Indian food with a Jamaican twist

Jewel of India, which is located next to East in the fancy food court in the Market Place, is one of the best Indian restaurants that I have been to in my life (note: I have never been to India). Their food is savory and has rich complex tastes. I especially like their mutton curry, which is always made very tender. This time, however, I was with a person who doesn't eat meat, and we ordered seafood.

I couldn't manage to fit the dishes in the camera frame very well because of darkness, but from the top, vegetable bullets (695JMD), shrimp angarry (1645JMD), Madras fish curry (1235JMD), and garlic nan (275JMD). I normally prefer grilled fish over cooked fish, but I was impressed with the fish curry. It wasn't spicy at all but very tasty, and the meat of the snapper - if you order a fish in Jamaica, it is always a snapper - was so soft and juicy at the same time. The shrimp curry was also very good. The sauce was mildly spicy and velvety, and the shimps were crisp. The appetizer vegetable bullets are supposedly their original. The separate sauce is a clear liquid type. It is vinegary and has cilantro in it.

Indian people began settling in Jamaica around the same time as Chinese people came, in the mid-19th century. As in the case of Chinese people, Indian people first came as indentured labourers. To know more about how Indian people came to Jamaica then, see Out Of Many Cultures: The People Who Came - The Arrival Of The Indians from the Pieces of the Past series of the Gleaner.

Chinese food with a Jamaican twist

Residents of paradise seem to like Chinese food, and many Chinese restaurants and eateries are found in Kingston. Among them, Jade Garden is my most favourite, and probably the most expensive. It is on the top floor of the Sovereign shopping mall, and the dining hall is surrounded by large windows that provide a good view of mountains. Today, I had...

Steamed Black Bean Rib, from their daily Dim Sum menu. Very tasty.

Steamed tofu stuffed with shrimp. This is what I was craving for today. Delicate, warm, soft and light, it's my comfort food.

Baby pak choi sauteed with garlic. I always order this in a Chinese restaurant. I feel energized after eating this, just as Popeye would when he eats spinach. It is not on the menu at Jade Garden as often is the case with other Chinese restaurants elsewhere, but if you ask, they should be able to make it for you very easily as long as they have pak choi. Fortunately for me, pak choi is widely available in paradise, and you can find it in any market. Chinese people began settling in Jamaica long time ago in the mid-19th century when they came as indentured labourers, and probably they brought pak choi with them.

If you'd like to know a bit more about the history of Chinese people in Jamaica, read Out Of Many Cultures: The People Who Came - The Arrival Of The Chinese in the Pieces of the Past series of the Gleaner. The series is also published as a book, and it is available from Amazon.com here.

This sauce, which is soy sauce with chopped hot peppers in it, is always served in a Chinese restaurant around here. I have never seen it in a Chinese restaurant elsewhere, and I think it is very particular to Jamaica, though I am not certain since I have never been to China. It is very hot, and although I rarely use it, residents of paradise seem to put it on everything.

Delightful food with a great view does not come very cheap. The steamed tofu was 1300JMD (US$18.50), sauteed baby pak choi 1200JMD (US$17), and steamed black bean rib 400JMD ($5.50), all before taxes.

Heading East for sushi

I had a major craving for good sushi, and went to East. East Japanese Restaurant is found in the Courtyard, a fancy, high-end food court in the Market Place on Constant Spring Road. It is very popular, so popular that you need to reserve a table ahead if you want to make sure that you'd get to eat there.

East serves good, authentic sushi, though it doesn't carry raw shellfish, which was why I preferred the Japanese restaurant at Hilton before when it existed - basically, I only eat shellfish and toro when it comes to sushi. Today, I indulged myself in a sushi feast, with toro, salmon toro and uni, all of which were of good quality, though I couldn't capture it well in my photo above. I also had negi-toro, which I thought were in need of stronger negi flavour.

As is the case with every other sushi restaurant in the world, sushi at East is very expensive, and each little piece of sushi costs 300JMD. For the 6 pieces I had, I was charged 1800JMD (before tax), which is about US$25... Negi-toro was 430JMD (US$6).

