Dining in Bermuda

[KennethT]

6 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

I am back in Bermuda. The view is not bad from our accommodation, and the weather is warmer than at home.  Food photos to come.

 

If this is the "not bad", what's the spectacular view? 😁  Seriously, thanks for bringing us a long once again. I always look forward to your trips, especially as I'm getting ready to go on a SCUBA trip in the summer!

[liamsaunt]

On 5/6/2023 at 10:43 PM, KennethT said:

If this is the "not bad", what's the spectacular view? 😁  Seriously, thanks for bringing us a long once again. I always look forward to your trips, especially as I'm getting ready to go on a SCUBA trip in the summer!

 

Are you coming to Bermuda to dive?  There are so many wrecks here.  I used to be certified and miss diving sometimes, but my husband cannot do it with me. He has chronic sinus issues and it's just too painful for him.  

 

Sorry for the delay in starting this report.  We are staying at the Reefs Hotel, on the club side.  We booked the trip last minute and on points, so got a first floor unit.  The second and third floor units have completely unobstructed views of the water and glass balconies.  The view from our unit is a mix of water and vegetation.

 

 

The unit is like an apartment rather than a hotel room.  There's even a full kitchen if I decide to cook (hahaha).  We had some basic staples delivered like water, yogurt, and beer/wine for my husband, and it's nice to have a full size fridge with ice maker.

 

 

Living room

 

 

There are also three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a private hot tub on the patio outside the unit.  The hotel has a beautiful beach but I have not been down there yet.  Maybe later today.

 

The beachfront restaurant at the hotel we were planing on going to for dinner was closed down for a wedding the night we arrived, and the formal restaurant was doing a buffet (I dislike most buffets and avoid them if possible) so we walked up the road to Henry VIII.  My husband's cocktail.  He said it was OK.

 

 

We shared a sushi roll with shrimp tempura, yellowtail, and salmon

 

 

Husband got the fish and chips

 

 

and I had the catch of the day, which was a wahoo steak.  It was extremely large!  Luckily my husband was starving, so he helped me finish it.

 

 

We went back to the hotel and crashed.  I slept for ten hours!  (we had to get up at 3AM to catch our plane that morning).  

 

Sunday we started the day with breakfast at the hotel.  Here's the view from our table

 

 

I ordered the smoked salmon plate.  There was enough salmon for three people!  I felt bad leaving most of it behind.  The bagel was meh so I left most of that too.

 

 

Husband had a breakfast burrito filled with eggs and spinach. 

 

 

We found out after breakfast that it was included with our room rate (points rate?), which we did not know.  No complaints!  Food is expensive in Bermuda!

 

We decided to get some exercise and walk to as many beaches as we could.  We started out by heading left from the hotel and heading to one of the best snorkeling spots on the island, Church Bay.   This church is across the street from the beach

 

 

The water was extremely calm and clear

 

 

 

We could see large parrotfish fins sticking up out of the water.  I am going to try and get in to snorkel at some point, but the water is much colder than I prefer at this time of year.  We certainly saw many people swimming, but I am the first to admit that I am a wimp!

 

We left Church Bay and headed right past the hotel, down the road to Horseshoe Bay.  There were two cruise ships in, and Horseshoe is the beach with the most amenities (chairs umbrellas, bathrooms, food etc.), so of course it was very crowded.  It was Sunday so there was even a priest conducting a church service on the beach.  We bypassed the crowds and headed over to the South Shore walking path.  The path is about one mile long and stops at many little coves, almost all of which have no more than four people at them.  Here are a few pictures of the coves. Chaplin Bay

 

 

One of my favorite stops, Stonehole Cove

 

 

 

Entry to hidden beach

 

 

And my favorite beach, Warwick Long Bay

 

 

All our walking and exploring led to a ten mile walk, according to our fitness trackers.  More than enough to justify a fancy dinner at Blu.

 

Restaurant view.  We were some of the first arrivals, but the patio was filled within fifteen minutes.

