Jamaica is already well known for its white sand beaches, vast tropical terrain, vibrant nightlife and vivid culture but “foodies” may also know of the wide array of savory cuisines available on the island and where to find them. With a zesty collection of flavours guaranteed to please the palate Jamaica has some of the best food you will ever taste and seafood is a specialty. There are so many great places to sample succulent seafood in the island and if you are wondering where to eat here are a few choices, just to narrow down your options:

Pelican Bar

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Treasure Beach, in St. Elizabeth is known for being the perfect “get away from it all” experience. Complete with beautiful volcanic black sand beaches, exotic wildlife safaris, and quaint hassle free resorts, the place is like a fantasy isle on it’s own. It is here, well to be exact a quarter of a mile out to sea from here, you will find one of the most unique beach bars in the world, the Pelican Bar. A rustic wooden bar resting on stilts built on a sand bank in the middle of the sea the Pelican Bar is the perfect place to spend the day being busy doing nothing, sunbathe, drink beer, swim or snorkel in the shallow waters.

Many local fishermen are able to ferry you over to the bar from Treasure Beach or Black River, just ask around or in your hotel. The 20 minute journey is definitely worth the trip and if you’re lucky you may even see dolphins swimming by your boat! Prior to arrival your “captain” will make a call to the bar to find out what the choices for lunch will be (lobster or fish usually) guests can eat fresh fried fish or even bring along your fishing gear to catch your own!

Norma’s at the Marina

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Norma’s at the Marina is located right on a little strip of beach on Jamaica’s east coast in Port Antonio’s new marina. Idyllic and tranquil it has open-air seating with a nice view of the marina and the food (exotic and one of a kind culinary sensations) is just excellent. Your choice of steaks, wood-smoked pork riblets with a tamarind-flavored honey sauce, chops, fish, crab back salad, elegant slices of smoked marlin, a “reggae salad” studded with sautéed shrimp, grilled lobster with lime-flavored herb butter and so much more are served at outdoor tables overlooking the almost otherworldly Errol Flynn Marina. With the inclusion of their bar area, (which is great if you just want a drink) the setting is very nice and relaxing.

Little Ochie

Overlooking the black sands of Jamaica’s southern shoreline is one of the best places to eat seafood in the island, Little Ochie Seafood Restaurant. Located in Alligator Pond, Manchester ‘Little Ochie’ is a prime spot for weekend or holiday getaways. The destination is famous for its food, as much as for its beach. Patrons can enjoy over 75 freshly caught seafood dishes including curried or jerked shark, conch fritters, conch salad, jerk, curried, grilled or barbecued lobster, conch, eel, squid and seaweed soup, fried or steamed fish and festival and bammy to name a few. Or simply play in the rough waters and silver-sand beach of the south coast location. The lumber and thatched structures of his restaurant hug a silver sand beach where the sea breaks with playful ferocity along the shore giving it a tremendous atmosphere.

Helshire Beach

( via Varun Baker )

Along the south coast of Jamaica visitors will find a number of narrow beaches that attract a local crowd. Hellshire Beach is the largest and most popular of them. Located just outside of the island’s capital Kingston, this beach offers a combination of natural setting, personality and local fare not found in more secluded spots. With interesting black sands, cool waters and a host of activities there’s more than enough here to keep you entertained. Here you’ll find a selection of some of the best (and most affordable) seafood this side of the island. There are dozens of fish shacks that line the beach, all serving up a combination of fish (parrot and snapper) and lobster, steamed, fried, escoviched or brown-stewed, with bammy (a starch made from cassava first used in the dishes of the Native Tainos) and festival on the side and a sweating Red Stripe to wash it all down. Prices are great, the quality is superb and you can choose to eat it right on the beach looking out over the gorgeous ocean.

Winnifred Beach

Just a mile on from the closed beach where Tom Cruise once juggled his bottles in Cocktail, Winnifred Beach is one of the most appealing beaches in all of Jamaica. Located in the Fairy Hill community, Winnifred Beach is home to a delightful reef just offshore that’s not only perfect for snorkelling, but for its clear, calm, bright-blue water justly popular with locals. A long, unpaved road leads to the wide, white-sand beach that stretches along a sheltered bay. Thick groups of trees and vines act as a backdrop to the aquamarine water filling the foreground. At the base of the hill, large trees shade a flat strip of land, where several food and drink vendors prepare fresh fish dishes and jerk delights – a specialty of Portland. There’s also a mini-field, perfect for a game of football. And on weekends, there are horseback riding tours down the beach and boat trips to nearby Monkey Island.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Kingston, Portland, The South Coast, Travel Resources, Where to Eat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.