Recommended Restaurants: Kingston

Blue Mountain Inn, $$$-$$$$
Gordon Town Rd.
876/927-1700 or 876/927-2606
Dress code: jacket required
Reservations: required
Reservations are required for this beautiful eatery located half an hour out of Kingston in the misty Blue Mountains tucked behind a bougainvillea-draped entrance. Save this special restaurant for your best night out, with a menu featuring beef and seafood served in a classic English inn atmosphere. Classic white glove service makes this a truly elegant evening.

We recommend this often-lauded eatery for those seeking a romantic evening that combines the talents of a professional chef with the bounty of Jamaica. The restaurant is open for dinner only.

Devonshire, $$$-$$$$
Devon House
26 Hope Rd.
876/929-7046
Dress code: casually elegant
Reservations: recommended
Dine in the open air patio at this garden eatery. The menu offerings include gourmet seafood and steak.

El Dorado Restaurant, $$-$$$
Terra Nova Hotel
17 Waterloo Rd.
New Kingston
876/926-9334 or 876/926-2211
Dress code: dressy
Reservations: recommended
El Dorado is the fine dining restaurant at Terra Nova, known for its seafood as well as steaks. The air-conditioned restaurant is a favorite meeting place for the power lunch crowd. The restaurant is open noon to 2:30 for lunch and 7pm to 11pm for dinner.

Grog Shoppe, $-$$
Devon House
26 Hope Rd.
876/929-7027
Dress code: casually elegant
Reservations: suggested
This excellent restaurant offers both indoor and open air seating in a pub-like setting. Just steps from Devon House itself, the restaurant offers a menu that ranges from pub lunches such as roast beef or corned tongue to fish dishes such as escoveitch fish and steam fish in white wine, onions, tomatoes, and herbs. Many Jamaican specialties are offered as well such as curried goat, ackee and saltfish, roast suckling pig, baked crab backs, curried chicken, jerked chicken, and stuffed cho-cho.

Sample Dinner Menu

SOUPS
Pumpkin
Pepperpot
Soup du Jour

SALAD BAR (Monday through Friday)

SALADS
Chicken Salad
Served with light mayonnaise and mustard dressing with fresh vegetables, potato salad, and hard boiled egg
Chef's Salad
Julienne of ham, beef, and cheese, strewn on a bed of lettuce with potato salad and hard boiled egg
Marinated Pasta Salad
Rainbow pasta tossed in a light vinaigrette and oregano and special seasonings, with ham or chicken
Tropical Fruit Plate
Choice of fresh fruits in season

CREPES
Delicate thin pancakes with your choice of fillings and served with tossed salad and freshly made garlic bread
Mushroom and Cheese
Chicken and Pineapple
Seasoned Callaloo

QUICHE
Freshly baked quiche of your liking with tossed green salad and freshly baked garlic bread
Ackee
Callaloo
Seafood

PUB LUNCH SANDWICHES
Help yourself from the selection of meats on freshly baked rolls served with lettuce, tomato, onions, and potato salad with choice dressings. Each available with choice of soup if you like.
Ham
Roast Beef
Corned Beef
Corned Tongue
Pastrami
Spicy Chicken Roll
Combination of All

JAMAICAN SPECIALTIES
Curried Goat Simmered in Jamaican curry and spices with spinners, potatoes, carrots, served with white rice, plantain and green bananas
Ackee and Saltfish The national dish served with yam, green bananas, dumplings, and plantain
Roast Suckling Pig Seasoned to perfection and roasted each day, served with rice and peas and vegetables
Baked Crab Bakes Spicy crab meat seasoned and baked as you like it, and served with French fries and tossed salad
Curried Chicken Simmered in curry and spices with spinners, diced potatoes and carrots served with white rice, plantain, and green bananas
Jerked Chicken Spicy, served with roast yam or hardo bread
Stuffed Cho Cho With spicy crab meat au gratin served with french fries and tossed salad

