.
This Bolero Brasserie Bermuda Review is from our October 2020 visit, during our stay at the Hamilton Princess Bermuda. Thanks to Bermuda's skillful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, most restaurants are open for indoor dining, although Bolero Brasserie does have a few outdoor tables on its balcony, which is where we dined.
.
Bolero Brasserie Location and Hours
Bolero Brasserie is located at 95 Front Street, the main commercial street in Hamilton, Bermuda. It's an easy 20 minute walk from the Hamilton Princess resort. The restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday-Friday 11:30am-2:30pm, and for dinner from 6-10:30pm.
.
Bolero Brasserie Menu and Food
Bolero bills itself as a neighborhood bistro, with well prepared, unpretentious dishes. Here's the menu for the night we dined:
.
After ordering, we were brought some sliced bread. It was fresh, and as we were both hungry, it was appreciated.
.
I started with the soup of the day, a French Onion Soup. One of the things I enjoy most about French Onion Soup is the crusty bread with cheese that's baked right in the soup right before serving. Unfortunately, Bolero's version lacked authenticity. Not only was the broth not as rich and flavorful as in the better French Onion Soups I've had, the bread and cheese were toasted separately and placed on top, rather than being authentically oven baked. Not an auspicious start.
.
For a main dish, my husband chose the Smoky Paprika Grilled Chicken. When the server brought him his dish, he assumed he'd been brought the wrong one, as it was essentially a salad, with just a few measly pieces of chicken. While the little meat that was there tasted fine, this dish was definitely not worth the $27 price. At best it could have served as an appetizer.
.
I ordered a half portion of the Tiger Shrimp Pil Pil. The taste of these was good, but again we were unimpressed with the stingy portion of four shrimp pieces for $21. For this price I'd have expected six-seven pieces.
.
For dessert we tried the Melting Chocolate Pudding, which was a bit overbaked with little of a melting center, and the Gingerbread, which was good, and the least disappointing thing we tried during our visit. The marmalade ice cream complemented it well.
.
The Verdict
I was looking forward to Bolero Brasserie, but unfortunately we were both quite disappointed with our experience. The French Onion Soup wasn't as good as traditional versions I've had, and my husband's main dish was should have embarrassed the kitchen, given how little chicken it had in it. It should have been described as a salad, not a chicken main. And even after bringing our disappointment to the attention of our server, nothing was done about it–there was no offer to add some additional chicken to the dish, take it off our bill, or anything else. I'd ordered a half portion of the shrimp, but still found it on the stingy side, at only 4 shrimp for the $21 price. The best thing that we had was probably the gingerbread dessert. While Bermuda is undeniably expensive, there are higher quality, better value restaurants in Bermuda, so we can't recommend Bolero Brasserie.
Recommended Posts
1609 Restaurant Bermuda Review
Updated: Bermuda COVID-19 Testing Experience
Bahamas Tightens COVID-19 Entry Requirements
Anguilla Reopening with Resort Bubbles, Testing Fees
Top 10 Best Golf Resorts in Hawaii and the Caribbean
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Subscribe to TravelSort on YouTube and TravelSort on Instagram for travel inspiration.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits