Dear Steemit friends :
It is easy to visit Nassau, Bahamas and stay at the Atlantis resort for the entirety of your vacation. After all, Atlantis is reputed to have some of the best facilities on the entire island. No doubt we've spent quite a bit of time exploring what's on offer at Atlantis, and if you've followed me closely, you'll realise that Atlantis is every bit as good as the reviews say. (At least I think so!)
Although I still have a few more blogs about Atlantis (I know, it's hard to believe), today's blog will be based elsewhere. For those of you who might have missed my blogs about Atlantis thus far, here are the links to each:
- The Dig at the lost city of Atlantis
- The hidden gem in Atlantis - Marina Village and the Bimini Road Restaurant
- A look at the Atlantis Casino as a non gambler
- A visit to Dolphin Cay to interact with Sea Lions!
- Poseidon's Table - A restasurant worthy of Gods!
- Saying hello to Sharks, Stingrays, Sawfish at the Predator Lagoon
Aside from staying at Atlantis, I had the pleasure of staying a few days at the brand new Baha Mar Resort, a direct competitor to Atlantis which opened in May of this year (2017).
Mired by controversy, the Baha Mar resort has been in development for more than 10 years and hopes to revitalise the tourist industry in Bahamas bringing an additional 315,000 visitors to Bahamas annually as well as contribute $700 Million a year to Bahamas' tourism.
As one of the very first paying guests to this resort, I had the pleasure (or not) of experiencing first hand what a $4.2 Billion, 1000 acre development has to offer.
Although the resort will comprise of three hotel brands - Grand Hyatt, SLS Hotels and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, only the Grand Hyatt is currently open for guests. Other amenities including 30 luxury retailers, the 18-hole Jack Niclaus Signature Gold Course, and a handful of restaurants are also yet to open.
In my short stay, I only had access to the Casino, seven of the planned 11 swimming pools and a handful of restaurants.
Still, an early look at this resort has given me an idea of whether I will be going back to Atlantis the next time I visit, or whether Baha Mar is worth a second look.
At first glance, much like Atlantis, the Baha Mar resort is a real feast to the eyes. A long bridge connecting the main road to the entrance, crosses over a beautiful pool fountain. At the end of it, a cylindrical funnel functions as the landing area, complemented by palm trees showing just how high the walls of this cylinder truly are.
The architectural style of Baha Mar draws similarities to Atlantis, yet projects a different flavour of grandeur. Certainly the golden reception, with it's distinctively Asian ornaments bring a different yet welcome style to the building.
Across the foyer, we see a glimpse of the Casino through the large french windows. Reminding us that this Casino is in fact the largest Casino in Bahamas.
Almost like a flip on reality, the other side of the building reveals a tenderness and vulnerability with it's pink colours and humble stature.
Today's Miss. Delicious takes us to one of the very first restaurants to open for business at this resort.
Called 3 Tides, this restaurant prides itself as a seafood-forward Mediterranean all day restaurant. The executive chef, Brent Martin infuses Caribbean fish with locally sourced ingredients and turns them into fresh inventive Bahamian style dishes.
The restaurant is one level below the ground, so a walk down a lovely spiral staircase takes us into the main dining area. It's a very open space restaurant featuring three open "theatre" kitchens and is decorated with many colourful Bahamian displays of art.
The menu itself is quite a simple wooden like folder.
And inside, we have just two pages of foods to order from.
As always, it's about the quality and not quantity and I'm actually quite glad they've chosen to narrow their choice of dishes down to just a few.
Let's see the dishes I ordered and begin the mouth watering!
The Garden. Quinoa Salad + Local Bahamian Field Greens.
This was a refreshing start to the meal, and a much needed chill down from a really long and hot day. The Quinoa added just enough substance to wake my appetite whilst the Cherry Tomatoes were sufficiently sweet and delicious.
With some food in the stomach, it was time to indulge in the Bahama Mama cocktail. I'm not a big drinker, but this was really quite potent. I felt like feinting after my first sip!
Next up, another meatier Salad, the Grilled Spanish Octopus. I'm usually not a fan of cheese, but the goats cheese used here was really rich, combined with the grilled octopus strips which were both fresh and chewy, I barely noticed that I had eaten two salads in a row!
Sauteed Wild Mushrooms with Thyme. Continuing our light and healthy dinner, this little pot of Mushrooms tasted quite different from what I was expecting. The mushrooms tasted like what I could only describe as "earthy". It's texture was both chewy and meaty at the same time. The gentle sprinkle of Thyme added a bit of lemony taste which really picked up my appetite for the next dish.
