Dear Steemit Friends :
Since arriving in Paradise Island at The Bahamas, I have steadily turned from my usual pale complexion to various states of red or brown. Kind of like a Lobster as it gets cooked.
With such a relaxing atmosphere, truly worth of it's "Paradise" name, the Atlantis resort makes basking under the sun easy, infact, so easy, you can forget that you're burning up under the sun and running on an empty stomach.
As I briefly showed in my introductory post to Bahamas, the hotel I am currently staying in has a few decent places to eat, but none that offer an authentic Bahamian dining experience.
In my search for some true authentic Bahamian cuisine, I found not one, but two places that I want to share with you all today!
Marina Village
Check out my video!
This little open air market place is situated on the doorstep of the Royal Towers of Atlantis. Even though it is a new development, it was designed to resemble a quaint Bahamian settlement.
It features some 20 retail stores as well as some local Bahamian carts showcasing the Bahamian local artistry.
My visit was almost accidental, as I was looking for a specific restaurant on my phone, and then my GPS took me to this little village.
I was immediately drawn in by the unique buildings and architecture here, once again forgetting the initial reason I came.
Each building sports a striking colour that differs from the other buildings adjacent to it. This makes for quite a skittle like effect just looking down the main street.
The colour of this building is a daring pink. Yet, somehow it seems suited amongst the backdrop of buildings each painting with their own striking colours.
Intertwined with the retail stores, there are atleast 5 restaurant locations here which offer various styles of essentially the same muted American food. Burgers, fries, you know the drill.
The village is very picturesque, especially akin to my style because of the multitude of colours!
There are also plenty of palm trees and lush plants intertwined throughout the street, keeping me attached to the atmosphere of the island.
Retail stores here are a mixture of some well known international brands, and then some lesser known local brands.
Of couse, Atlantis have their own "Signature" souvenir shop here as well.
As the night time draws near, the lamp posts outside light up, and we start to feel the night time ambience take over.
Pirana Joe is an example of a local clothing business which now has four stores in the Bahamas.
my ocean is another local business, which specialises in handmade accessories as well as articles of clothes.
Well known brands such as Ben & Jerry's Icecream have made their way into this village, and remain as popular because of their international brand value.
Also, because it is a fervent 35 degrees celcius and people just want to eat ice cream to cool down!
This was one of the first places which caught my eye, but also my ears. There was a live band outside playing what sounded like some local music, this gathered quite an interest from the passing crowds, but also created a lively atmosphere along the street.
Not all the places are full of people. Somehow I found a quiet corner to have another picture with the Village logo!
The Plait Lady is another local arts and crafts store which specialises in Plaiting. The plait lady will collect palmetto fronds, which are like straws, and then plait them into rolls which can be used to make bags, basket's and hats.
This yellow house made me think of "The Yellow Submarine".
A cute little candy store contrasted by not only the colour of it's paintwork, but also the designer jewellery articles on sale adjacent to the Candy store.
Yellow houses for some reason really stand out. Even if they're ATM huts.
There are some local jewelers here as well.
I wasn't kidding when I said the houses are different colours, building by building.
It's such a beautiful street. For me, the palm trees and lush vegetation add a whole new level of paradise to the already multi-coloured buildings along the street.
This is Cafe Martinique, one of the better known luxury dining places on the island. I was actually supposed to come to this restaurant but got carried away browsing the rest of the village.
It's actually a blessing in disguise because I found a more suitable place to eat as a result of coming here.
The carts selling local arts and crafts are lit up by some ad-hoc street lights beautifully dangled around the palm trees.
The harbour has some of the most fancy yachts i've ever seen. Together with the Royal Towers of Atlantis, the view of them together from Marina Village is incredibly scenic.
A hop skip and jump past my favourite Paradise Blue Surf Shop, and we arrive at...
Bimini Road Restaurant
As I showed you earlier, this restaurant was the center of attention with it's live band playing just outside on the deck, making the entire street lively and full of energy.
A little peer into the restaurant, and I saw how busy it was inside. I even saw some rather peculiar decoration.
So far, I'm really liking the vibes of this restaurant, let's go inside and take a look!
It appears that they've used little mini wooden boats as decorations on the ceiling.
In this area of the restaurant, where the tables and seating are enclosures, the decoration is primarily a vivid painting on the wall.
A formidable looking mask if only too pretty and colourful to ward off enemies.
A closer look at the vivid paintinngs on the wall, and we see a beautiful horse like sculpture jumping out of the wall.
The kitchen is really busy as the waiters and waitresses furiously take their orders out to the guests.
The chef's here seem unphased by how busy it is. They focus on making the food as tasty and delicious as possible!
They have their selection of fresh seafood catches of the day on display.
Here is another shot of the kitchen. It appears that there are two teams who work together and pass the food between the dividers.
This is a shot of the non-enclosed seating area. Also the area where the wooden boats on the ceiling are.
It's a lovely tropical atmosphere wouldn't you say?
