We were for a somewhat more unique dining experience in Hamilton, and we stumbled upon Wild Orchid. The decor inside felt a bit dated, and the restaurant didn't immediately catch my eye. However, service was friendly and our food tasted great (and visually approved by a Portuguese friend)! Without having a comparison point, it's hard for me to say whether this was "authentic" or not, but we enjoyed our food. Pricing was a little high for the paella, but it's not often that I get to try Portuguese food, so I was fine with it. read more

Wild Orchid - Salted cod - Portuguese Near Me - Hamilton, Ontario

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Good spot for Portuguese seafood in the Hamilton area. Large restaurant with lots of tables and a full-serve bar at the back. Portion sizes are quite large and hearty. Salada Portuguesa - Comes in small or large size. Pretty nice salad with mixed greens, cucumber & tomato slices, red onion, and drizzled with olive oil vinaigrette. You can opt to add goat cheese. Mixed Seafood in Pimento-based Sauce & Garlic Bread ("special" appetizer of the day) - Large portion for an appetizer... comes in a large bowl with 2 different types of mussels, clams, scallops, tiger shrimps, and 4 large toasted garlic bread. You can ask the sauce to be non-spicy. Pao (Baked Bread) Stuffed with Cod - Best dish in the restaurant. It's quite large and best to be shared. The Pao is freshly baked, crispy on the outside and soft, tender, and very aromatic in the inside (cod mixed with garlic and other spices). It's so good that it can be a filling meal on its own when paired with salad. Bacalhau Da Casa - Cod loin is quite salty, but comes in a nice big chunk with bones. The grilled vegetables are over-cooked and very mushy. The roasted potatoes are ok. Grilled Pickerel - Portion size of all the fish and seafood dishes is quite big. This one comes in 2 large & long pieces of grilled pickerel, topped with a delicious tomato-based sauce. The seasoned rice with peas is very yummy! It also comes with grilled vegetables (zucchini, red pepper, eggplant). Arroz De Marisco - The large size comes with a good amount of shellfish and rice. It's more saucy and has more liquid / broth compared to the more mainstream Spanish paella. It's best to let the liquid / broth evaporate first (it keeps warm really well), to give time for the rice to soak in the sauce. This dish is quite flavourful and I like the mix and amount of shellfish (king crab legs, lobster, mussels, clams, black tiger shrimps, bay scallops, etc.). Dessert: Portuguese Tart topped with cinnamon & ice cream - The Portuguese tart comes out warm, with crunchy crust and soft topping. It's one of the best Portuguese tarts I've had. The cinnamon sprinkles just take it to the next level. read more

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Rabbit was unbelievably good sardines were delicious. Mussels were good too. service was very friendly. It's a go to place.

We had grilled sardines, which were good, and the red sangria was very good. BUT the seafood paella for two... come on... parboiled rice in tomato soup??? And the cost of it $45. Horrible! No dear chef, what you made is NOT 'Paella de Marisco', paella should be dry. Look it up. Friendly advice: If you don't know how to make it, just don't serve it! And call what you made 'Paella Soup' instead... it might be a new hit in Hamilton! read more

Wild Orchid - Seafood paella... parboiled rice swimming in soup? Blah... - Portuguese Near Me - Hamilton, Ontario

We were in town for a conference and had heard about the seafood platter at Wild Orchid so made our way down to pig out. We succeeded. The food was good and it was pure joy to have a massive earthenware bowl filled with lobster, king crab, prawns, scallops, mussels, and clams plopped in front of us. The place reflected its Portuguese food and drink sensibilities. The service was excellent and super friendly. We wanted cocktails to start but the bar wasn't stocked with the various ingredients. Our server tried really hard to accommodate us which we really appreciated. In the end we had green wine which was new to us, but was great with the seafood. Highly recommend this place but make a reservation to be safe as the place gets busy. read more

Wild Orchid - The seafood platter. Ask for bread to soak up the broth. - Portuguese Near Me - Hamilton, Ontario

