The Pickled Onion in Hamilton is a popular meeting place for Bermuda’s opulent and sophisticated crowd. The building, dating from the 19th century, was formerly the headquarters of a local wine and spirit merchants. Now, occupying the second floor of the building it’s a fine use of what used to be the whisky warehouse.
The exquisite bar serves a great selection of beers, wines by the glass and bottle, and creative cocktails. Many choose to spend the entire evening in the bar area, making it consistently and fashionably crammed. Elsewhere there are also numerous tables and booths and you don’t have to be a diner to get a seat. The original slate ceiling with its exposed cedar beams still covers the premises, but the rest of the interior has a contemporary design that blends in well.
Diners here have one of the best alfresco options in the city. The large balcony has great views of both Front Street and Hamilton Harbour. On Wednesdays evenings throughout the summer arrive early to get a bird’s eye view of the entertainment put on for Harbour Nights.
In the season there’s entertainment every night of the week. Graffiti Park is the house band in 2013 and plays a wide repertoire of classic tunes and current chart hits. The in-house DJ is Bermudian Slid James.
It’s also a pretty good place to eat as well. Executive chef Derek Myers hails from Vancouver in British Columbia. The city’s large Asian and Chinese population has clearly had a major influence on the menu. Starters include Bermuda Triangle Shrimp (jumbo shrimp marinated in sweet chilli, wrapped in wonton and coconut, fried crisp and served with a sweet chilli dip) and Avocado Egg Rolls (avocado, sun-dried tomato, red onion and cilantro fried in a crisp wrapper served with a soy-cashew dipping sauce). For an entrée try the Grilled Yellowfin Tuna (with a spicy mango glaze, goat cheese risotto, sautéed vegetables, and black bean salsa)
The Pickled Onion is open 7 days a week, opening at 11 am and closing at 1 am. Lunch is served between 11.30 am and 5 pm, and dinner from 5.30 pm until 10 pm. Reservations aren’t required but may be a good idea at busy times (Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays).
The restaurant enjoys a central location on Front Street in Hamilton. Visitors arriving at Hamilton Ferry Terminal should turn right and walk along Front Street for about 150 yards. The entrance at street level is just a single doorway. Walk up the stairs and you’re in the restaurant. The bus station is just two blocks away.
It’s owned and managed by the Island Restaurant Group, one of the island’s major dining chains. They also run the Hog Penny, Barracuda Grill, Victoria Grill, and the Frog & Onion. It could be worthwhile checking their Facebook page for details of any offers and special events.
Cuisine: International
Easily the best experience I have had in Bermuda in two weeks of dining outside – very polite & efficient staff (all the way from seating to order taking to intelligent conversation). Will definitely be back there.
We have just returned from Bermuda and had two fantastic meals at the PO. The first was made even more memorable by our Romanian server (whose name we didn’t get unfortunately). She was funny, efficient and just plain wonderful. Both meals were also amazing, but I have to say she left a huge impression on us both. What a treat to meet such great people. Thanks for the great memories!
I wanted to pass on my comments about our dining experience tonight at the Pickled Onion. We sat on the patio which was lovely on a beautiful evening. The young man who sat us was very friendly at made me and my wife feel very welcome. Unfortunately the waitress who looked after would not engage in any conversation with us and was downright rude. This young red head lady set the tone when she refused to take our picture (she was too busy). When I insisted she get me a glass of cold water with ice as opposed to the first glass of warm water she rolled her eyes. Anyway long story short we have been coming to Bermuda for 22 years and have always had a wonderful dinner at the PO but tonight the waitress really proved to me that regardless of the food the server can make or break the evening. There are many other dining options in Hamilton where I don’t have to put up with this kind of attitude. My prime rib dinner came well done even though I ordered it medium rare and had to send it back (which meant my wife finished her dinner before I got mine back). I could accept this however I can’t accept a server’s attitude. If it was my restaurant this is information that I’d want to know. Sorry but I wont be back to the PO any time soon.
Oh The Pickled Onion. How I love the burgers! Pickled Onion has fabulous food. Cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. GO – you will love it. The staff is the best. Sitting outside, looking at that beautiful water and the colorful houses is my idea of a piece of heaven.
The waiter that served us needs a course in manners, I agree with the comments of Raymond and we did not leave an extra tip either. The baby back ribs had been smothered in some sort of powder, cumin I think. Talk about burning lips, had to stop eating them. The vegetables looked fresh until in the mouth. They had been covered with some sort of odd tasting oil, lard I think. The other meal was chicken strips with peppers over jasmine rice, however they too had too much spice and could not be eaten. The waiter asked how things were going and when we told him we could not eat the food he made a hasty retreat to get us the check without any apology.
We were charged almost $97 for this which included a 15% service charge which was not deserved. That is the problem with service charges, you have to pay even though you got terrible service. Never again.
Music is great, love the duo. Tuesdays accoustic night is fun too.
I love the bar and the ambience. My mates and I always hang out there. Went to dinner with mates (5 of us) on 9 July 07. I’m very disappointed with an impolite server name Josh. He even threw the bill on the table when we asked for the bill. I was very upset with the whole dining experience! We did not leave him any extra tips like usually we do.
Fabulous place! Great food, great atmosphere, fabulous entertainment!
Nice bar and good sounds.
The Pickled Onion has been renovated now, with a better kitchen and bar, seating etc and is easily one of the best bars in Bermuda, if not the best. They have new and more staff and I would recommend it any day.
Hasn’t it closed for renovations and opened under a different name?
Nice place but if you’ve got a infant you’ll struggle getting your stroller up the narrow staircase.
Good place but can get very busy at the weekends. They really need to put more bar staff on. The queues at the bar can get a little annoying.