I haven’t written my review of our day visiting Bermuda’s south shore beaches and the city of Hamilton yet, but in keeping with this week’s restaurant review theme, I’m skipping ahead to my review of our lunch stop in Hamilton. We rode the bus from Warwick Long Bay Beach, intending to walk down to the waterfront along Front Street to find a place to eat before walking around the city for a bit.
But before we got to the main bus stand, I saw a sign for The Lobster Pot while looking out the window. My wife loves seafood, so I asked if she wanted to give it a try, to which she was happy to oblige. Incidentally, I’ve come across some of the best restaurants while traveling this way – totally by accident. Would The Lobster Pot join the list?
The Lobster Pot Restaurant & Bar
- 5 Bermudiana Road, Hamilton, Bermuda
- Hours – Mon – Fri 11:30 A.M. – till closing; Sat 5:30 P.M. – till closing; Sun 6 P.M. – till closing
- Price – $25-40 per person, no alcohol; gratuity automatically included
- Directions – from the ferry terminal, walk west down Front Street, then turn right on Bermudiana Road. 5 minute walk. Restaurant is on the left. From the Hamilton bus terminal, go south on Washington Street, then right on Church Street, and finally left on Bermudiana Road. 10-15 minute walk. Restaurant is on the right.
Website – http://www.lobsterpot.bm
The Lobster Pot bills itself as “Bermuda’s Premier Seafood House”, having been in business for over 40 years. Unlike our other two lunch stops in the country, The Lobster Pot isn’t located in a historic area or building, but instead is in the heart of Hamilton’s modern business district.
With some restaurants, it’s tough to tell from the name and the sign what kind of food they specialize in. With The Lobster Pot, though, there’s really not any question.
Yes, the specialty here is seafood, especially – ironically enough – Maine lobster, at least in season. Kind of strange that we came all the way to Bermuda to eat Maine lobster, considering we’d just sailed from Boston, but anyway. Numerous other seafood preparations are available, both as an appetizer and a main course, and fresh fish is offered up 6 different ways. There is also a selection of steak, chicken, and lamb for landlubbers (and experience says good seafood joints often make a mean steak).
Note that the menu on the website appears to have changed somewhat from the time of our visit in May; some of this might just be seasonal variations. At the time of our visit, they also offered a 3-course prix fixe for $25, featuring a choice of: soup or salad, one of three entrees (two seafood options, one steak option), coffee or tea, and desert. That’s actually a very, very good deal if it’s still offered.
Inside, the seafaring theme is definitely evident. The bar looks like it would be fun on a Friday night.
The place was pretty much empty when we walked in, so we just grabbed a booth up front near the bar. More folks wandered in during the course of our meal – some cruise ship tourists (more on that later), but mostly Hamilton business people meeting colleagues and clients for lunch. Apparently Bermudians eat later than us Americans, so the place didn’t start filling up until closer to 1:00 (we came in about 12:15).
I decided to go with the prix fixe, while my wife ordered off the menu. We both started off with one of our favorite soups – lobster bisque.
A fun presentation, and a great bowl of soup. This lobster bisque was rich, creamy, and absolutely delicious. Fresh lobster pieces make all the difference, giving the soup a good helping of sweetness (good lobster should be sweet). If you come to Bermuda, though, try the Bermuda fish chowder. I’m not a fish person, so didn’t order any at any of our lunch stops, but it is one of Bermuda’s most famous local dishes. For the main course, I decided to go with the steak au poivre, and my wife had the lobster, shrimp, and crab cakes.
I know, I know – ordering a steak at a restaurant that specializes in seafood is incredibly gauche, but like I said up top, seafood joints have a tendency to make some pretty good steak, and I was really hungry for one after a morning full of walking through beaches and dunes. This was a good steak, well-seasoned though perhaps just a teeny bit overcooked, but it wasn’t too fatty, and the mushroom sauce was rich and hearty, with a touch of (I presume) peppercorn to give it a bit of kick.
I only had a bite of the lobster/shrimp/crab cakes, but the one bite I had was pretty good. They weren’t excessively breaded to the point of being too thick and chewy, but were nicely fried on the outside, with the proper amount of mayonnaise-induced creaminess on the inside. My wife must have approved, since she ate 2 of those big boys. The fries weren’t my favorite, though; a little too limp and greasy.
Then, it was time for dessert. I went with a Bermuda specialty – rum raisin ice cream.
My oh my, this was incredibly delicious, if way too large a serving. Even with two of us pecking away, we could only get through about half of it. The ice cream tasted homemade, with the bitterness of the rum providing a foil the sweetness of the sugar and raisins. Definitely not a diet aid, though. The only complaint – the wafer (not to be confused with a wafer-thin mint) tasted like cardboard.
As I mentioned earlier, the restaurant was practically empty when we came in, and never really became that busy even though we were there at peak lunchtime on a weekday. Much of this was probably attributable to the time of year; May is a pretty quiet time of year in Bermuda, as while there are some cruise ship visitors around, the real crush hasn’t hit yet. Given the light crowd, we were seated and served promptly, and our friendly server came by several times to check on us.
The website recommends reservations; they definitely weren’t needed for lunch, but I can see the place getting crowded at dinner, or later in the summer when more tourists are around. Incidentally, when we were back on the ship later that evening, we ran into a couple from Boston that we’d met on a shore excursion the night before, who said they saw as at The Lobster Pot earlier. They told us that friends and family back in Massachusetts had recommended The Lobster Pot. Pretty high praise right there – Mass natives tell folks to come here for lobster. And we happened upon this place totally on accident…
Rating – 4 stars. I should have gotten the lobster, of course, but if you find yourself in Bermuda, you should definitely come here. Take advantage of the prix fixe for lunch if it is still available; it is an excellent value for just $25.
