Akbar Indian  Cuisine

Alexander's International Cuisine

Boon Hall Oasis Caribbean Cuisine

 Chelsea Jerk Centre Caribbean Cuisine

 Heather's Caribbean Cuisine

Indies Pub and Grill Caribbean Cuisine

 Jade Garden Chinese Cuisine

Norma's on the Terrace Caribbean Cuisine

Palm Court International Cuisine

 Redbones the Blues Café Caribbean Cuisine

 Sir Henry Morgan's Restaurant International Cuisine

 Thai Gardens Asian/Pac Rim Cuisine

The Columbus Restaurant Italian Cuisine

The Hot Pot Caribbean Cuisine

The Restaurant at the Hotel Four Seasons German/Austrian/Swiss Cuisine

Akbar Restaurant
11 Holborn Rd,
Kingston
Phone 876/926-3480

Cuisine: Northern Indian Cuisine
Hours: Daily noon-4pm and 6-11pm
Location: Kingston
Reservations: recommended
Prices: Main courses US$15-US$25 (£7.50-£13)
Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa

This is the best Indian restaurant in Kingston. It consists of four dining rooms, each outfitted in earth tones with touches of mint green. Don't overlook the possibility of a meal in the Moghul-style garden, within earshot of a splashing fountain. Menu items are rich with the seasonings of the East, with seafood, vegetarian, lamb, beef, and chicken dishes, as well as a selection of exotic breads. Specific and stellar examples include Chicken Moghlai cooked in cream sauce with nuts and egg butter; mutton in a spicy sauce; and beef Akbar -- one of the most justifiably popular house specialties, skewered and flavored with herbs.

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Alexander's
85 Knutsford Blvd,
Kingston
Phone 876/968-6339

Cuisine: Jamaican, International Cuisine
Hours: Mon-Fri 6:30-10am, noon-3pm, & 6-10:30pm; Sat and Sun 6:30-11am, noon-4pm, and 6-11pm
Location: In the Courtleigh Hotel,
Reservations: Reservations recommended
Prices: Main courses lunch US$20-US$25 (£10-£13), dinner US$20-US$30 (£10-£15)
Credit Cards:American Express, MasterCard,Visa, Discover(y)

This is the showplace dining room of one of Kingston's top hotels, and as such, it often attracts business meetings, government delegations, and international travelers who appreciate its good service and culinary savvy. Within a setting inspired by the Jamaican sugar plantations of the 1800s, with muted tropical colors and a view that overlooks the hotel's swimming pool, you can order such starters as smoked marlin or Caribbean crab backs, then move to sirloin steaks; medallions of beef with grilled tomatoes; or filets of pork with brandy, mustard, and cream sauce. After dinner, consider a drink in the hotel's bar, Mingles.

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Boon Hall Oasis
Stony Hill
St.Andrew
Phone 876/942-3064

Cuisine: Jamaican
Hours: Sun 11am-3pm (last order)
Location: Stony Hill, St. Andrew
Transportation Take a taxi from Kingston, or turn on Seaview Rd. (opposite Petcom Gas Station -- Stony Hill Sq.). Take the 3rd left onto Airy Castle Rd., then look out for the signs pointing to Boon Hall Oasis
Reservations: recommended
Prices: Sun brunch US$17 (£8.50)
Credit Cards: MasterCard, Visa

Down a series of pathways and steps carved into a remote hillside outside the city, this place serves Sunday brunch only beneath galvanized metal roofs in a series of dining pavilions, all within a garden. Well-prepared menu items include filet of red snapper with brown sauce or a vinegar-based escoveitch (marinated fish); three different preparations of shrimp (including one flambéed in honey-flavored rum sauce); and three different preparations of chicken. Art exhibitions and poetry readings sometimes take place here

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Chelsea Jerk Center
7 Chelsea Avenue
Kingston
Phone 876/926-6322

Cuisine: Jamaican
Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-10pm; Fri-Sat 10am-1am; Sun noon-10pm
Location: Near the New Kingston Shopping Centre
Reservations: not accepted
Prices: Jerk half-chicken US$6.50 (£3.25); .5kg (1 lb.) jerk pork US$10 (£5)
Credit Cards: MasterCard,Visa

This is the city's most popular purveyor of jerked meats. Set in a low-slung angular concrete building, it offers food to take out or eat in a comfortably battered dining area. Although no formal appetizers are served, you might order a side portion of what the scrawled-on chalkboard refers to as "festival" (fried cornmeal dumplings). The best bargain is Chelsea's Special: rice, peas, and vegetables, plus jerked pork or chicken. Remember to order the various components of your meal at different kiosks in the huge hall; oxtail, stewed fish, and beer are also available.