 

 

The menu here is huge.  They have a full sushi menu, plus a regular menu.  We decided to share two appetizers, a plate of tuna tartar and salmon sashimi

 

 

And an order of shrimp tempura

 

 

For entrees, we both wanted to order the same thing, which required some negotiating haha.  Husband ended up with the local catch of the day, which was red hind.  It came with a broccoli risotto, shrimp, and a lemon butter sauce.  We had never had red hind before and it was really nice.

 

 

I chose the mahi mahi with ginger garlic black bean sauce, rice, vegetables, and tofu puree.

 

 

Both entrees were very good.  The fish was nicely cooked and the portions were not too large.

 

For dessert, we split a lemon souffle.  Husband had a limoncello too.

 

 

 

Sunset from the restaurant

 

 

and over the golf course as we were leaving

 

 

We have no reservations for this evening so not sure what we will get up to.  Not me cooking!

[BeeZee]

The mahi mahi looks delicious, but I wonder about the "tofu puree"...since tofu is basically flavorless, what did this add to the dish (other than textured puree)? was the tofu flavored in some way?

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, liamsaunt said:

 

Are you coming to Bermuda to dive?  There are so many wrecks here.  I used to be certified and miss diving sometimes, but my husband cannot do it with me. He has chronic sinus issues and it's just too painful for him.  

 

One day, but this trip will be to Indonesia.  We went to Bermuda to snorkel many years ago.  Unfortunately, an unpredicted huge storm dropped in on us at around 3AM the first night we arrived and basically left the night before we left.  Luckily, they were able to clear the downed trees from the roads so we could get to the airport, even though it was a lot slower than normal.

 

1 hour ago, liamsaunt said:

We could see large parrotfish fins sticking up out of the water.  I am going to try and get in to snorkel at some point, but the water is much colder than I prefer at this time of year.  We certainly saw many people swimming, but I am the first to admit that I am a wimp!

 

 

Wetsuit!!!!!! 😆

 

The food looks great so far.  Any conch fritters to look forward to on this trip?

[gfweb]

@liamsaunt which golf course was it?

[liamsaunt]

21 hours ago, BeeZee said:

The mahi mahi looks delicious, but I wonder about the "tofu puree"...since tofu is basically flavorless, what did this add to the dish (other than textured puree)? was the tofu flavored in some way?

 

I was wondering that too as I was reading the menu!  I decided to order it anyway thinking that it would be flavorless so what harm could it do? My best guess is that it was supposed to introduce some creaminess to the sauce on the dish without adding dairy.

 

21 hours ago, KennethT said:

 

One day, but this trip will be to Indonesia.  We went to Bermuda to snorkel many years ago.  Unfortunately, an unpredicted huge storm dropped in on us at around 3AM the first night we arrived and basically left the night before we left.  Luckily, they were able to clear the downed trees from the roads so we could get to the airport, even though it was a lot slower than normal.

 

 

Wetsuit!!!!!! 😆

 

The food looks great so far.  Any conch fritters to look forward to on this trip?

 

Sorry that happened to you!  We have been here for a hurricane before (it was a long time ago, and I'm not sure why we did not cancel. I guess it is possible we did not know it was coming).  We were surprised by how quickly they were able to clean up from it, but the ocean was a mess for the rest of the trip, with lots of plastic debris washing up.  

 

I own a wetsuit but did not bring it!  I thought it would be too cold even with my wetsuit.  I am such a wimp.  I used up all my cold water credits when I used to go scuba diving off Gloucester, I think.

 

I have not seen conch anywhere, in any form, this visit. It must be out of season.  I know lobster season is September to March.  I am not sure if conch follows that too.

 

16 hours ago, gfweb said:

@liamsaunt which golf course was it?

 

Newstead at Belmont Hills.

 

My husband's knee was bothering him yesterday, so we decided to stick around and explore the hotel property.  Resort breakfast

 

 

After breakfast we walked down to the scenic lookout where they have weddings and such.

 

 

Here's looking back at the club part of the resort.  The hotel portion is to the right, out of the frame.  There are 19 club residences and 65 hotel rooms on the property, which is pretty large by Bermuda standards.  

 

 

Once it warmed up a bit, we headed down to the beach.  This property is definitely not easily navigable if you have mobility issues...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spied a Portuguese man o' war nestled in some washed up sargassum.  