Despite the popularity and the high pricing, the chef said the business was struggling. The price of raw fish went up by 30% in the last year because of the rise in the fuel cost that raised the cost for transporting fish. Then, due to the financial crisis in U.S., affluent Kingstonians are reducuing the frequency of their visits to this expensive restaurant. Here again, we spot a want, not a need, called sushi, though for me, sushi is nearly a need, and I really hope that East will survive this difficult time.

Where pirates of the Caribbean used to hang out

If you happen to glance through this blog, you would probably wonder, but what about the sea? This blogger is writing from a Caribbean island, but we never hear about the sea. Is Kingston not on the sea?

That is a very good question. Before coming here, I thought I would be living in a town on the sea, and imagined myself going to the beach and sitting on a seafront terrace every day. It turns out that the seafront of Kingston, which is called Downtown, the old part of Kingston as opposed to New Kingston where I live and work, is heavily ridden by crime and violence. Beside the fact that foreigners are advised not to go there, the seafront has become like a ghost town with numerous deserted buildings and closed shops... It is such a pity because the area is so blessed in terms of its location. If it were not for crime and violence, Downtown would thrive as a commerce and tourism district with many restaurants and bars on the sea.

Still, there is no need to despair. Kingston has more to offer than the deteriorated Downtown area, and if you drive out a bit, you will find a restaurant on the sea that you dreamed of. My favourite such place is Morgan's Harbour (http://www.morgansharbour.com/).

Morgan's Harbour is a hotel, a restaurant and a marina in Port Royal. It is where you take a boat to Lime Cay, a sand reef island that offers my most favourite beach around Kingston. Morgan's Harbour is also where you can enjoy a pleasant and relaxing dinner on the sea, with the sounds of waves and a view of the mountains and twinkling lights of the city of Kingston. It is about a 30-minute-drive from Kingston, and I enjoy the drive. You drive straight ahead on a flat road surrounded by the sea, mountains and green bushes, and it has a calming, meditative effect.

Port Royal, where Morgan's Harbour is located, is on the tip of the Palisadoes, a long sand spit that comes out of Kingston. It is a historical town known for many things. It was the most important commercial port in the Caribbean as well as the main harbour for the pirates of the Caribbean in the 17th century, and it was the place where a big earthquake hit in 1692.If you'd like to get to know more about Port Royal, the following websites may be helpful:

- http://www.jnht.com/heritage_site.php?id=289 (by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust)
- http://www.hmsf.org/exhibits/port-royal/port-royal.htm (by the Historical Museum of Southern Florida)
- http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story001.html (From the Pieces of the Past series of the Gleaner)

Morgan's Harbour is named after Sir Henry Morgan, who supposedly was the model for the main character of Captain Blood, a popular novel published in 1922 about the adventures of Dr Peter Blood, a physician turned pirate. The text of the novel is available from the Project Gutenberg here as well as from Google Books here. The novel was also adapted into a film in 1935, which, amazingly, you can watch on YouTube here.

At the restaurant of Morgan's Harbour, Grilled Snapper is my most favourite on their menu, but it is available only for dinner. Today, I passed by for an afternoon snack, thus there was no grilled snapper available. Instead, I had fish fingers with tartar sauce. It was very good. 485JMD which is a bit less than US$7 (before tax and service charge).

By the way, Jamaican people love fried food, eg. fried chicken, fried fish, fried shrimp... there are very Jamaican fried food items called "bammy" and "festival". Basically, the former is fried cassava and the latter is fried cornmeal.
See http://www.jamaicatravelandculture.com/food_and_drink/bammy.htm for a recipe and picture for bammy, and http://www.jamaicans.com/cooking/appetizers/testcook.shtml for festival.

Another BTW, according to reporters, chicken nuggets were the source of power for Usain Bolt, the sprinter! See the following articles:

• Usain Bolt's Secret to Being the Fastest Man: Chicken Nuggets (from the People magazine)
• Chicken nuggets and yam fuel Bolt's sprint double bid (from ABC News)
• Olympic 100m hero Usain Bolt powered by chicken nuggets and yams (from Mirror.co.uk News)

I am thinking, it's simply that he likes fried food as other Jamaican people do. Probably, bammy would have done the same.