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Heather’s
9 Haining Rd,
Kingston
Phone 876/926-2826

Cuisine: Jamaican, Syrian
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-11:30pm
Location: New Kingston
Prices: Main courses J$800-J$1,800 (US$11-US$25/£5.60-£13)
Credit Cards: American Express, Discover(y), MasterCard, Visa

Loud, convivial, and sometimes boisterous, this establishment combines a popular singles bar with a somewhat more sedate restaurant. There's a massive mango tree thrusting its way skyward through a hole in the roof. Tasty menu items include grilled fish kabobs, sweet-and-sour fish, Cajun-style blackened fish, Heather's crab cakes, and Heather's special shrimp.

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Indies Pub & Grill
8 Holborn Rd,
Kingston
Phone 876/920-5913

Cuisine: Jamaican
Hours:  Mon-Fri 11am-1am; Sat noon-2am; Sun 3pm-midnight
Location:  In New Kingston, off Hope Rd
Reservations: Not accepted
Prices:  Main courses J$500-J$2,400 (US$7-US$34/£3.50-£17)
Credit Cards: Not Accepted

Indies, an informal neighborhood restaurant across the street from the Indies Hotel, was designed around a garden terrace. You can also dine in the inner rooms, haphazardly but pleasantly decorated with caribou horns, tortoise shells, half-timbered walls, an aquarium sometimes stocked with baby sharks, and even a Canadian moose head. There's a full sandwich menu at lunchtime. In the evening you can enjoy grilled lobster, fish and chips, barbecued chicken or pork, chicken Kiev, or roast beef. It's a little better than standard pub grub. Pizza is a specialty. A bottle of Red Stripe, the Jamaican national beer, is the beverage of choice.

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Jade Garden
106 Hope Road
Kingston
Phone  876/978-3476

The best Chinese restaurant in Kingston, Jade Garden serves well-prepared food in an elegant, formal setting. Chow mein and chop suey dishes are here, but ignore them to concentrate on the more challenging offerings. Beef with oyster sauce is delectable, as is the pork with ham choy. For unusual flavors, try Pi Paw bean curd with chopped Chinese sausage, shrimp, black mushrooms, and water chestnuts. Also excellent is Subgum War Bar, a combination of meats sautéed with Chinese vegetables and served on a sizzling-hot platter. Deep-fried prawns stuffed with prawn mousse and served in a garlic-butter sauce are excellent as well.

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Norma’s on the Terrace
26 Hope Road
Kingston
Phone 876/968-5488

Cuisine: Chinese
Hours: Daily noon-10pm
Location: Sovereign Center, North of the town center, west of National Stadium
Reservations: recommended
Prices:Main courses US$12-US$58 (£6-£29
Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa

This is the creation of Jamaica's most famous businesswoman, Norma Shirley, purveyor of food to stylish audiences as far away as Miami. It's housed beneath the wide porticos of the gallery surrounding Kingston's most famous monument, Devon House. Ms. Shirley has taken the old, woefully dusty gardens and transformed them into something you'd find on a manicured English estate. Menus change with the season, but usually reflect Ms. Shirley's penchant for creative adaptations of her native Jamaican cuisine. Stellar examples include Jamaican chowder with crabmeat, shrimp, conch, and lobster; grilled whole red snapper encrusted with herbs and served with a thyme-and-caper sauce; and grilled smoked pork loin in a teriyaki/ginger sauce, served with caramelized apples.

