Frog & Onion Pub Bermuda
$$, British Cuisine
The Pub and Ambience
Located in the old Cooperage building in
Royal Naval Dockyard, Frog and Onion is a popular British style pub at the west end, and frequented mostly by the cruise tourists as well as locals. After a hectic day's tour and sightseeing, it serves as a welcome place to unwind and have some great island cocktails or chilled beer brewed in-house along with some hot bites before you get back to your ship. In fact, Frog and Onion boasts of being the only
brew-pub in Bermuda.
As you walk down the stony pathway laid through a lush lawn towards the huge stone-made building where this pub is housed, you will likely wonder about the history behind this building. This historic building was built in 1853 during the time of Royal Navy's operations at the dockyard, and used as a cooperage, a workshop that built, repaired and dismantled barrels, casks and kegs.
Approach to the Cooperage (Frog and Onion)
In those days, almost all provisions had to be packaged in barrels or casks so they could be moved, loaded and stored in cargo ships. The cooperage space and adjacent yard were converted into five storehouses in the 1940s which are all now part of this pub. Most operations of British Navy closed down by 1951. The Frog and Onion was opened at this building in 1992 jointly by a Bermudian (The Onion, as
Bermudians take pride to be hailed as onions) and a Frenchman (The Frog).
The Entry
A huge stone fireplace which once used to be a forge is now the center piece of Cooper's Room (the main dining room). Other than the Cooper's Room, there are three other dining areas in the pub - The Admiral's Room is mainly used for private functions.
Cooper's Room and The Old Fireplace (Frog and Onion, Dockyard)
Photo: Frog & Onion Pub
Outside, there are two sitting areas, the Bear Garden and the Victualling Patio. The patio (like an atrium of the pub) is a sunlight covered area just outside of the main entrance. This area provides an open air atmosphere with green foliage. This area also has full service from the bar and restaurant.
The Front Bar area of Frog and Onion Pub is one of the largest bars in Bermuda. The full pub capacity is 200 persons. The area is based on a marine theme with a sailboat mast and boom in the center of the room. You can watch sports channels on several large-screen TVs hung up on the walls.
The Bar
Photo: Frog & Onion Pub
Food and Drinks
The food at Frog and Onion is typical English style pub fares such as Bangers and Mash (sausage and mashed potato with sauce), Cornish pasties, Fish n Chips etc. You also get some nice innovative entries and good seafood. They also have an all-day menu which is mostly pub grub.
Soups like Bermuda fish chowder served with Outerbridge’s sherry-rum peppers is quite popular here. You also get Onion’s soup with Cheddar Cheese. There are salads like Caesar and Blackened Wahoo Salad. In starters the menu includes onion rings, buffalo wings, seared or jumbo shrimps served with a spicy horseradish cocktail sauce; Tender rings of crispy fried calamari with plum tomato and garlic dipping sauce; Yellow Fin Tuna sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi, and such.
Seafood
Photo: Frog & Onion Pub
They also make nice Shepherd's Pies with ground lamb. Grilled local fish sandwich (try it with the 'Storm Surge' chutney) and barbecued chicken sandwiches are excellent. There are are burgers too. However, the best of the lot is 'Catch of the day' priced as per market rate and New York strip loin. If available on the day, try out the rockfish with coconut rice or wahoo 'taco' (folded bread).
Other options include: Pan fried Grouper with fried banana, fresh seasonal vegetables and potato choice; or the Marinated jumbo shrimp, skewered, served on Spanish rice with fresh seasonal vegetables and garlic butter sauce.
Photo: Frog & Onion Pub
They also have a kid's menu with some fun mocktails for kids each named in keeping with the spirit of the outlet- Cool Island Frog, Pink Princess Frog, Happy tadpole etc. The menu also has kids' pizza and burgers, pasta, chicken tenders, fish n chips etc. All portions are quite large.
While the choice of food in the menu is moderate, the cocktail menu is elaborate. Apart from bottled beers, you can get in-house brewed beer on the tap. There are several flavors of locally brewed beer such as Somers Amber Ale (the most popular here, this is a copper colorled ale and tastes like a traditional English bitter), St. David's Lager (light straw colored beer with a dry finish) etc. Draught wines are served by the glass.
Home Brewed Draft Beer Taps
Photo: Frog & Onion Pub
Not only the venue of Frog and Onion relates to colonial history, some of the drinks they make here are also derived from historical stories. The cocktail Frog Grog is very popular here, particularly with the locals. It derived its name from Vice Admiral Edward Vernon who became known as the 'Old Grog' in 1740 among his sailors because often wore a coat made of Grogram cloth material. He introduced a ration of rum for his crew. It is said that the water stored in the Cooperage were added to the barrels of rum to slow down the process of fermentation.
Frog Grog is made of four parts of rum and one part of water. And there are innovative cocktails made of this rum such as Ginger Grog (Frog Grog rum, ginger beer, triple sec and a splash of orange juice), Grango (Frog Grog rum, Bacardi Oakheart, Bermuda Gold Loquat liqueur, sours, splash sprite), Wet Wench (Frog Grog rum, Chambord, Martini Rosso, cranberry), Apple Dunk (Frog Grog rum, banana liquor, Midori, peach schnapps, grenadine, apple juice) etc. So if you are here, you should not leave without a touch of history.
Cocktails
Photo: Frog & Onion Pub
And there are of course the traditional island drinks like the Rum Swizzle apart from standard drinks such as Margarita.
Dress code is smart casual. Service is usually friendly but it can be slow at times.
Other Offerings
There is an onsite brewery know as
The Dockyard Brewing Company which produces five different types of draught beer. This is where you can take a brew tour along with dine and beer tasting.
The Ballast Gift Shop, a nice little store right in the pub area has lovely little things that you can pick up as souvenir. It has everything from T-shirts for adults and children, to mouse-pads and hats with Frog and Onion logos on them. The games room in the Frog and Onion not only has a wide range of arcade games, it is one of the few places in Bermuda which has pool tables.
Another unique offering of Frog and Onion is the Pub Quiz which is held every Tuesday night. The quiz master Paul is supported by his wife and assistant Judith who is also the co-writer of the quiz. They present the quiz in a unique style. This is one of the very few pub/bar quizzes held in the island these days. On Monday nights (9pm until midnight), there is live music.
Indicative Prices
Soups and Salads: $8-$16, Appetizers/Starters: $10-$15, Main Courses: $22 to $33.
Burgers and Sandwiches range from $18 to $20.
Pub fares like Fish n' Chips, Bangers and Mash etc: $19 - $26.
They accept credit cards.
Open Hours
Lunch: 11:30 to 17:30/ Dinner: 17:30 to 21:30
Bar is open daily from 11:30am to midnight.
(Note: During winter December - February, Frog and Onion usually remains closed on Mondays)
Location and Contacts
Frog and Onion Pub Bermuda
The Cooperage, Royal Naval Dockyard, Sandy's Parish.
You can reach by Bus #7 or 8, or by Ferry from City of Hamilton.
Road Map
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 By Raj Bhattacharya
Raj, a seasoned travel writer and Bermuda destination expert, has extensive global travel experience. This website reflects his profound insights, garnered over nearly two decades of dedicated findings and research on the island. Raj has assisted countless Bermuda-bound visitors by providing direct, personalized responses to their queries and imparting his wealth of knowledge through this platform. This site serves as an indispensable guide for those seeking informed and reliable insights into Bermuda's treasures.
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