Jerk Chicken

I am sure most of you would say "jerk chicken" when asked if you know any Jamaican food. Indeed, jerk is a method of cooking that is original to Jamaica, and you can jerk just about everything. Other than chicken, you can jerk pork, beef, fish, tofu, vegetable... anything. Basically, jerk sauce is rubbed on the food and then, the food gets barbecued.
Recipes for jerk chicken are easily available on the Internet, for example...

• http://www.wejamaicans.com/2008/07/22/jamaican-foods/ (at WeJamaicans.com)
• http://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/poultry/jerkchk.htm (at Diana's Kitchen)
• http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/popular-ingredients/chicken/jerk-chicken-recipe_p_1.html (at Chennel4.com)

You can also watch a video on how to make jerk chicken on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZJ7Z9snOaM made by Jamaica Travel and Culture.com.

I had Jerk Chicken Linguine served at the Courtleigh Hotel (http://www.courtleigh.com/) today. This is my most favorite pasta dish in Kingston. It is made with jerk chicken and mushrooms in creamy sauce. Delicious. 780JMD (about US$11) before tax and service charges. The Courtleigh is a nice cozy hotel, with the only drawback being its swimming pool that is too small, but apart from staying at the hotel, eating there is also a pleasant experience, as the food is not only good but reasonably priced.

Sushi to go for lunch

When I came back to paradise this time, I was devastated to discover that the Japanese restaurant at the Hilton had been closed down. I used to go there every so often to have sushi and sashimi a la carte to console my soul. It had good toro when it had it, so good that it made me smile big when I put it in my mouth. It always had raw shrimps and scallops that were fresh, sweet and tender. Sometimes, it had uni, which was oh so divine. So two days after I arrived here, I went skipping to the Hilton full of excitement, but what I found there was a dark empty space. I was in disbelief first, and then, totally devastated...

Soon, however, I found out that there was no need to despair. The owner had instead opened a take-out/eat-in sushi shop, next to the bakery inside the Loshusan supermarket in Barbican. It's called Katana Express. Though limited in variety (no uni, no toro, no shrimp, no scallop...oh well...), it serves sushi pieces and rolls that make a great lunch. It also offers lunch boxes that you can take to your office. I had a Philly Roll today, which had salmon, cream cheese and scallion in it. The salmon was tender and very good. 620JMD (before tax), which is about US$9.

Sunday brunch

I went to Terra Nova for brunch. Terra Nova is a nice hotel on Waterloo Road (http://www.terranovajamaica.com/index2.php). It has a very pleasant terrace restaurant area where I sometimes go for lunch or breakfast. Their Sunday brunch is famous for its large buffet menu, but this was my first time trying it out. I never went there before because their Sunday brunch is set up not at the terrace but inside a plain rectangular banquet hall under a tent roof, which makes it less interesting for me.

The buffet offers a really large selection. The photo shows a part of the dessert section; I mean, it shows only A PART, I'd say, nearly half of the entire dessert section. In addition to the various cakes shown, they also offer different kinds of mousse and fresh fruits, which my camera could not possibly capture in this picture. And this is only the dessert section. The appetizer section is about twice the size of the dessert section, and the warm food section is twice the size of the appetizer section. I tried a little bit of nearly two-thirds of the items lined up in the appetizer and warm food sections, and concluded that the "suckling pig" was VERY good, so tender and tasty that I would come back just for that, though I was quite sure that I would not like to try again "cowfoot and beans."

The Sunday brunch buffet costs 2263JMD per person, which is about US$30.

News in paradise:
Re: the observation I've been making on local food and imported food, today's Gleaner reports on a discussion that Jamaica should encourage local farming more.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081012/lead/lead3.html

A daily dose of Blue Mountain coffee

Went back home in the morning to pick up a straw hat, and decided to drop by Cannonball Cafe in Barbican for early lunch. The Cannonball seems to be doing well and now has three locations in Kingston: New Kingston, Barbican and Manor Park. I frequent the shop in New Kingston as it is closer to my workplace, but I prefer the one in Barbican. It feels less stressful for some reason. Perhaps it's the absence of a TV. Perhaps it's the clientele, who are more like bored housewives, though they actually look rather more stressed than the Digicel (a cell phone company) guys who hang out in the New Kingston shop.

The manager told me that they had grilled local chicken breast, so I asked for a Club Sandwich with that (450JMD), plus coffee (270JMD) of course. I go there for coffee.

