAP is modified American Plan. Some of the hotels on the island offer this as an option. You pay a higher daily rate, and then your cost includes full breakfast at your hotel and a three course dinner at a participating restaurant. It does not include alcoholic beverages, and some dishes have a surcharge, as you can see on the menu. Most people seem to think that if you choose your restaurant carefully and order well, it is a deal to get the MAP plan. All I know is that when my husband and I honeymooned in Bermuda as young whippersnappers, my parents paid for our trip and got us the MAP plan thinking we would have a free visit. Between the meal surcharges and the drinks we ordered, we had quite a hefty fee to pay to our hotel at the end of our vacation. 😂 The dine around plan as it exists today is a plan offered only in the off season. It's like a gift card. You pay a flat fee and it covers three multi course meals at any of the participating restaurants. If you don't use it by the end of the season, you can carry it over to next time for a small fee. That one is definitely considered a deal, but it is only good October-May. Yesterday I spent the day reading a book here Husband came down at the end of the day for a quick swim before we headed to dinner at Blu. The view is lovely and the menu is large vegan menu There's also a full sushi menu here but I guess I did not take pictures. Drinks. My mocktail was cucumber, strawberry, and lime. Husband had a cucumber martini I ordered my appetizer from the sushi menu. It was yellowtail with mango and jalapeño. The portion was larger than I was expecting, but it was very good. Husband had a special appetizer of grilled local guinea chick lobster I ordered shrimp salsa verde with grilled vegetables for my main. They are under the shrimp, but it came with grilled asparagus and assorted peppers. It was very nice, and light, which I appreciated. Husband had the catch of the day, which was wahoo with grilled shrimp and a parsnip risotto. The sun went down as we were eating Dessert menu We, of course, got the soufflé to share. This was my favorite soufflé so far, light and fluffy. We don't have any set dinner plans tonight. The wind is starting to pick up as there is a low system passing by to the east over the next few days which is going to bring some unsettled weather, higher winds, and rough seas.

Yesterday we popped out for lunch to a fish sandwich stand up the road. We shared a sandwich since we had a large dinner planned. The local fish today was snapper. After husband was done working for the day, we took the car to the next beach up the street for a quick snorkel before it got too dark. This is Church Bay It was a little stirred up, but there were lots of fish. Here are a couple. Orange stoplight parrotfish Blue parrotfish Bermuda chubs Sand diver Our dinner was at Fourways, which is probably the most traditional restaurant on the island. It's in an old farmhouse building and features a large menu with lots of flambeed items, a live piano player, etc. Here's one side of the interior before it filled up And the massive menu. Appetizers mains Classic dishes. The veal seemed to be the most popular, and it is flambeed table side. I also saw some steaks being flambeed. There's even a vegan menu Amuse bouche. Seared tuna with mango sauce and beetroot Husband chose foie gras for his appetizer I had the tuna tartare Husband ordered a half bottle of wine for his dinner. They did the whole candle thing I had the catch of the day, which was wahoo. This is an example of Bermudian sweet and savory that I do not like. Bermuda restaurants often serve banana with their fish. I have tried it many times, and really do not like banana with fish. It's easy enough to push to the side though. Husband had beef wellington. He said it was perfectly cooked. Dessert. They are famous for their souffles I chose the lemon, and it was much better than the one we shared at Tom Moore's Tavern the other night.

It's nice here rain or shine. My husband and I honeymooned here for 10 days (27 years ago!) and it absolutely poured for the first six days. We saw every single museum and attraction on the island, except for the beaches. 😂 I know it's polarizing, but the raisin bread is traditional here. I actually like it a lot. You can ask for regular bread if you have a raisin aversion. Yesterday we picked up an electric mini car for a few days. We should have timed it differently, since my husband has to work during the week this week (he's on vacation next week), so we won't get much more use out of it. We tooled around yesterday and went to our favorite beach, Warwick Long Bay. All the cruise ship passengers go to the two beaches with amenities like rental chairs and snack bars (Horseshoe Bay and Tobacco Bay), so we had the place to ourselves. Eventually husband got hungry and I forgot to pack snacks, so we went back to the Reefs for lunch. The main restaurant was completely filled with locals dressed to the nines enjoying the sumptuous Sunday brunch, so we took our casually dressed selves down to the beach cafe. (As an aside, Bermuda is very different from the other Caribbean islands in that people still dress fairly formally here, and tourists are expected to also. It's illegal to be in a swimsuit anywhere except the actual beach, and casually elegant attire is required at the nicer restaurants for dinner.) Menu The view from our table. Our apartment is in the furthest building to the left. Drinks. Continuing my exploration of the mocktail menu, I got a mango puree mixed with lime, mint, and club soda. Pretty good. We got some shrimp tacos with fries to share. We have to get all our shrimp eating in before my nephew arrives on Friday! We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming on the hotel beach. We probably should have taken advantage of the car to drive to a different beach, but...lazy. Speaking of lazy, we just went back to the same restaurant for dinner. Menu Drinks. This mocktail was ginger beer blended with ice and grenadine. It was too sweet for me, so I switched to club soda water after a sip or two. I am determined to try all the mocktails though, so at least I got it out of the way early. Table view. We were seated on the far side with an ocean view. On a less cloudy night, this would have been a good spot for the sunset. Husband had angel hair with wahoo and I had the same with shrimp It's another mixed bag day, weather wise, but the view is not bad from here anyway