 

 

Back to the room to get ready for dinner

 

 

We ate at Coconuts, the beachfront restaurant on the property.  We shared a pineapple jalapeño seveche of shrimp, wahoo and mussels.  Neither of us enjoyed the mussels but the shrimp and especially the wahoo were nice.  

 

 

 

Husband ordered pesto pasta topped with wahoo

 

 

and I chose a Thai red curry with shrimp

 

 

For dessert, we split a banana bread pudding.  

 

 

 

[Elkyfr]

Awesome Bermuda place and the food looks good. One day I will cross the Atlantic and enjoy this paradise.

[liamsaunt]

The wind has picked up here, which has been bringing in some sargassum, and also Portuguese man o' wars.  This is the time of year when they wash ashore in Bermuda.  It makes my decision to not go in the water seem very smart!  

 

 

It's still pretty though.

 

 

The hotel staff is constantly raking the beach and burying the sargassum and man o wars.  We just spent the day on the beach reading books.  No pictures of breakfast because we just ate yogurt (boring!).  We shared a plate of shrimp tacos the beach for lunch.  I took a picture but they are buried under a pile of french fries.  

 

 

Pretty flowers

 

 

Dinner was at Aurora.  We went here back in September and enjoyed it, so decided a repeat visit was in order.  The seveche of the day was made with local red hind and prickly pear, so of course we had to get it!  The kitchen kindly split and plated it for us.  Here's my portion, a perfect amount to start.

 

 

For entrees, my husband got the same shrimp and lobster linguini he enjoyed back in the fall.  (that's a Maine lobster on there, Bermuda lobster is out of season).  He pronounced it delicious.

 

 

I opted for a warm nicoise salad made with local tuna.  The fish was topped with a soft poached egg which made a nicely runny sauce for the potatoes.  This was really delicious.  

 

 

For dessert, we shared a dark chocolate soufflé.  It was very, very rich.  We only managed a few bites each.  We finished the salted caramel ice cream on the side though!

 

 

The sunset was nice from our table

 

 

The weather is supposed to be pretty mixed today, so I'm not sure that we will get up to much during the day other than lazing about.  Tonight we are trying a new-to-us restaurant called Huckleberry. It's got a farm to table type concept.  I am hoping it doesn't rain so we can eat out in the garden.

Edited May 10, 2023 by liamsaunt (log)

[kayb]

I’d read about the huge sargassum bloom, and its potential impact on tourism. Reports are that when it gets hotter, it may smell if it is not raked up and disposed of daily.

[liamsaunt]

18 hours ago, kayb said:

I’d read about the huge sargassum bloom, and its potential impact on tourism. Reports are that when it gets hotter, it may smell if it is not raked up and disposed of daily.

 

Bermuda usually gets sargassum when it's stormy offshore.  After all, it is in the Sargasso sea.  I have been watching this year's massive bloom further south with some anxiety.  We are booked to go back to St. John this summer and our house is on the water on a south facing shore, which is the most typical landing spot.  I've been down there for sargassum blooms before, and you are right, it smells quite strongly as it decomposes.  The problem is, once it starts landing in huge heaps, it's difficult to dispose of it.  You cannot deal with it offshore because the sargassum is a nesting ground for all kinds of marine life--turtles, seahorses, fish etc.  Once it's onshore you cannot use it for food or fertilizer because the sargassum contains microplastics from floating around in the open ocean.  You cannot keep burying it because you run out of room.  Burning it would be an environmental disaster.   I'm not sure what the long term solution is.

 

It rained for most of the morning, so we mostly stayed in our unit reading.  Eventually, we ventured out to Coconuts for lunch for something to do.  We knew we were going to a multi course dinner later, so decided to just have some fish tacos.

 

 

They came with some fries and salad to share.

 

 

The sun was trying to come out as we walked back to our room.  I spied this beautiful bird of paradise growing near our fire pit.