FISH DISHES
Catch of the day, fresh and fried
Served with escoveitched sauce and fried bammy
Fillets of Fresh Water Snapper:
Escoveitched Fish Pan fried and smothered in onions, peppers, carrots, cho cho and cane vinegar, served with fried bammy and jonny cakes
Steamed Fish Simmered in white wine, onions, tomatoes, and herbs, served with garden rice and garden vegetables
Sweet and Sour Fish With pineapple, sweet peppers, onions in our sauce, served with white rice and vegetables

CHICKEN DISHES
Fried Chicken served with garden rice and vegetables
Escoveitched Chicken Tender fillets of chicken pan fried and smothered in onions, pepper, carrots, and cho cho in cane vinegar accompanied with bammy and johnny cakes
Sweet and Sour Chicken With pineapple, sweet pepper, and onions in our own special sauce served with white rice and vegetables
Barbecue Chicken In home made sauce, served with french fries

FROM THE GRILL
Grilled Lobster (seasonal) Available July through March, an all-time favorite from Rocky Point served with butter sauce and onions, dashed with tarragon
Grilled Shrimp Kebabs With onions, sweet pepper, and tomato lightly grilled, served with garden rice or french fries and vegetables
Grilled Fillet of Snapper fresh water snapper grilled over charcoal, topped with garlic butter and onions, served with garden rice and steamed vegetables
Minute Steak With homemade onion rings, grilled lightly and served with french fries and fresh vegetables
Grilled Leg of Lamb Succulent slices of imported lamb seasoned with Jamaican herbs and served with mint sauce, garden rice, and steamed vegetables

Hot Pot, $-$$
2 Alamont Terrace
876/929-3906
Dress code: casual
Reservations: no
This favorite local hangout serves up three meals a day: Jamaican favorites such as ackee and codfish, rundown, and escoveitch fish. Wash it all down with fresh juices such as tamarind, coconut water, and, if you visit during the holiday season, sorrel.

We recommend this popular eater for those who want a real taste of Jamaican food and a genuine Jamaican atmosphere to match.

I Scream, $
Devon House
26 Hope Rd.
New Kingston
Dress code: casual
Reservations: no
OK, we normally wouldn't put an ice cream parlor in a restaurant section, but I Scream doesn't serve up your typical dairy dessert. Here you can find grapenut, guava, mango, soursop, and even Devon Stout ice creams. Need we say more?

Strawberry Hill, $$-$$$
New Castle Rd.
Irishtown, St. Andrew
876/944-8400
Dress code: casually elegant
Reservations: recommended
The open air restaurant at Strawberry Hill serves up a continental breakfast daily followed by lunch and dinner featuring "new Jamaican cuisine." Dishes such as Jerked Lamb Loin with a Road Garlic Guava Glaze, Mashed Potatoes and Green Plantations, Pan Seared Herb Crusted Grouper Filet with a Chive Mushroom Nage, and Coconut Curried shrimp bring new twists to traditional island food. During a recent lunch on a cool, misty mountain day, we dined on spicy jerked chicken served up with a superb Jamaican curry pumpkin soup. The Sunday brunch is a Kingston event; look for diners in their Sunday bests at this popular happening.

The restaurant also offers a lighter spa menu. Items such as grilled yellow tail snapper with mushroom tomato broth, herb roasted potatoes, free range grilled chicken breast on a bed of steamed callaloo with peanut wine sauce liven the palate without adding unnecessary calories or fat.

We recommend this restaurant both for its spectacular view and for its innovative cuisine featuring Jamaican dishes with a culinary twist.

Sample Dinner Menu

STARTERS
Jamaican Curry Pumpkin Soup
garnished with garlic bread

Blue Mountain Walnut Crusted Goat Cheese
on a bed of mixed organic leaves tossed in honey balsamic vinaigrette and roast peppers

Oakwood Smoked Marlin with pickled onion and pear guacamole

MAIN COURSES

Blackened Sirloin Steak with red onion marmalade, red wine sauce and roast potato

Grilled Jumbo Shrimp brushed with rum molasses and served on a bed of pineapple papaya salsa

Pedro Cay Seafood Pot with lobster, shrimps, mussels and fish sautéed in white wine herb garlic and Jamaican annatto

Grilled Chicken Breast with roast corn, garlic mashed potato and pan gravy