Bermunchies Review: Marcus by Marcus Samuelsson

No longer a popup restaurant, Marcus by Marcus Samuelsson is all grown up and is now a permanent fixture at the Hamilton Princess.

When my sister and I booked our dinner reservations roughly two weeks ago, we were curious to see what menu items remained from the pop-up restaurant last summer, and what got cut.

Upon arriving, we were met with Chef Marcus Samuelsson himself as he finished up his book signing. He introduced himself with, "Hi, I'm Marcus", (as if I didn't know who he was) as he stretched his hand out for me to shake. I purchased his cookbook ‘Marcus Off Duty’- (the book is AMAZING by the way), which he graciously signed for me.

We were promptly seated next to one of the lovely large windows overlooking the courtyard and harbor, which was beautiful at that time of day, just pre-sunset, so the you could see the most beautiful colours in the sky and reflecting off of the water.

We started with cocktails. I ordered the "Hurrycane" which was made with Dark Rum, passion fruit, lemon juice and basil. My sister ordered the "Colada Colada" a creamy cocktail made with rum, mango, lime and mint, both extremely delicious. You can tell they were freshly made by hand. They did take a while to take our orders, but the restaurant was extremely busy on this particular night.

They started us off with porter bread served with jerk seasoned butter. It was very warm and fresh from the oven, simply divine! Soon after we were greeted with our appetizers. My sister and I shared 3 dishes, we just couldn’t make up our minds so we decided on The Fish Chowder Bites with the rum aioli, Aunt Bonita's Crab & Codfish Cake served with Charred mango salsa, bacon and salsa verde and the Fried Chicken and Waffles. The rum aioli was potent, in a good way. The fumes from the rum lingered in your mouth for a few seconds after swallowing. The waffles were whole grain and the chicken was perfectly fried and boneless. The crab and codfish cake came with a nice salsa verde that opened up all of the flavors of the cake itself without overpowering it.

For the main course, my sister had the Blackened Fish and Grits, made with the fish of the day which was tuna on this occasion. I also decided to have fish and went with the Salmon From The Grill, cooked to a perfect medium, with the most delicious broccoli purée, cabbage and chorizo bites. I also got a side order of mac n cheese. How would I describe my dish- absolutely delicious. I have to figure out how to make the broccoli puree. It was the texture of baby food but with a much more elevated richness and creaminess that coats your entire mouth.

The best is always served last…….Dessert. I would be lying if I said I wasn't getting full by now, but I couldn't leave without getting a dessert. There's always room for dessert right? And who knows when I'll be back here?!

I chose the Rum Cake which came with a delicious salted caramel sauce and a scoop of Vanilla Bean ice cream. The Rum Cake tasted like it had been soaking in rum for hours. As you pressed down on it the rum oozed out from under it into the ice cream. The top of the cake had been Brûléed which gave it a nice sweet crunch and perfect ending to our amazing meal.

We spent $108 each including grats.  Keep in mind we had one drink each as well as 3 appetizers. I would definitely recommend having a meal at Marcus at the Hamilton Princess. Or even just going there for cocktails at the bar. Be sure to make a reservation if you want to get food.

Until next time foodies!

Ree xx