This is the Bahamian Red Snapper Fillet. Only being in Bahamas for a few days, this was now the 4th time I've indulged in the Bahamian Snapper fish. I can't get enough of the soft melting texture of it's meat. I believe it is served on a bed of yogurt potato salad which didn't agree with me at all. Besides, it's all about the snapper!
Every 30 minutes from 8:30pm to 10pm, there is a water fountain show at the main fountain bridge.
This was no doubt an influence from China as the group who now own the hotel are Chinese.
The show ran twice during my time at the restaurant, but I didn't leave my seat to go take a look.
Here is a video of the show from my room!
And that wraps up our first Miss. Delicious at the Baha Mar resort in Cable Beach Nassau. Aside from being quite empty because of how new it is, I actually quite enjoyed the atmosphere of 3 Tides at Baha Mar. It was also nice to see the water show from my seat at the restaurant as well as in the comfort of my room.
Certainly a very different kind of royal treatment to expect from the resort, but one that I welcome all the same!
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在巴哈马的行程中，前半段我选择住在拿骚天堂岛的耶特兰蒂斯酒店，后半段旅程我决定选择个有点与众不同的酒店——巴哈·玛(BAHA MAR)凯悦酒店。选择这家酒店有它的特殊性，这是一家2011年开始动工的酒店，由中国建筑工程总公司及中国进出口银行共同合作的酒店度假岑，占地1000英亩，耗资34亿美元，是西半球投资规模最大的酒店项目。但是由于建造途中，开放商和中国合伙人发生了纠纷，最终宣告破产上法庭，酒店一度停工，所以就这样，拖拖拉拉了6年，酒店还没完工。2017年6月，酒店终于开放了部分度假村，作为中国人的我，当然要支持一下这个酒店，所以不顾酒店还在施工，我就选择来这里住了。当然，毕竟是没完工的酒店，难免不少让人失望的地方，之后我会写一篇专门评测酒店的文章，给将要去的朋友，尤其是中国朋友作为参考。
今天我们来到酒店里的创意餐吧，3 Tides享受一下巴哈马美食。酒店一共有40多家餐厅和酒吧，不过现在只开放了部分，估计等这家酒店完全开放的时候，住在这里的游客就要享福了。和亚特兰蒂斯酒店不同，一走进凯悦酒店，暖色系现代的装修，光线非常明亮，尽管是晚上，却被光线魔术般的打成了白天，我很喜欢这门口建筑上的小小细纹路，非常萌萌哒。更可爱的要数酒店里面这个粉色的小洋房，仿佛来到了童话世界。3 Tides餐厅就在这栋楼里。我很喜欢这个由游泳池马克砖组成的logo三，好像跟我脸上的steemit标志logo特别搭配。伴着音乐声，从漂亮的旋转楼梯走下来，就来到了这家餐厅。餐厅最大的亮点要数正中央，3个开放式的厨房拼凑在一起，好像一个喜剧舞台。墙壁上挂着鲜艳多彩的巴哈马艺术作品。
先看看菜单吧，菜单的设计简洁大方，很喜欢这个有木质感的菜单。首先上来的是我在海岛最爱的沙拉，我分别点了2种不同的口味。吃起来都很爽口，味道棒极了。接下来是贴心的服务生精心为我调制的草莓味道鸡尾酒，因为我很喜欢草莓的味道。之后是烤蘑菇，带着点奶油的香味，真是吃的停不下来。最后就是岛上最有名，也只有这个岛上才有的鱼品种，这种鱼的肉是红色的斑纹，特别好看，吃起来味道好鲜美，又很进味。还有这个红红的岛上独有的西红柿真的值得表扬，味道好极了，酸味适中，又很新鲜。因为是晚上，所以我选择坐在室外吃饭，温度正好。在吃饭的同时，在右边广场中央的水池，还有漂亮的3D立体画面和音效的喷泉表演，可以边吃饭，边欣赏喷泉表演和优美的音乐，带着点中国古典音乐的味道，能在遥远的他国异乡巴哈马这种地方，听到熟悉的家乡音乐，真是太惬意太享受了。最后附上我在酒店房间拍到的喷泉画面和视频，每天晚上这家酒店都有3到5场喷泉表演，在非常美国范的巴哈马小岛上，还成为了非常独特的一点。希望大家喜欢我今天分享的美食，之后还有更多有趣的餐厅想和大家分享。