 

 

and then was able to get fairly close to this yellow crown night heron for a picture

 

 

We managed a quick walk before it was time to get ready for dinner at Huckleberry.  The seating is on the covered porch and in the garden of the Rosedon Hotel in down town Hamilton, the business capital of Bermuda.  I am not sure if it is usually like this, but on the night we visited, the interior of the restaurant was converted to large group seating to accommodate a convention that was apparently in town.  Here's the porch, where we were seated.

 

 

The menu is prix fixe.  You can choose between two courses, three courses, or an enhanced three course meal which includes higher end ingredients plus bread service and a sorbet.  I took a picture of the menu:

 

 

 

 

 

If I had the option I would have mixed items from both sides, but you had to choose.  We went with the three course.  Bread service

 

 

Husband's first course was the scallop. He said the purees were under seasoned but it was nice.

 

 

I chose the beetroot textures.  This was really delicious, probably my favorite thing of the night.

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the amuse bouche (tuna tartar--needed salt) and the sorbet (lemon, very good)  

 

For second course, I chose the morel and asparagus pasta.  The flavors were delicious and it was pretty, but I just think foam looks weird.  

 

 

Husband chose the waygu striploin.  He said the meat was slightly over salted (he could not win with the salt last night!) but it was fine when eaten with everything else.

 

 

For our third course, husband chose the huckleberry dessert, and I chose the red velvet lava.  I should have just gotten some gelato.  I was pretty full at this point and only ate a few bites of the cake itself.  The raspberry paper thing actually worked well with the cake to add some texture and acidity to the richness of the lava cake.  Husband didn't care for his dessert at first, but it grew on him while he ate it.  Lava cake:

 

 

Huckleberry:

 

 

So, overall assessment is that it was a lovely setting and we are glad we tried it, but we probably won't go back anytime soon.  It seems to be doing very well with both locals and tourists, and it's good to have a special occasion type option on the island.

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt 

 

interesting menu .

 

thank you for sharing.

[liamsaunt]

Yesterday was another unsettled weather day. The ocean calmed down and all the sargassum and man o' wars went away, but as you can see from this picture there was rain around.

 

 

Once the skies opened up we took shelter at Coconuts for lunch.  

 

 

Wahoo sandwich

 

 

jerk chicken tacos

 

 

It cleared up a little in the afternoon, so we headed back to the beach.  I ran into my heron friend again on the way down

 

 

Sunny skies!  Those beachgoers were soaking up the sun.  Meanwhile, I was buried under towels under that umbrella you see in the corner.

 

 

That evening, the Reefs was hosting a beach barbecue.  We attended this when we visited back in September, and nobody loved it, so instead we travelled over to Cambridge Beaches Resort for dinner at the Sunken Harbor Club.  Apparently, it's an outpost of a New York restaurant.  Their menu featured lots of local fish so it sounded appealing to us.  

 

 

Funky cocktail bar

 

 

Outdoor tables (this becomes relevant later).  We opted to sit indoors by the window because it was quite windy.

 

 

Bread.  I took a picture of it because we both thought two of the rolls looked like potatoes

 

 

Drinks.  Mine is a mocktail made with pineapple.  Husband's was the little one on the right.  It was called the continental navy.

 

 

Some menu pictures for @rotuts

 

 

 

We decided to try the shark hash and the callaloo pasta to start.  Shark hash

 

 

It reminded us of salt cod.  Callaloo pasta

 

 

This was excellent.  Neither of us had tasted ackee before and we loved it. The pasta was quite spicy too.  We agreed that it was one of the best things we had eaten this visit.

 

Entree options

 

 

 

Husband selected the turbot

 

 

It was perfectly cooked.  The parsnip puree was intensely rich, and that's a lemon, white wine and butter sauce on top.

 

I chose a special of pistachio crusted mahi mahi with ackee stuffed tortellini and vegetables.  I really enjoyed this!

 

 

By this point, we were both stuffed, but wanted to share a dessert.  

