Royal Dockyard

After the rains this morning we took a taxi to the Royal Dockyard and although we did get a bit wet, it was well worth it.  The courtyard below is where they packed the food in salt to get it ready for the journeys.  The building in the background she were they built the wooden casts- they now brew beer there. 

 We initially tried all 5 beers they make before settling on our beers for lunch.  Lunch was nice pub food.  We started with some chicken satay in a nice peanut sauce and I had a burger while Richard went for bangers and mash.

We were initially disappointed as part of the national museum was closed due to hurricane damage, but the parts that were open were really interesting.  They had 3 exhibit halls open all covering different areas of Bermudian history.

Finally a walk back to the ferry with a stop- we were a bit early, so we settled in with a beer to wait!

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Beau Rivage

We had dinner at Beau Rivage last night and I was really looking forward to it.  They have an amazing French chef, Jean Claude Garzia,  Internationally he was awarded the “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” (France’s highest honour for a chef) in 1996.

Our starters were amazing- Richard had the tuna and I had the beef capriccio.  We had the chef pair wines and they did a great job.

For a main I had a duck breast and Richard had the rockfish.  Once again both were paired with wine and amazing. 
We did leave disappointed and I think that is because although we didn’t get bad service, it certainly wasn’t the level of service we expected from a restaurant of the type.  It is unfortunate the we left with that feeling as the food was outstanding.  

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Bistro J

I did the three-course menu at a restaurant called Bistro J.   It is a small restaurant with less than 10 tables I would say.  I found it down a little alley in downtown Hamilton. 
The menu changes on a daily basis so there is no set menu- just a big chalk board in the restaurant.  You have a limited selection with 4 starters, mains and deserts, something I really like. 
It started with a roasted pumpkin soup that was amazing.  For the second course I had a local wahoo with roasted vegetables, beans and chorizo sauce.  It was so nice to have leaks as it is a vegetable I use to cook with, but for some reason do not use them much in Cayman.  I think this is something I will definitely add back into my cooking. 
As I was on my own the food was coming rather quickly so I asked them to hold off for about 30 minutes for my final course and they were more than happy. 
I went with a baked vanilla bean cheesecake with fresh berries, a house specialty and very nice. 


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Rugby night one

On Monday we went to see the second evening’s play of the rugby classic, an annual week-long tournament for over-30’s former rugby internationals.  We were lucky enough to be seated in the Classic Club where we were treated to a dinner as well as getting to sit with many of the players who had played the previous evening.  There was a short rainfall just before kickoff but thankfully it cleared up for the rest of the evening.
Up first were the USA who played against South Africa.  The first half was really exciting with the USA soaking up a lot of South African pressure and scoring two breakaway tries…the halftime score was 12-12.  In the second half South Africa scored an early try but missed the kick in front of the posts.  The USA had an amazing counter attack come to nothing with their fullback, their far and away best player, zig-zagging through the South African defence only to run out of steam on the South African 22.  The USA continued to soak up pressure eventually conceding two tries within the last 5 minutes.  Final score 29-12 to South Africa.
The second game of the evening was New Zealand against Italy.  Italy put up a good and exciting performance against a very rusty and one dimensional New Zealand scoring a drop goal and a late penalty kick.  Half-time 6-0 to Italy.  A different New Zealand came out in the second half scoring two tries to make the final score 12-6 in their favour.  All in all an exciting and entertaining evening.

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Lunch spot

So today we went for one on my favorite lunch spots- the Green House…  however when we got there is was a place called Vivo!  They changed owners and chefs about 2 weeks ago.  I was very disappointed as I was really looking forward to my tea and pizza, but I ended up with a lion fish sandwich.  The lion fish and freshly made bun were really good, but I will have to say I was still a bit disappointed.

The one really good thing that changed with the new ownership was the service.  We usually went when we were not hungry as the food and views were great- just not the service.  Today the service was amazing.  

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Kitty Update

We are attempting to move a third kitty into our house.  Pekoe came to live with us about a week ago and is slowly settling in… The cats are still not sure about each other and we have had a few fights around the house…  everyone is figuring out there place.  
Pekoe is the newest member, she is 8 years old and has lived with the same family all her life (with no other cats), so this is a bit of an adjustment for her.  
Avery is of course our kitten.  She seems to be pretty scared of the new kitty in the house…  we have never seen Avery so timid and shy! 

We do get the hiss from her! 

 And she is happy up on her high spot, just able to keep an eye on everything! 
Yabbey on the other hand really just wants to be left alone and to sleep away the day.  

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Dinner at the Governors House

A group of us purchased a dinner with at the governor’s house at a live auction.  All the proceeds went to help the victims of the Nepal earthquake.

The evening started out with bubbles on the patio watching the sunset.  They brought out some amazing appetizers.  Some were so pretty we didn’t want to eat them!

After appetizers we sat down for dinner.  It consisted of 5 courses each from an amazing chef on the island.  The first course was from Chef Keith Griffin.  It was a rare seared yellow fin tuna with roasted potatoes, haricots, tapenade, greens and a soft poached quail egg.  The paired it with a really nice Schloss Johanisberger Riesling.

The second course was prepared by Chef Shetty Vidyadhara and paired with a Comtes Lafon Sancerre.  The course consisted of a seared diver scallop with a callaloo puree, tomato chutney and a mandarin drizzle…  amazing.

Chef Sandy Tuason prepared the third course- a local snapper with ditalini, tomato, presto broth and herb salad.  This was paired with a Ramio’s from 2007.  While I loved the food, I didn’t understand the pairing and I think it would have been better paired with a different wine.

The main course was prepared by Frederic Morineau and consisted of a Niman Ranch Lamb with a comfit, belly and roasted rack, goat cheese mash, eggplant caviar, cumin and honey glazed local carrot.  Probably not my favorite course, but very nice.  The wine however was a bit much with this as well- a Montes Purple Angel from 2012.

Finally came dessert!  It was created by chef Melissa Logan.  It was beautiful!  A maracaibo chocolate pave with a hazelnut dulce sponge, passion fruit curd, praline ice cream and micro flowers.  A work of art!

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