This was one of the most baffling, awful experiences I've ever had at a restaurant. Went to Wild Orchid tonight, and at the outset, had a fairly decent meal. My table and I were enjoying ourselves. Then, I look in the bottom of my whiskey, and notice no less than TEN DEAD FLIES floating in it. As I'm not looking for protein via bugs, this understandably puts me off. I tell our server. To say she did not act appropriately would be an understatement. I get a halfhearted "oh...sorry," and she takes the glass away. I am baffled by the level of apology, as it truly seemed she did not grasp the fact that THERE WAS A FAMILY OF DEAD BUGS IN MY DRINK. I'm then told that "this happens sometimes" because "flies just get in through the tops of the bottles." What? The manager then comes to the table. She says I don't have to pay for my drink. I tell her there is no chance that I'll be paying for my meal, period. Her response is even more baffling: "Well, what was wrong with your meal?" What was wrong is I was served a pile of bugs! I reiterate there is no chance that I'll be paying for this. She says she'll speak to the owner, though does so with a pile of attitude. Our server then comes back to tell me I won't be charged for my meal -- but guess what? I look at the bill for the rest of the table, and there is the charge for the whiskey that had the bugs in it. Through either sheer incompetence or outright audacity, they tried to charge me for a drink full of bugs. In short -- do not attend this restaurant. And I will certainly be calling the health department first thing Monday to suggest that they pay a visit to this unclean, incompetent establishment. read more

Tasty Portuguese cuisine. Ranya recommended seafood platter for me, which is very big and fresh! It smelt so good and contained lobster, mussels and fish inside. read more

Wild Orchid - a bowl of seafood and rice - Portuguese Near Me - Hamilton, Ontario

Amazing place! They're currently going through renovations, so the ceiling looks a bit odd, but the servers are friendly, the service is pretty fast, and the food is absolutely incredible. I ordered the Dungeness Crab, and it was this huge plate of the best crab I've ever had. My friend had the Seafood Lovers and it was this plate filled with scallops and mussels and crab and lobster and shrimps and etc. There's also a lot of non-seafood related items on the menu, and a lot of interesting Cod dishes that we didn't try this time. I recommend going with friends and getting a pitcher of Sangria. It was fruity tasting (with pieces of fruit floating in) and not too sweet, but they only serve it by the pitcher (not by the cup). Overall amazing experience. Best restaurant I've been in Hamilton so far. Will definitely go again. read more

Not authentic. Food wasn't fantastic. The waiter didn't even know the menu items and couldn't speak Portuguese. I was very disappointed. . read more

I would rate this 3.5* when I had dinner here on Nov 16/14. It a cool restaurant with a nice environment. For a appy we had Pao De Algarve which was solid. Had the Haddock Fillet Steak & Filetes com arroz as main, both of which was very tasty. All-in-all very tasty & a do over. read more

Pleasantly surprised by the good quality food in a cozy setting. Traditional Portuguese dishes with reasonable prices. We ordered the arroz de marrisco (seafood rice) and stuffed calamari, as well as chorizo for an appetizer. All quite good, and the portions were large. Chorizo was a little disappointing as it was already cut up and not flaming. Bottles of wine were very reasonably priced. read more

As someone who grew up with Portuguese food, this place was dissapointing. The menu was too overwhelming. When it comes to Portuguese food, you serve seafood if your from the islands or coast and you serve meat if your from the mountains. To serve both is unheard of. We ordered some seafood and some rabbit. They were both seasoned perfectly, but the seafood was cold in the middle from being frozen and the rabbit was overcooked. The waiter never checked in on us after we received our meal and to end the night, he spilt a jug of water on our table. read more

I have eaten here twice for lunch, and been a few times just for a well chilled beer The food is excellent: fresh made, quality ingredients, moderate portions. Presentation strikes the balance between meeting expectations and being surprising. The decor and ambiance are tasteful. Think classy contemporary, with "second date" lighting. The tables are as small as they could be. On the first visit the table service was good. Poor service on the second visit. While there were maybe 8 other patrons there, the waitress never checked back after bringing food, acted imposed upon, and let me sit for 10 minutes after finishing before I had to approach the bar to ask for the bill. She spent a lot of time thumbing a phone and chatting in Portuguese with the only guy at the bar. The last time I was there, I ordered a Creemore Springs tallboy lager, and was charged more than 8 dollars! This is well above the price of any other beer on their menu. An explanation or heads up would have been nice, but ultimately there is no excuse for them jacking their customers like this. I have not been back since the bad service and the beer-robbery. A pity, because the food merits my business. read more

