When I first moved to Bermuda the Harbourfront Restaurant in Bermuda used to occupy a spot on Front Street, Hamilton’s main shopping street. The entrance was tiny, but the premises reasonably large and pleasant if starting to get a little dated. It had a good reputation for seafood on the island.
About two years ago, the Front Street restaurant was closed down and relocated into the same buildings as the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI). The new position is an enviable spot, literally on the harbour front, but just on the outskirts of the Hamilton town centre. As residents it was easy for us to drive here, a visitor would probably prefer to catch a cab or a bus from the town centre. If coming over for lunch, then it would be well worth combining with a visit to the very interesting BUEI centre. (IGOUGO's address shown is out of date).
The restaurant is divided into two very distinct areas, although divided mainly by the style of decor and not by brick walls, you can see from one area to the other. Overlooking the harbour is the contemporary styled fine dining restaurant. I have eaten here only a couple of times and these were business dinners, although the restaurant is popular with local residents, holiday makers and business people alike. The decor is light and fresh, lemon and white table linen and the tables nicely spaced out.
Unsurprisingly, the main focus of the menu is seafood. There are other options, but these are vastly outnumbers by the fish and shellfish options. I would describe the menu as extensive. To start there are about fifteen options to choose from of which about ten would be seafood, a couple vegetarian and the remaining few meat or poultry options. Then there are a half dozen pasta dishes, three of which are seafood. For the main course, meat lovers can make a selection from the grill and the rest have about a dozen other options, about half of which would be fish but also chicken, veal, duck and pork. It is also possible to make selections from the sushi menu. I have often found that an extensive menu such as this can lead to a reduction in quality, but I have not found that to be the case at the Harbourfront and in its new location its previous strong reputation continues. Service is formal in this side of the restaurant, but not overly stuffy. It is a smart restaurant but no need to stand on ceremony.
My favourite part of the restaurant was the other side though, the sushi bar. During our last few months of living in Bermuda, my husband and I were here for Saturday lunch most days. The sushi bar is decorated in red and black and a traditional Japanese look has been captured very effectively. The restaurant has a website, but I do not think the photographs of this part of the restaurant do it the justice it deserves. There are a few seating options, some booths for up to four people down one wall, tables in the main area and there is seating along the sushi counter itself on the other side of the room. We liked to take a seat here at the bar so we could watch the sushi chefs at work. Behind them is an artistic display of saki barrels and there is also a wall mounted digital photo display which reels through some excellent pictures of the proprietors visits to Japan.
The sushi is incredibly good. There is a lot to choose from on the menu; tempura, maki, maki mono, sashimi, nigiri, temaki and maki specials. After sampling much of the menu on various visits, we found our favourites and started to have the same things every time. We reached the point when we barely needed to order!
On one occasion we came here with my in-laws, who are very wary of food that does not fall into British "meat and two veg" style. We were determined they would try our favourite lunchtime spot though. This time we sat in one of the comfortable booths and as they were bewildered by the menu, my husband and I ordered for everybody. We started with vegetable tempura, which eased their nerves and then moved onto the sashimi and a selection of rolls. It went down reasonably well and they cleared their plates, although they did draw the line at chopsticks and ate with their knives and forks.
Since returning to the UK, we have not managed to find anywhere serving sushi as good as the Harbourfront and we also miss the "special sauce" that was frequently served. I would love the recipe for it. Along with the views of the Atlantic, the Harbourfront is one of the things I miss most about Bermuda.
by Cat19 on July 6, 2009
Harbourfront
21 Front Street Hamilton, Bermuda
(441) 295-4207