 Barracuda Grill |
In Bermuda, you may want to build your day around food. Take a breezy ride along a coastal road to find a breakfast of saltfish and Johnny cakes; a lunch of fish chowder or lobster salad; a teatime snack of scones and rum cakes; and a happy hour of fried chicken legs and fish dip. And for dinner, there is curried lobster, grilled steaks, paella... you name it.
The islands’ more than 150 restaurants, bars and beach cafés try to keep everyone happy with delicious home-cooking and sophisticated dishes served in gorgeous locations next to the beach, amid palms and red bougainvillea in manicured gardens, and in atmospheric historic buildings.
Even the newest and trendiest eateries usually put a nouveau spin on local dishes so you will be sure to enjoy fish, lobsters and island fruits such as luscious loquats made into a chutney, and the diminutive Bermuda bananas, which are pan-fried with fish or made into banana fritters. The islands are so well known for their flat, sweet Bermuda onions, a major export in the 1800s, that Bermudians often are referred to as onions. You may be patted on the back at a pub and called “a real onion.” Take that as a compliment. And after dinner, don’t forget to dip into the nightlife. Many of Bermuda’s restaurants and bars transform into the hippest lounges and nightclubs after dark, with some parties going on deep into the night!
Pub Grub
It’s to be expected that in this British Overseas Territory, where the Union Jack flies overhead on balmy breezes and the Queen of England reigns as the titular head of state, at least some of the food would be evocative of the United Kingdom.
Indeed, you will feel like you are in merry ole England at Bermuda’s pubs, where you can order fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, beef Wellington, steak-and-kidney pie, and toad-in-the-hole (sausage with Yorkshire pudding).
Bermuda’s pubs are the social hub of the country, where you can sit at a mahogany bar polished by decades of spilled ale and chat with loquacious locals, who get even more chatty after a few rum cocktails. Billionaires such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has turned up at the Hog Penny pub on Burnaby Hill, mingle with local fishermen. Celebrities often go unnoticed, unless the famous person is effervescent TV food show host Rachael Ray, who’s praising the Portuguese Bean Soup at the Swizzle Inn to a room full of patrons. The crowd at Hog Penny was delighted when actress Catherine Zeta-Jones once sang a song with the band. (She and husband Michael Douglas used to reside here.)
For more refined tastes, at least late in the afternoon before the cocktail hour, it won’t be hard to find a shady hotel terrace to enjoy traditional English tea and scones or local rum cake. Turn up your pinky and take in the scenery of palm trees and pink beaches. The New York Times says The Heritage Court at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess resort has one the best afternoon teas in Bermuda. Also, the Mrs. Tea’s Victorian Tea Room at Willowbank hotel serves a traditional afternoon tea fit for a queen, with warm scones and clotted Devon cream, elegant tea sandwiches and sweets.
Fresh SeafoodFish, of course, is the highlight of most dinners, and the choices are many — the wildly popular rockfish, mahi mahi, snapper, tuna, wahoo and swordfish are served grilled, pan-fried, in fish sandwiches and fish cakes.
The fish here is as fresh as it gets. “The fishermen go out at 6 a.m. and they’re walking in the door at 5:30 in the afternoon with wahoo, yellow fin tuna, snappers, bonitos and mahi mahi. And if they have rockfish, a black grouper, that’s a double-dose of wow,” says Philip Barnett, president/owner of the Hog Penny Restaurant & Pub, which has been a Hamilton landmark since 1957.
Don’t miss the chance to dine on local lobsters served in season, from September through the end of March. The Bermuda spiny lobsters, which usually weigh about 2.5 pounds and are served halved, are grilled, broiled, cooked Thermidor-style or curried. You can even find lobster mixed with macaroni and cheese, a Bermudian classic. If your vacation is during the lobster season, try to track down some local “Guinea chicks,” a miniature spotted spiny lobster that weighs about a half-pound and is exceptionally sweet and succulent.
Fish chowder is served everywhere and every chef has a signature recipe. “I boil down the rockfish heads, strain it, take the meat out, add onion, celery, peppers, carrots, rum and sherry peppers (a hot sauce),” says Nestor Guillo, chef at the Lobster Pot Restaurant and Boathouse Bar, a local institution for 38 years. His fish cakes have onions, parsley, grated potatoes, rockfish and curry.
Chefs often use the island-made Outerbridge’s Original Sherry Peppers, a sauce that provides fire and flavour to dishes such as fish stew. The sherry-pepper sauce is an invention of seafaring sailors, particularly in the Royal Navy, who put hot peppers in sherry for seasoning. The late Yeaton Outerbridge, whose ancestors came to Bermuda in the 1600s, refined the sauce to an art and opened his business in 1964. Today the sauce is sold throughout the island in gift shops and grocery stores, so you can take a taste of Bermuda back home.
If you are vacationing in a cottage or a suite with a kitchen, you will want the sherry-pepper sauce to cook with the fish you buy from local fishermen who sell their catches by the side of the road or at fishing docks. Or you can catch your own dinner and add the sauce and a liberal dose of local rum.
Mussels are a delicacy here, and if you see them on the menu, especially a mussel pie, order it before everyone else does. Locals pry them off the shore rocks and cook them in big pots of salt water. Mussels are seen more often in Bermudian homes than at restaurants because they are not harvested in large numbers commercially.
 Fresco's Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar |
Connoisseurs have a wide range of choices for international cuisines, including spicy kofta (meatballs) and hummus at Café Cairo; homemade gnocchi and spaghetti at Little Venice; sushi and teriyaki at L’ Oriental; paella, tapas and ceviche at Latin; and pizza and pasta at Tio Pepe.
Steaks and chops are the highlights of the menu at the historic Waterlot Inn; Asian-inspired fusion is the reason to dine at the Ocean Club; and the French dishes, including monkfish with truffle vinaigrette and quail filled with boudin noir, are specialties of the prestigious AAA Five-Diamond rated Newport Room. A jacket is suggested for diners at these elegant restaurants at the Fairmont Southampton resort.
Options Galore
Here are some of the best spots for dining and nightlife on our islands.
 Royston's at The Reefs |
Delight in authentic, lively Italian cuisine delivered with real fine-dining flare in a stylish yet relaxed family atmosphere. The chef at Bacci at The Fairmont Southampton has creatively blended the very best of classical Italian traditions with the latest world-class cooking trends to create a symphony of original recipes and flavours from select regions of Italy. Each item is presented like a work of art, and each evening the culinary team selects special dishes to enhance its a-la-carte menu. Bacci is a celebration of the life, wine and great food of Italy. You will always be greeted with hospitality, warmth and enthusiasm, and you will want to return again and again. Bacci is open daily from 6 to 10 p.m. (238-8000, fairmont.com/southampton)
 Barracuda Grill |
The breathtakingly stylish Barracuda, found at 5 Burnaby Hill in Hamilton, features warm mahogany, plush banquettes and a sumptuous dining room, hinting at a time of luxurious passenger ships, popping champagne corks and refined dining. Irresistible seafood and chops, prepared with expertise and passion, grace the white linens.
Sit and watch the sun go down from the terrace of Blackbeard's Hideout, overlooking Achilles Bay, for cocktails, lunch or dinner. A popular local spot with casual atmosphere and great food, this true Bermudian experience is not to be missed. It is great for private functions. (297-1400)
