Showing 1-12 of 12 results
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Ashanti Oasis
If an oasis within a garden is hard to envision, check out this serene spot centered on a small fountain. You'll be rewarded with excellent vegetarian food from a changing I-tal menu featuring hearty soups (the pumpkin is absolutely divine), veggie burgers and combo platters anchored by a variety of tofu offerings. Fresh juices or a glass of the homemade aloe wine are a must.
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Chelsea Jerk Centre
Legendary for its mouth-searing jerk pork and chicken, this congenial jerk emporium draws the after-work crowd as well as uptown-based visitors grateful for a chance to get off the main drag. The festival dumplings are especially good.
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El Dorado Room
The European menu has hints of the Caribbean as well as Jamaican favorites such as pepperpot soup and grilled snapper. Bring a sweater for the frigid air-conditioning. The hotel also has a less expensive outdoor restaurant that serves continental fare. A seafood buffet is offered for Wednesday lunch and dinner. A Jamaican buffet lunch is offered weekdays, and a Sunday brunch buffet draws the well-heeled, hungry locals.
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Emperial Kish Inn
The sign over the bar reading 'Love the Animals' immediately reveals where the place is coming from. The only flesh here - yourself notwithstanding - is that which is pressed in the local greeting, the Jamaican 'yardie' handshake, where friends press their fists together while swiping thumbs. On the menu is gluten brownstew, curry tofu, roast yams and an ongoing dialogue about the intricacies of Rastafari.
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Hot Pot
A casual, economical haunt with a small back patio that attracts workers from the nearby hotels, Hot Pot serves unfussy, indisputably delicious Jamaican home-style cooking with dishes such as ackee and saltfish, escoveitched fish and garlic chicken. Wash it down with a fresh tamarind juice, coconut water or a Red Stripe.
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Legend Café
Offering sustenance to visitors to Bob's former home, this café serves up hearty I-tal stew or curried fish. The fruit juices are the star here - including Bob's favorite, carrot and beetroot.
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Livity
The best vegetarian option in New Kingston, Livity serves up an array of veggie fajitas, soups, salads and tofu dishes. Service can be a little slow, but if you order one of the outstanding fruit juices - try the mango pineapple or the lemonade - and get an outdoor seat, the wait's easy to bear.
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Norma's on the Terrace
Although it's popularity seems to be on the wane outside the expense-account class, this lovechild of Jamaica's leading food emissary Norma Shirley is Kingston's most celebrated restaurant. The seasonal menu explores Caribbean-fusion food with great finesse.
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Pepper's
This friendly open-air eatery is a highly popular after-work hangout among Kingstonians. It has picnic tables, plenty of Red Stripe, and seriously good jerk dishes and seafood favorites including grilled lobster and garlic crab. The two bars are open late.
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Red Bones Blues Café
The in-crowd is in at this former colonial house, now a beehive of cultural and culinary activity. Inside, the shukka-shukka of martini shakers keeps time with the music, and the walls are beguilingly bedecked with photographs of jazz and blues legends. The food? Stellar dishes include chicken breast stuffed with callaloo and jerked cheddar in a white wine sauce, or the seafood trio of shrimp, mussels and salmon sautéed in a spicy coconut sauce served on a bed of pasta.
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Up on the Roof
Above the bustle of New Kingston's main drag, this atmospheric rooftop terrace is popular with locals and a terrific starting point before a night on the town. The marlin salad and shrimp with garlic jerk mayo stand out in a menu of Jamaican standards. There's a sporadic calendar of jazz events and poetry readings; on Saturday, the bar mixes cocktails until the last patron leaves.
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Upper Crust
This open-air pastry shop in Liguanea also serves up an ambitious Jamaican-fusion menu, highlighted by the scrumptious jerk chicken lasagna.
Showing 1-12 of 12 results