We are back in Bermuda for our annual visit. We arrived Friday, flying in and spending one night at Grotto Bay near the airport before heading over to our usual spot at the Reefs. We'd never stayed at Grotto Bay before. I found the rooms a bit tired, but they are doing an extensive renovation and expansion, and I am sure it will be very nice once completed. The grounds are lush There's a complimentary tea with scones and pastries in the lounge every afternoon. Yes please There are caves on the property that you can explore. Stairs heading in Pool of clear water in the cave. You are allowed to swim in here, but I chose not to since we were only staying one night and I did not feel like transferring wet clothes to the Reefs. Dinner was at Tom Moore's Tavern, one of the oldest restaurants on the island, and a new destination for us. The tavern itself seemed to be reserved for a private function, so I did not get to see the inside, which was a little disappointing. We were seated on the outdoor covered terrace View from our table Menu Bread service with smoked butter and anchovy heavy tapenade I just had a salad to start and husband had smoked salmon The catch of the day was rockfish with a brown butter sauce, saffron mashed potatoes and green beans Husband had the local lobster. They told us they catch their lobster right off the dock the restaurant is next to. The preparation was thermidor, which is not his favorite (he's more of a lobster purist, but they don't seem to like to serve it that way in Bermuda), and this was was very heavy on both the mushrooms and the butter For dessert we shared the soufflé of the day, which was Grand Marnier with strawberry sauce and a frozen creme anglaise with chocolate shards. We both agreed that we are glad we tried Tom Moore's but we probably won't go back. The food was good, but not great, and the bill was quite steep even by Bermuda standards. Yesterday we checked out of Grotto Bay and went to St. George, the oldest town in Bermuda, for sightseeing and lunch. This used to be a hopping destination on the island, but has really quieted over the years. There were no cruise ships visiting Bermuda yesterday, and I think I only saw two other tourists. It's a shame because there's a lot to explore. This is the oldest continually operating Protestant church in the New World, St. Peter's. It's really fascinating inside, with lots of old graves and artifacts. Deserted steep streets We went to Cafe Wahoo for lunch, since they always have local catch. Menu View We both got the local fish sandwich, which comes on raisin bread. The traditional cole slaw that goes on the sandwich comes on the side so you can add it if you want (we did). The standard fish for the sandwich is turbot, but you can pay extra to swap in local fish, which we did. I had red hind, and husband chose wahoo. I forgot how big these are, we should have shared! After lunch we moved across the island and checked into our apartment at the Reefs. We are here for two weeks. My sister and nephew are flying in to join us Friday (niece is at college and annoyed to be missing out). We were not overly hungry last night, so just stopped by the Clubhouse on the hotel property for a light dinner. Menu Drinks. They have an entire mocktail menu, which was nice. Mine is one the left. It's muddled strawberries with lemon, lime and club soda. Husband had a martini We got a small swath of sunset from our table. It's been really overcast We both ordered grilled wahoo tacos with a salad. We should have shared because neither of us were able to finish. And a sneak peek at the beach dining the hotel offers if you make an advance reservation.

All the food looks amazing, and thanks for the museum and scenic pictures also.

Ramen soup with miso salmon, mushrooms, and baby bok choy

Corn risotto with scallops

Salad with roasted cauliflower, haloumi, olives, spiced chicken, and a honey vinaigrette.

Spaghetti with roasted peppers

Broiled tautog with a piccata style sauce, mashed potatoes and spinach. My sister chose the tautog on the recommendation of the fish vendor, who said they are running though here right now on their way to Nova Scotia. I don't think I have ever had it before, and we all really liked it. It was a sweet, mild fish.

Tuesday, coconut fish curry Last night, chicken parmesean

Lobster rolls. I use cucumber, scallions, and tarragon in mine, never celery.