I found the dragons above these native islander statues quite familiar, as they look like the ones we use in China for dragon dances in our own festivals.
Time to eat !
The menu is simple, these two pages are what you can order!
I love how they use the word 'Ting' every where. It's very endearing.
Ginger Ale and Coconut Water are my choices for drinks tonight.
Cheers!
Ting-Um Platter. This was incrediblly fresh as well as delicious, I found the conch salad to be a little overwhelming with it's zesty tangy water sauce. But the King Prawns, Lobster Tails and Seafood nachos were heavenly. I didn't even need to dip it in the sauce or add any lime / lemon!
Next up we have Loaded Nachos, which basically consists of freshly baked corn nachos wih beef and bean chilli. I love the striking red and black coloured nachos. There's a whole world of difference between freshly baked nachos and nachos from a few days ago. Not only are the fresh ones incredibly crunchy and crispy, they also taste great warm!
Sour Cream, Guacamole, Tomatos and Jalapenos for dips !
This was the highlight and my favourite dish of the evening!
Red Snapper Bahamian Fried Style!
Just the right amount of crispiness on the outside, almost tasting a little like the best KFC batter you've ever had, and then beneath the skin, the most succulent and fresh tasting fish meat i've ever had. I was so surprised at not only how fresh it tasted, but without any other kind of sauces or dips to complement. If I said it tastes like the sea, I mean it quite literally!
For the sides, I ordered the Grand Bahama Conch Chowder.
As well as the Market Bean Ham Hock soup.
Both of the soups are quite rich in taste, but I think the hidden gem of this dish is the bread. It is seriously the best tasting bread I have -ever- had. Period.
Street Parade
As I was eating, I suddenly heard quite a loud persistent noise outside. Many people inside the restaurant flocked outside to see what all the commotion was about. I was surprised to see it was a live music parade! This seems to be quite the tradition here in Bahamas. A flash mob of performers suddenly singing and dancing whilst everyone eats. I love it!
Sometimes, a wrong turn leads to something better. And today, was a testament to that because even though I couldn't goto my original restaurant of choice, I'm confident in saying that the discovery of the Marina Village, and the Bimini Road restaurant was well worth it and I have zero regrets!
At last, I have finally tasted some true authentic Bahamian food. And what an absolutely delightful experience it turned out to be.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures and video!
As always, I appreciate your up-vote if you liked the post, a follow if you like to see more of the same, and a comment to let me know your thoughts!
今天我想带大家去看看亚特兰蒂斯度假村里的商业街，一到饭点我就很着急的在酒店里找餐厅，后来才发现原来大部分餐厅和商店都开在Marina Village里。现在我们就进去为探索一下吧。走进这条商业街，就像走进了童话世界，各种马卡龙色的房子，有餐厅，商店和一些露天的快餐。这么多绚丽颜色搭配的小房子，让我忍不住拍照。听着门口现场乐队演奏出欢快的音乐声，我们就来到了Bimini Road 餐厅前。
这是一家极具巴哈马风格的餐厅，到处布置着鲜艳颜色的墙和摆设，很具有海岛文化的代表性。我很喜欢这家餐厅室内的装饰，多姿多彩的颜色，更重要的是门口摆着的鲜活海鲜，看上去像是刚刚打捞上来的。打开菜单看一下，加勒比地区的美食样样俱全，所以我就选择乐几个海岛最爱的食物，也就是当地的特色。现在赶快来看看我都点了什么美味吧。椰子水和汽水又解渴又降暑。海鲜拼盘上来了，超级大的虾和龙虾吸引了我，尝一口那个鲜嫩的味道，可能让我一辈子忘不了了，那个红色的酱是酸甜的，当然如果你想尝尝原滋原味，就不用理会那个酱了。透明盒子里装的是各种贝类制成的海鲜沙拉，我加了些柠檬，立刻变得酸甜，好开胃啊。烤起司辣味玉米片上来了，之前在欧洲吃到过不少玉米品，红色的还是第一次见。尝一口又香又脆，不仅惊叹到这家餐厅的每一道菜都充满了惊喜。不是误闯入了这家餐厅怎么会知道，原来巴哈马还有这么好吃的本土菜。
海鲜酸辣汤上来了，汤特别浓，里面很多海鲜料，边上的面包更是出乎我意料的软，手轻轻一掰就碎了，加上黄油，配上汤，面包的好味道又倍增。最后的这条鱼是巴哈马煎鱼，听说这种红鲷鱼只有在巴哈马才能找到。而它煎出来的味道更是超乎我想象，又酥又脆。 这种海鱼，正常的味道要强一些，但是这条鱼一点腥味都没有。鲜嫩的鱼味里带一些甜甜辣辣的佐料，真是让我吃了还想再来吃。正在我享受美食的同时，土著文化的游行表演开始了，我立刻出去拍了些照片和视频，当地的舞蹈和音乐都非常动感，那带着鼓点的节奏，让人听了就想跳舞。希望大家喜欢我今天的巴哈马美食之旅，就让我们继续期待接下来的精彩旅程吧！