Ocho Rios eats well. Jamaican cooking is bold, spicy, smoky and generous, and the north coast has good examples of everything from roadside jerk to hotel fine dining. This guide lists the dishes to look for, the drinks to try and a few tips for ordering with confidence.
Jerk
The classic Jamaican dish is meat, usually pork or chicken, rubbed with a paste of scotch bonnet pepper, allspice (called pimento), thyme, scallions and other seasonings, then slow-cooked over smouldering pimento wood. The smoke gives a perfume that is hard to copy. Jerk centres such as Scotchies serve it chopped with festival, a sweet fried dumpling, bammy, a cassava flatbread, and roasted breadfruit. Expect heat, and cool it with a cold drink.
Ackee and saltfish
The national dish combines ackee, a fruit that looks and cooks like scrambled egg, with salted cod, onion, tomato and pepper. It is often eaten at breakfast with fried dumplings, boiled green bananas and plantain. Ackee must be properly ripe and prepared, so enjoy it at a reputable place.
Patties and snacks
A Jamaican patty is a flaky pastry filled with spiced beef, chicken, vegetables or cheese, sold everywhere and eaten on the go, often inside a piece of soft coco bread. Other snacks include fried plantain, bun and cheese, roast corn and fresh fruit such as mango, pineapple and sweet sop.
Seafood
The coast provides fish, lobster and shrimp. Escovitch fish, a fried fish topped with pickled onions and peppers, is a favourite. Fish tea, a spicy soup, is also popular. Fresh seafood is served at beachside shacks and in restaurants, and it is wise to ask about the catch of the day.
Curries and stews
Curry goat is a signature dish, a legacy of Indian migration to Jamaica. Oxtail, slow-cooked with butter beans, is another classic, as is brown stew chicken. These are usually served with rice and peas, which is rice cooked with kidney beans and coconut milk, and sometimes with a salad or steamed vegetables.
Sweet things
Look for gizzada, a small coconut tart, grater cake, made from coconut and sugar, and rum cake, which often makes a good gift. Jamaican ice cream flavours include rum and raisin and soursop. Fresh coconut water straight from the nut is a refreshing option on a hot day.
Drinks
Red Stripe is Jamaica’s best-known beer, and it is cold and easy to drink. Rum is everywhere, from rum punch to the strong white overproof rums that locals mix with fruit juice. Try ginger beer, sorrel, a spiced drink made from hibiscus, and fresh juices like soursop and June plum. Blue Mountain coffee is the island’s most prized drink.
Food tours and tastings
A guided food tour is the quickest way to try a range of dishes with explanations. The rum tour at Worthy Park and the coffee tour in the Blue Mountains turn drinking into a cultural day. If you are short on time, a jerk lunch gives you the essence of Jamaican cooking in a single meal.
Tips
Carry small bills, because many stalls and small restaurants prefer cash. Ask about spice levels, and ask for sauces on the side. Be careful with tap water, and choose bottled or filtered water. If you have dietary restrictions, many Jamaican sides are vegetarian, and the Ital cooking associated with Rastafari is built around vegetables.
Where to eat
Roadside jerk centres, beach shacks and small family restaurants often serve the best food at the best prices. Hotels and resorts offer a safer, more polished experience, with international menus alongside Jamaican dishes. In town, you will find everything from fast food to seafood restaurants, and in the evenings the craft market area and the seafront have lively bars. Ask your driver, guide or hotel staff where they eat, and look for places that are busy with locals, which is a reliable sign of fresh food and good cooking.
Breakfast and the Sunday table
Jamaican breakfasts are filling, with ackee and saltfish, callaloo, fried dumplings, fried plantain and Blue Mountain coffee or chocolate tea made from local cocoa. Sunday is traditionally a day for a big family meal of rice and peas, chicken and sides, and many local restaurants serve a version of it. If you are invited to a meal, accept with thanks and bring a small gift or an offer to help.
