Head To This Restaurant For Marcus Samuelsson's 'Biggest And Best Fried Fish Sandwich' He's Ever Eaten

Respected celebrity chefs like Marcus Samuelsson often get to experience food from around the world, from exclusive fine dining to down-to-earth everyday meals. So, when they single out a particular dish for praise, it carries more weight. A small Bermuda counter-service spot called Art Mel's Spicy Dicy earned a seal of approval from Samuelsson, who told Forbes it serves the "biggest and best fried fish sandwich" he's ever had.

Founded as a roadside stand by Arthur "Mel" Smith in the early 1990s, the takeout- and cash-only shop is an institution for its version of the fried fish sandwich, one of the island's signature foods. It has won the Best of Bermuda Award multiple times, and tourists also seek out its off-the-beaten-path location to sample the dish.

Art Mel's flash-fries pieces of batter-coated fish, stacking them high with coleslaw and tartar sauce on homemade raisin bread, the traditional base. Hot sauce is optional, as are lettuce, tomato, cheese, and grilled onions (Samuelsson likes his with coleslaw and cheese, washed down with a ginger beer). At one time, Art Mel's fish was said to be snapper, but it has been reported more recently that the shop now uses swai, a mild, tilapia-like variety from Southeast Asia. Customers can ask for wahoo, found in the waters off the island, for $1 extra. Although all Bermuda fish sandwiches use these same basic ingredients, each place personalizes its version by tweaking things like seasoning or cooking techniques.

Bermuda's cuisine features a blend of influences. It became a British colony in the 17th century and remains a self-governing British territory, but there were also contributions from Portuguese immigrants who arrived from the Azores in the 19th century, enslaved Africans, and cultures from the Caribbean to the south. However, the island, located about 600 miles off the North Carolina coast, has not embraced every outside influence, as it is one of the countries that has banned McDonald's.

Since Bermuda is an island, seafood figures prominently in traditional foods like the fried fish sandwich. A tomatoey fish chowder is the national dish, finished with Bermuda-made Outerbridge's Original Sherry Pepper Sauce and Goslings Black Seal rum. A classic Sunday breakfast is steamed salt cod and potatoes with bananas, avocado, onions, and often hard-boiled eggs. Also popular are codfish cakes and spiny lobster, a black-eyed peas and rice dish called Hoppin' John, and rum cake, typically made with Goslings, in different flavors.

Goslings has been blended and aged in Bermuda since 1857 and is a black rum, one of the many types of the liquor. The beloved spirit also appears in the dark 'n stormy, the national drink, made with the iconic rum and ginger beer. Another signature cocktail is the rum swizzle, which originated at the island's Swizzle Inn and includes Goslings Black Seal and Amber rums, pineapple and lemon juices, fruit liqueurs, and lime- and spice-flavored falernum syrup.