Food Review: ‘Harlem Meets Bermuda’ Event
[Written by Mikaela Ian Pearman]
It was the name Melba Wilson that lured me into attending the Harlem Meets Bermuda event at Marcus’. I had first heard of Melba when I watched one of my favourite shows – Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
The Iron Chef challenged Melba to a chicken and waffles throwdown on season four and walked away with his tail between his legs. That was enough for me to become a fan.
Now fast forward to Friday night. The scene was the fabulous Marcus’ at the Hamilton Princess. The Nate Lucas All Stars from Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Harlem restaurant were the entertainment for the evening and set the scene for a magnificent evening.
Once seated, the table was given Chef Samuelsson’s Cornbread Madeleine’s and Melba’s Raisin Biscuits with honey butter and blackberry jam. Now truth be told, I don’t like raisins at all so I wasn’t excited about the biscuit. One bite and Melba changed my mind. These biscuits were melt in your mouth amazing!
Next up was an amuse bouche – Tandoori Smoked Salmon Deviled Egg with mustard seed and trout roe. The egg was smokey with a nice spice from the Tandoori seasoning and the mustard seed.
The first course was a choice of Fish Chowder Bites or Eggnog Waffles and Fried Chicken. As I’ve eaten Chef Samuelsson’s Fish Chowder bites countless times, I opted for Melba’s famous Chicken and Waffles.
The chicken was incredibly crispy and full of flavor without being greasy – a difficult feat. The waffle was sweet but paired well with the chicken and the strawberry butter took the dish over the top.
By the time by main came, my belly was full but I vowed to keep going. I ordered JH’s Chicken Stew and Dumplings with all day beans. The other choice was Fire Grilled Wahoo with Harlem Chowder, lobster and charred citrus.
Let’s talk about this chicken stew. If my nana was from down south and had a ton of soul in her, I imagine this is what she would cook on a Sunday.
The chicken was fall of the bone tender, the dumplings were cooked perfectly and the broth was quite tasty. At the bottom of the bowl I found the all day beans and kept going in for more. My waiter explained they were cooked in bourbon butter!
My partner had the Fire Grilled Wahoo with Harlem Chowder, lobster and charred citrus and said it was the best thing he’s eaten at Marcus’.
Sweet potato pie was the dessert and I wasn’t excited until I had a bite. The pastry alone was enough to convert me. It was served with cinnamon whipped cream, a salted caramel and vanilla ice cream.
While decadent, the dish was also very light and wasn’t sweet at all. This dish was probably my favourite of the night as it was unexpectedly scrumptious.
If I had to sum up the evening in one word, it would be glorious. The band was as fantastic as the meal. One great moment of the evening came when Clarence “Tootsie” Bean, an 85-year-old Bermudian drummer joined the band. He was a friend of Lucas’ late father.
Additionally, Melba and Marcus made a point to go to every single table and chat with diners, which I thought was wonderful. Both seemed thrilled to have a full house. Hopefully Harlem Meets Bermuda will become a regular occurrence.
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We had dinner at Marcus this weekend, first time and we were excited to try it out. Not impressed. The first impressions are that it looks great, upbeat, but then the effects of bad design overwhelm what could be a nice experience. Either the tables are too high or the seats too low, but you cannot sit comfortably to eat. The amount of hard surfaces in the room make it noisy, and difficult to have a good conversation with friends, then when you add in a band (a great jazz band no less) the noise levels are impossible to communicate with your guests. The room is not designed for live entertainment. The menus are very difficult to read in the evening lighting, blue text on blue background – what were they thinking? The food was ok, over-salted in my opinion but perfectly ok, nothing more.
Had the same experience! the food was way to salty for me as well.
I was not impressed with the Marcus menu either and I also agree the lighting is poor in the dining area. Restaurant 1609 has a better menu in my opinion.
They need to do something with the noise I mean it’s not New York , the menu would not make me want to go back everything was ok nothing to stand out except the desserts to me. Some regular food like a decent steak not that cut up thing and would like to see some of the ethnic dishes we know Marcus can do well.
Haven’t tried Marcus’ yet it’s too expensive to afford…but I disagree Jury 1609 was garbage and um putting that lightly!
Overpriced for what you really get. Taste good but would not go back, don’t think it’s worth it!
I agree with the above comments regarding Marcus. The food was over compansated with salt, but the wait staff was very good. However, We would never go back to 1609, the food was some of the worse food I have ever eaten and the the wait staff had no clue. It took him three tries before he could give use the specials on the menu not to meant he forgot our drinks twice. to top the night off we were served with a $189.00 bill. Not impressed and have not been back since.