 

 

The table behind us got the flamed chocolate dome, and it was huge, so we opted for the half moon sapphire

 

 

Overall, it was a really nice meal.  It was disrupted a little when a random fellow female diner came up to our table mid meal to start complaining about a fellow guest, who was at an outside table discreetly breast-feeding her child under her shirt.  She just walked up to our table and started complaining!  When she finally exclaimed "in my 30 years of coming here, I have never seen such a thing!"  I just looked at her and said "there's a first time for everything."  I mean, really.  Who cares?  Mind your own business, random lady, and get away from my table! 🤣

 

We finished dinner just in time to catch the end of the sunset, dropping in to the water.  Cambridge Beaches is one of the best places on Bermuda to see a sunset.

 

 

And a view of the beach barbecue, still in force when we returned to our room.

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by liamsaunt (log)

[KennethT]

16 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

Yesterday was another unsettled weather day. The ocean calmed down and all the sargassum and man o' wars went away, but as you can see from this picture there was rain around.

 

 

Once the skies opened up we took shelter at Coconuts for lunch.  

 

 

Wahoo sandwich

 

 

jerk chicken tacos

 

 

It cleared up a little in the afternoon, so we headed back to the beach.  I ran into my heron friend again on the way down

 

 

Sunny skies!  Those beachgoers were soaking up the sun.  Meanwhile, I was buried under towels under that umbrella you see in the corner.

 

 

That evening, the Reefs was hosting a beach barbecue.  We attended this when we visited back in September, and nobody loved it, so instead we travelled over to Cambridge Beaches Resort for dinner at the Sunken Harbor Club.  Apparently, it's an outpost of a New York restaurant.  Their menu featured lots of local fish so it sounded appealing to us.  

 

 

Funky cocktail bar

 

 

Outdoor tables (this becomes relevant later).  We opted to sit indoors by the window because it was quite windy.

 

 

Bread.  I took a picture of it because we both thought two of the rolls looked like potatoes

 

 

Drinks.  Mine is a mocktail made with pineapple.  Husband's was the little one on the right.  It was called the continental navy.

 

 

Some menu pictures for @rotuts

 

 

 

We decided to try the shark hash and the callaloo pasta to start.  Shark hash

 

 

It reminded us of salt cod.  Callaloo pasta

 

 

This was excellent.  Neither of us had tasted ackee before and we loved it. The pasta was quite spicy too.  We agreed that it was one of the best things we had eaten this visit.

 

Entree options

 

 

 

Husband selected the turbot

 

 

It was perfectly cooked.  The parsnip puree was intensely rich, and that's a lemon, white wine and butter sauce on top.

 

I chose a special of pistachio crusted mahi mahi with ackee stuffed tortellini and vegetables.  I really enjoyed this!

 

 

By this point, we were both stuffed, but wanted to share a dessert.  

 

 

The table behind us got the flamed chocolate dome, and it was huge, so we opted for the half moon sapphire

 

 

Overall, it was a really nice meal.  It was disrupted a little when a random fellow female diner came up to our table mid meal to start complaining about a fellow guest, who was at an outside table discreetly breast-feeding her child under her shirt.  She just walked up to our table and started complaining!  When she finally exclaimed "in my 30 years of coming here, I have never seen such a thing!"  I just looked at her and said "there's a first time for everything."  I mean, really.  Who cares?  Mind your own business, random lady, and get away from my table! 🤣

 

We finished dinner just in time to catch the end of the sunset, dropping in to the water.  Cambridge Beaches is one of the best places on Bermuda to see a sunset.

 

 

And a view of the beach barbecue, still in force when we returned to our room.

 

 

 

We stayed at the Cambridge many years ago.  The place must have really changed.  Years ago, the main restaurant that was indoors was really stuffy - we must have been the youngest people there by several decades.  A few of the men there were wearing ascots!!!!  Ascots!!!   I was looking for local dishes and they were serving beef wellington.  They had an outdoor restaurant that was more casual and had more local types of food, but tropical storm and all.....

Edited May 12, 2023 by KennethT (log)

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

A few of the men there were wearing ascots!!!! 

 

I wore an ascot in my 20s!!