Being the country that produces the internationally branded Blue Mountain Coffee, Jamaica never disappoints me when it comes to coffee, as long as it does not come from powder. The paradox is that, although Jamaica is world famous for coffee, there aren't many places in Kingston that casually serve coffee, like cafes or coffee stands. Besides, Jamaican people don't seem to drink much coffee, and the horror is that many seem to prefer Nestle Milo. Milo is by far much cheaper than Jamaican coffee - as I noted earlier, imported food is often cheaper than local food in Jamaica - thus one can understand that Milo is more affordabe for daily consumption. Still, as a coffee drinker, I wish people appreciated coffee more so that there would be more cafes in town...

News in paradise:

Roving with Lalah: Slices of Everyday Jamaican Life, which is my favorite series on the Jamaica Gleaner, will be published as a book.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081005/arts/arts4.html

Robert Lalah, a young reporter of the Gleaner, has been going around paradise, giving spotlights to various residents of paradise, taking their pictures and telling their stories.

Eg. See a recent article: Miss Alice and Jermain in the Chapelton square, from 25 September 2008, http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080925/news/news1.html. If you are interested in knowing Jamaica, this book is worth buying and reading.

Glitches in paradise:

Later in the afternoon, I went to a "cafe" in the New Kingston Shopping Mall that does not serve coffee, to get a sandwich to go for an evening snack in the office. I ordered a whole wheat bread sandwich, and waited, waited, waited... and after 20 minutes of waiting, I was told that there was no whole wheat bread. There is a lot of waiting in this part of paradise. One of my colleagues who is from another country in the Caribbean Sea calls it "suffering," as in "I suffered today" to mean "I waited."

The Remains of a Birthday

Went to the Grog Shoppe in Devon House for lunch. It's a restaurant converted from a stable of a colonial mansion. I like the big tree in the outside seating area that gives a very nice shade. I used to frequent the Internet cafe in Devon House for breakfast, but when I came back to Kingston this time, I was devastated to discover that it had been closed down... The Grog Shoppe is there, though, as always, offering lunch buffet every day and brunch buffet on Sundays. Supposedly, someone had her or his 50th birthday last Saturday, and there were still all these "50" signs hanging from the big tree, though it's already Tuesday today...

I had "Smoked Pork Chop" with mashed potato and steamed vegetable (carrots and green beans). I must say, they could have done something more edible without the sweet and sour red sauce.

Though the set-up of the restaurant is nice and pleasant, it is never very busy as far as I have seen. When I went there today, three tables were filled, with two persons at each table, while at least five people were there for service apart from the people who would have been in the kitchen. I always wonder how this place makes money, and perhaps it doesn't...

Glitches in paradise:

No water tonight again. One of the seven wonders of paradise is that we have no water when it rains. We are in the rainy season, and it rains every day, therefore we have limited access to water every day. One day I would like the National Water Commission to explain this paradox to me, though for residents of paradise, it seems to be taken for granted. My landlord simply says, "You know, we had a storm, so..."

Attending a function

Young residents of paradise

Attended a function to witness my friend couple renew their vows. Their friends and family gathered at Shirley Retreat Hotel on Maven Avenue, an inconspicuous hotel on a small street off Hope Road that many Jamaican people don't even know. The hotel has a banquet hall that can hold 120 persons, and the function was held there. We sat around tables, and there were prayers, speeches, and singing as usual, plus All-Jamaican dinner of rice and peas, curry goat, BBQ chicken and potato salad. There were many children, and some of their parents looked so young that I wondered if they were in fact their brothers or sisters. Contrary to what I always hear and read about, which is that many of Jamaican parents don't know how to parent, the young parents at the function looked to give loving care and attention to their children. It made me wonder if parents were to be blamed so much for the present situation of social crisis.

News in paradise:
Related to the issues of children and parenting, Jamaica has lately seen consecutive incidents where children were victims of violent attacks, and the issue has been making the headlines of national dailies this week. For example, click here for the front page of today's Jamaican Gleaner.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081005/lead/lead1.html

Glitches in paradise:
It was raining all day, which is not like Jamaica where normally, it rains cats and dogs but briefly, often in the afternoon and not all day long. Wondered if this had anything to do with climate change.