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Palm Court
77 Knutsford Blvd
Kingston
Phone 876/ 926-5430

Cuisine: International
Hours: Mon-Fri 11:30am-10:30pm; Sat 6:30-10:30pm
Location: In the Kingston Hilton Hotel
Reservations: recommended
Prices: Main courses US$12-US$54 (£6-£27)
Credit Cards: American Express, Discover(y) Card, MasterCard,Visa

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Redbones the Blues Café
21 Braemar Avenue,
Kingston
Phone 876/978-6091

Cuisine: Jamaican
Hours: Mon-Fri noon-11pm; Sat 3pm-midnight
Reservations: required
Prices: Main courses US$14-US$32 (£7-£16)
Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa

The name alone lured us to this elegant place, which is the only restaurant in Kingston with cuisine as good as Norma's on the Terrace. All aglow in yellow and peach hues, Redbones is in a former Spanish colonial house. You're greeted with pictures of jazz greats on the wall, everybody from Billie Holiday to Louis Armstrong. A cozy bar, its ceiling studded with records, is installed in someone's former bedroom. Owners Evan and Betsy Williams give standard Jamaican dishes a new twist. Ask for "bammy," a cassava dish crowned with sautéed shrimp, or a platter of stuffed crab backs, a delectable selection on a tri-color salad. A spinach callaloo with cream cheese is encased in a divine strudel. Seafood pasta is laden with shrimp, lobster, and salmon in a creamy coconut sauce. The best item on the menu is spicy lamb chops in a guava glaze. Live jazz or something is always going on.

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Sir Henry Morgan's Restaurant
Port Royal
Phone 876/967-8075

Cuisine: International, Jamaican
Hours: Daily 7am-10:30pm
Location: In Morgan's Harbour Hotel & Beach Club, Port Royal
Prices: Main courses US$7.50-US$24 (£3.75-£12)
Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Discover(y)

This bar and restaurant offer guests panoramic views of Kingston Bay and the Blue Mountains. Except for the elegant lobster or seafood salad, lunch is a relatively simple affair. You can order various sandwiches and desserts, along with a daily luncheon special -- a traditional Jamaican dish. The catch of the day is steamed or fried. You get more of a choice at dinner; your best bet is either the fresh Jamaican lobster, which can be prepared in a number of ways -- everything from thermidor to grilled with garlic butter. The traditional Jamaican pepper steak, with hot and sweet peppers, is excellent, as is the selection of homemade ice creams to finish your meal.

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Thai Gardens
10 Holborn Rd
Kingston
Phone 876/926-3380

Cuisine: Thai
Hours: Daily noon-4pm and 6-11pm
Prices: Main courses J$895-J$2,195 (US$13-US$31/£6.25-£15)

The chefs here come directly from Bangkok, and the flavors are authentic, achieved with imported ingredients. The place is filled with artifacts sent over from Thailand. We recommend it as a change of pace when you've had too much Jamaican cuisine. Specialties include fried noodles with Thai shrimp wrapped in an eggshell, and steamed snapper served with chili-laced lemon sauce.

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The Columbus Restaurant
81 Knutsford Blvd
Kingston
Phone 876/926-3690

Cuisine: Italian
Hours: Daily 6-10:30pm
Location: The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. In New Kingston, off Oxford Rd
Reservations: required
Prices: Main courses J$850-J$3,100 (US$12-US$43/£5.95-£22)
Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa

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The Hot Pot
2 Altamont Terrace
Kingston
Phone 876/929-3906

Cuisine: Jamaican
Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-6pm; Sun 7am-2pm
Reservations: Not accepted
Prices: Main courses J$430-J$625 (US$6-US$8.75/£3-£4.40)
Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa

Set within a short walk of both the Pegasus and Hilton hotels, this is a simple local restaurant with an animated crowd of regulars and straightforward, unfussy cuisine. Within a green-and-white interior, near a view of a modest garden, you can drink Red Stripe beer or rum drinks. The chefs are so good you'll want to hire them to cook for you, especially after you've tasted their garlic chicken, their ackee with salt fish, and their sweet-and-sour fish. The place stays open throughout the day, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner without interruption. The food is what you'd be served in a typical Jamaican home -- nothing fancy, but satisfying and filling -- and the prices are astonishingly low.

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The Restaurant at the Hotel Four Seasons
18 Ruthven Rd
Kingston
Phone 876/929-7655

Cuisine: German, Jamaican, International
Hours: Daily noon-3pm and 6-10pm
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: Fixed-price buffet lunch US$15 (£7.50); lunch and dinner main courses US$8-US$26 (£4-£13)
Credit Cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa

This hotel restaurant offers one of the most consistently reliable luncheon buffets in Jamaica. It's supervised by a pair of hardworking East German-born sisters whose unfailing standards have made it a staple on the capital's restaurant scene. Menu items are freshly made and succulent, with everything from Jamaican pepper-pot soup to goulash, jerk chicken or pork, schnitzels and sauerbraten, and roulades of pork or veal.

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