[TicTac]

22 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

 

 

 

Overall, it was a really nice meal.  It was disrupted a little when a random fellow female diner came up to our table mid meal to start complaining about a fellow guest, who was at an outside table discreetly breast-feeding her child under her shirt.  She just walked up to our table and started complaining!  When she finally exclaimed "in my 30 years of coming here, I have never seen such a thing!"  I just looked at her and said "there's a first time for everything."  I mean, really.  Who cares?  Mind your own business, random lady, and get away from my table! 🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or you could have really thrown her for a loop and said "I want to warn you, in a few minutes I am going to start pumping; you see I donate to families whose mothers cannot produce milk and cannot afford formula, we ship it from the Island every morning at 7AM sharp and I am on a schedule, you see.....can't mess around with blocked ducts!"

 

Great photos & our thanks, as usual.

[weinoo]

23 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

so instead we travelled over to Cambridge Beaches Resort for dinner at the Sunken Harbor Club.  Apparently, it's an outpost of a New York restaurant.

 

It's an outpost of St. John Frizell's faux-Tiki bar, located above Gage & Tollner, a landmarked restaurant in Brooklyn.  So the drinks ought to be really good.

[liamsaunt]

On 5/12/2023 at 9:08 AM, KennethT said:

We stayed at the Cambridge many years ago.  The place must have really changed.  Years ago, the main restaurant that was indoors was really stuffy - we must have been the youngest people there by several decades.  A few of the men there were wearing ascots!!!!  Ascots!!!   I was looking for local dishes and they were serving beef wellington.  They had an outdoor restaurant that was more casual and had more local types of food, but tropical storm and all.....

 

Hahaha!  The hotel was purchased a few years ago, and the new owners have been trying to modernize things a little bit, including changing the hotel from adults only to an all ages property.  The formal restaurant, Tamarisk, closed in 2018, I think.  Based on what I saw, it still generally caters to an older crowd.  There was only one couple that was younger than us in the dining room.  Most gentlemen (including my husband) were wearing jackets, but I observed no ascots 🤣

 

 

On 5/13/2023 at 8:15 AM, weinoo said:

 

It's an outpost of St. John Frizell's faux-Tiki bar, located above Gage & Tollner, a landmarked restaurant in Brooklyn.  So the drinks ought to be really good.

 

It was definitely the most creative drinks menu I have seen in Bermuda.  I really enjoyed my mocktail.  I don't usually bother ordering one because they are often too sweet, but this one was not sweet at all.

 

We are home now, so here is the food from our last day.  It was a gorgeous day so we just spent it on the beach reading

 

 

 

We just went to the beachside restaurant for lunch.  Husband's cocktail

 

 

And, of course, tacos

 

 

That night, we wanted to go back to what has been one of our favorite restaurants, Sea Breeze at the old Elbow Beach hotel.  We got a table on the rail overlooking the old Mickey's Beach Bistro, destroyed by a hurricane a few years ago and sorely missed.

 

 

 

We were surprised to see that the menu had completely changed.  Instead of seafood dishes and pastas, they now only offered sushi and pizza!  If we had known, we would have gone somewhere else.  100% our fault for not checking the restaurant website before reserving a table. Restaurant view

 

 

We ordered fried calamari from the small bites menu while deciding what to do.  

 

 

We decided to split three rolls.  Everything was fine, not great.  

 

 

We also shared a mushroom pizza, just to try it.  

 

 

We skipped dessert, too full.  

 

That wraps it up until next time!  We are planning to come back when it is warmer so we can swim, but it was still a very nice time of year to visit Bermuda.

 

 

 

 

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt 

 

thank you for taking us along .

[Okanagancook]

I’ll add my note of thanks for taking us along.  Always interesting.

[TdeV]

Me too, thank you!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Thanks for the vicarious tour and dining. I'm also one who enjoys seeing menus posted.

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

On 5/12/2023 at 12:12 PM, weinoo said:

 

I wore an ascot in my 20s!!

And I thought ascots were only something out of old British movies or a frequent crossword clue 😇

 

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

And I thought ascots were only something out of old British movies

 

It was during my Rolling Stones phase!

[kayb]

I always so enjoy traveling to the Caribbean and Cape Cod with you. Thanks again.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

6 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

And I thought ascots were only something out of old British movies or a frequent crossword clue 😇

 

I dunno.   I think they're cool.    It depends on the rest of your outfit and mostly your attitude.