So disappointing. You would think that a local business would try harder. The ceiling is terrible, it looks like there are little bits that could fall on the food at any time. This is a Portugal Style restaurant not a beer hall. read more

For what I have seen advertised about this place, I was disappointed in my visit. The atmosphere is beautiful, the restaurant is spacious and well decorated. I do not, however, feel the service or quality of food matched the ambiance. There was only one server on, and given that there were only ~5 tables seated at the time, this should have been alright. The service was, however, a bit meager and slow. The food was quite generic and very greasy. I can't comment on the authenticity of the Portuguese menu as I am no expert on Portuguese cuisine, but I can say the quality was not the highest. I would recommend this restaurant if you want to spend a bit more for an okay meal, but not for any special occasion. read more

The glasses smelled of BBQ which made the beer taste funny. The waiter kept spilling her drinks all over her tray. The "Chorica Assada" entree was a joke--more like an amuse-bouche. There was no cell phone reception inside, you had to go outside to get a signal. Also, what does pasta have to do with Portuguese cuisine? Are they trying to cut food costs? read more

Long wait for food and drink refills. Server disappeared for long periods of time. My seafood pasta had no lobster or crab as stated in the menu. My husbands cod dish arrived ...the server neglected to mention they serve their cod and salmon with the bones in it!! Very disappointing... waste of time and money. Sauces in both dishes extremely bland. Yuck. read more

Eating there is OK, but not worth having to do pirouettes to find parking. The fries were home made, not frozen, but were soaked, and the $35 for beef with fries and a fried egg, plus a pop didn't impress. read more

The Wild Orchid is a must go to if you're a seafood fan. I ordered the mussels and the seafood linguine and both were great. More importantly they serve sub zero heinekens and they are so cold and crisp and amazing. I've gone back just for the beers. read more

My Daughter chose this for Mothers Day Lunch, we drove from Toronto. We had the sardines, sausages and grilled calamari appetizers, food was good, their presentation could be better. The main meals we had seafood rice..yummy, grilled sea bass was perfect, the weekend special of potatoes and pork was hearty and the calamari pasta ..the sauce was very good but the calamari though soft did not have the fresh sea taste. Long drive..perfect with our roses. Love the green wine read more

We were a party of four on a busy Friday night. Food was middle of the road. Service was much less than expected. We had to ask for bread for our table three times. Water refills had to be requested. A light fixture above the table hung too low and was way too bright - needed sunglasses to see companions. When we addressed these concerns with the manager, we got a brush off type response. read more

Vegan options were completely non-existent (usually I can find something). I had to design a meal for myself while the waitress offered nearly no help. Everything is full of butter and eggs. My meat-eater friends liked it, though. I can't say I'd ever go back. read more

Wild Orchid, this has been one of my top 5 Portuguese restaurants for sometime now. Having grown up in a traditional eating Portuguese family, I had In the past year undergone a transformation from eating meat based dishes to now a pescatarian diet. My wife and I approached wild orchid excited and hungry for some grilled codfish! This is our all time favourite dish! Our first issue came when the waitress informed us that there had been cut backs on bread. So we would only receive our bread upon arrival of our meal..... I persuaded her to let us have it at the "traditional" time bread is served, despite her saying "just don't get me in trouble." Then our meal arrived. A decent sized portion of codfish Is just about the only good thing I have to say. The cod was served alongside a 1/4 can of chickpeas and 3 small potatoes. The cod itself lacked flavour. No garlic, and hardly any olive oil. The dish is traditionally accompanied with either a hard boiled egg and greens. We are sad to announce that this was our last visit to Wild orchid. read more