Jamaica Tours, Guides and Vacations

Jamaican food is worth a trip to the island and no Jamaican vacation would be complete without at least one jerk chicken meal for a true Jamaican experience. Jerk Chicken is an art form in Jamaica and everyone has their opinion on what is the best jerk chicken recipe in Jamaica. I personally appreciate the many differences in jerk chicken recipes and the use of hot pepper and spices grown locally and I try to eat some in every new location I possibly can.

Fern Gully Jerk Centre in Ocho Rios Jamaica is an out of the way place that many people would never see but it has some of the very best Jamaican Jerk Chicken and it sits in a sweet spot at the top of Fern Gully where you can sit and enjoy the lush tropical vegetation and over 600 varieties of fern plants while you eat lunch.

I have been there about a half dozen times now and the chicken is always smoking hot, flavorful and cooked the right way over Jamaican hardwoods from the local forests. The type of wood has everything to do with the flavor and cooking over pimento wood is the preferred method although not cheap so most jerk chicken is cooked on lesser charcoal which is made from an assortment of soft lumbers and coated or injected with massive amounts of spices including Habanero, pimento and peppercorns.

When you get to Ocho Rios make sure you try the Jerk Chicken and if you take a trip up Fern Gully then you have to stop by there for some of the finest jerk chicken in Jamaica.

We had the 1st Annual Negril Seafood Festival here on Easter Sunday and it was a huge success with loads of great food and presentations from local resorts and top restaurants. The seafood festival was a great idea and well executed by the team at WoWNegril.com and it seems sure we’ll see many more of these in the years to come.

The idea was to have a number of top resorts and restaurants to have a cook off and other competitions thoughout the day as they displayed their talents and services for all to see. The event had a number of great display booths featuring the wide range of seafood delicacies available in Negril Jamaica and there was enough food and drink to go around for everyone.

I had a wonderful time walking around and tasting the many wonderful treats being prepared on site by the master chefs of Negril and it was an awesome experience just to see and smell everything. By the days end I had my share of seafood and drink and I certainluy look forward to the next event. Too bad you can’t have these like once a month because it was really nice to see so much on display.

Entry to Negril Seafood Festival

Negril Seafood Festival at Wayz Beach

Push Cart Display at Negril Seafood Festival

Peppa Shrimp by Push Cart Restaurant at Negril Seafood Festival

Ice Carvings at Negril Seafood Festival

More ice carving at the Negril Seafood Festival

Serving up the fish at Negril Seafood Festival

Jamaican Style Fish Fry

I love Jamaican food and we try to eat at a variety of places. I do however find myself eating at many of the same places sometimes and I have to force myself to try new places every once in awhile. This was not one of those times, I’ve been eating at Sweet Spice for a long time but I never took any pictures of my meals to share.

Our last trip there was a surprise visit and I was not planning on eating out that day. We passed Sweet Spice on our way home from Sav La Mar and I got a craving for a brown stew chicken with rice and peas for dinner. We pulled in and I placed my order and to my surprise my wife ordered an Oxtail dinner instead of her usual curry chicken.

I have eaten at many of the restaurants in Negril and sampled the curry chicken at most of them. Jamaicans love to eat chicken with the bone in and it’s not many places that make a boneless curry meal but Sweet Spice in Negril has what you’re looking for if you want meat and no bones on your plate.

I have had oxtail may times before. It was the Thursday special of the day at El Siboney Restaurant in Key West Florida where I ate lunch for years. The Oxtail I have had was prepared cuban style with black beans and rice and a nice tomato based sauce. The oxtail at Sweet Spice was done a little different but still very good. oxtail is a dark greasy meat with tender meat chunks on the tailbone. The tailbone has a jelly like cartilage that some dislike but it’s pretty good to me.

The Brown Stew Chicken at Sweet Spice is very good also as are all my meals at this great jamaican restaurant. Stop by Sweet Spice on the road to Sheffield near the Texaco station for some good jamaican food without the bones if you wish.

Jamaicans love their patty shops and Juici Patty is an islandwide favorite serving fresh hot Jamaican patty and coco bread meals to like half the country each and every day. I have seen the lines in a patty shop fill the entire store from 11am until 2pm each afternoon as Jamaicans file through in semi orderly fashion and place orders for a patty and a coke or boxed orange juice for lunch.

Patty shops usually offer spicy beef patties as their main choice but they also offer beef and cheese patties or curry chicken patties as well. Beef and chicken are the most popular patty but many shops also offer lobster, shrimp and soy patties as well.

Some patty shops offer more than just patties and Juici Beef is one of those. You can find a great selection of breakfast items including green banana porridge or maybe a peanut porridge either of which goes well with a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee or an Orange Juice. Juici Patty also offers fried chicken and sometimes a soup of the day if things are busy.

If you travel to Jamaica and want to experience real Jamaican food then you have to stop in a patty shop and try a Jamaican patty or you’ll be missing out on the most popular meal in the country. Ackee and saltfish may be the official food of Jamaica but the patty man feeds the country.

Jakes Place is more to Treasure Beach than another bar and hotel on the beach. Jakes Place is more like an institution with a following of not only tourists from around the world but a great mix of locals as well. Jakes is without a doubt the hottest spot in Treasure Beach with much going on from breakfast in the morning to late night parties on the beach and dancing under the star lit skies of night. The compound is pretty large actually and covers the bar, 2 restaurants and 38 cottages that were created by theatrical designer Sally Henzell nestled just off the beaches of Frenchmans Cove.
Jakes is not a cheap place to stay in Treasure Beach and the rooms here will set you back upwards of $200 per night but you’re living in the lap of luxury in one of the most attractive resorts on the South Coast of Jamaica and amongst some of the best people in the world. The rooms offer the very best in amenities including the following:
Verandas with garden views or decks over the sea
CD players and CD libraries
Architectural details include Moroccan domes and arches
In-room safes and hair dryers
No in-room telephones or TVs to provide distraction
Wireless Internet access in main areas (dinning room, poolside, lobby, bar & games room )
Most of the residents of Treasure Beach are members of a few large families in the are and most everyone knows everyone as a brother, sister or cousin of some sort. You may notice some of the people around town have a unique look to them. You will see what are known as the “Treasure Beach Reds” which are red skinned Jamaicans with freckles, blondish hair, and green eyes.
Jakes is a part of the Island Outpost network of rental properties and attractions in Jamaica and owners Sally and Jason are supporters of a variety of not for profit organizations in Jamaica as well as socially responsible community based tourism and development. They are founders of Breds.org, a non-profit association established by local community leaders with the assistance of Peace Corps Volunteers in 1998 to promote Education, Sports, Cultural Heritage, and Environmental awareness in Treasure Beach. The term “Breds”, short for Brethren, is commonly used by locals hailing each other on the local fishing beaches. They get bonus points in my book for being one of the more socially responsible companies on the island.
Jakes is not the only reason people know about Treasure Beach but it certainly is the most popular. Many of the visitors to town are drawn in by the stories of previous guests about the best Jamaica vacations they have ever taken. Jakes has been the biggest draw in Treasure Beach for many years now and no visit to town is complete without dropping in for a meal, a drink and some good conversations with folks from all over the world.