Nothing is cheap in the Bahamas. In fact, dining is rather expensive. I recently spent ten days in the Bahamas, staying at the Hyatt Baha Mar. The Hyatt is designed, like most inclusive hotels, so that guests never have to leave. I did manage to leave several times, but I did not find the dining to be any cheaper off the resort than on it. If it was at all cheaper, it was only modestly so. There are more than a dozen bars and restaurants that serve food at Baha Mar, so I had the opportunity to try quite a few of them. My favorite was The Swimming Pig. Both in terms of value as well as food quality.
My first meal at The Swimming Pig was a Pub Burger. The burger was similar to a Royal Robin burger from Red Robin. It included an egg (cooked to order) and bacon jam in place of bacon slices. The bacon jam was every bit as bacon-y as any other similar burger, with a more consistent texture and even distribution of the pork candy. The burger is served with fries or a side salad. I went with fries for a traditional American burger and fries combo. The price was twenty-two dollars. However, nothing is the price it appears on the menu in the Bahamas. There is a VAT tax (add twelve percent) and a service charge (add fifteen percent) as well as a place for the "tip." Okay, just to be clear, the service charge is a tip. It is a fifteen percent tip built into the price. SO, if you tip, keep that in mind. I normally tip twenty percent for good service, so I normally just added one or two dollars to my bill to round it up. With that in mind, this twenty-two dollar meal was closer to thirty dollars. Without a drink. Soft drinks will typically run four to five dollars before the extra charges and mixed drinks were running in the fifteen to twenty dollar range. Beer was around eight dollars at most places on the property. Thirty dollars for a burger and fries? Is that a good deal? Seriously? Yes. For the Baha Mar...that was an exceptional deal. And the burger was phenomenal.
I made two more visits to The Swimming Pig during my stay. The first return visit was for a Mediterranean Flatbread for eighteen dollars (pictured above). I got in the mid-twenty range on that one. I also returned for steak flatbread, which was a few dollars more, but did not skimp on the tender steak. The toppings were abundant and the flatbread nice and crispy. The portion size was correct as well. I had a kale flatbread at another location at Baha Mar and the portion size was laughable. I will review that spot (the Monkey Bar) in a subsequent post.
The Swimming Pig takes its name from a popular Bahamas tourist attraction. For the not-very-affordable price of four hundred dollars, you can take a day trip to a nearby island inhabited by pigs. The pig swim. Big deal. I didn't shell out that kind of money for a silly day trip. But that is the story behind the name. No one seems to know how the pigs ended up on the island, but they did. Whether rescued from an abandoned ship or left behind by sailors hoping to harvest them for meat later, the only thing known is that there are pigs on an uninhabited island in the Bahamas.
The restaurant has a definite bar vibe. Above the bar (slightly to the left) is a live DJ. In the evenings, the DJ fills the restaurant with good music. I enjoyed the music which seemed to include a decent variety. To include some music that will have you wanting to dance...although there is no dance floor. The bar is the central focus point of the restaurant, with a nice row of taps that include some local beers as well as imported varieties from several different countries. The bar also sells liquor, wine and mixed drinks. All of which seemed a tad bit expensive (although I admittedly splurged at times).
The restaurant had an odd configuration, with a small section to the left as one enters the restaurant with the majority of seating off to the right. There are several large-screen televisions behind the bar which were fairly consistently displaying sports programming while I visited. I visited twice at dinner and once at lunch. The restaurant generally had vacancy while I was visiting, although it was not peak season. If you are staying at Baha Mar, I would strongly recommend making dinner reservations in advance. Even without peak season, several of the restaurants were fully booked when I visited, to include the bar areas.
If you are looking for a less-expensive (relatively) option at Baha Mar, the best options are the food trucks by the beach or The Swimming Pig. The "pig" has a nice menu that includes plenty of vegetarian options, lighter fare, meat and potatoes, flatbread and seafood options. The beer menu is pretty decent, although all drinks tend to be expensive. The vibe in the restaurant was relaxed. The service was excellent and the staff friendly and efficient. Most importantly, all three of my meals were delicious. I paid far more for meals that were mediocre at best. Those restaurants will be discussed in the coming days. The Swimming Pig gets my top recommendation of restaurant selections at Baha Mar.
Photos are my own. They may be reproduced with prior permission.