Our final out-of-town assignment took place Tuesday evening last at Miss T’s Kitchen, a popular haunt of residents of Ochi which could quite easily be deemed a Best Kept Secret for those not familiar with this seemingly popular eatery. Nominated in the category Best Lunch Spot and with a tag that boasts “Great Food, Great Price, Great Service” we were soon to discover why it’s also a favourite for tourists in search of an authentic Jamaican experience. The instructions: Come to Ochi, drive past the police station. Come to the traffic light at the clock and turn right. Pass the first road on the left at the clock (James Avenue). About 80 metres further up on the left you will see a huge breadfruit tree – turn left immediately after that. Just before the end of the road you’ll see a big gate – you’re at Miss T’s kitchen. Mind you don’t scrape your bottom coming in the gate” That final caveat was no idle boast and truly tested the driving skills of Ronald Parker, our Island Car Rentals driver.

Located at the back of Dr Osmond Tomlinson’s thriving medical practice at 65 Main Street, the eatery is run by his charming wife Anna-Kay and a very efficient staff.

The property was nicely lit by tiki lights and featured old plantation-style, ceiling fans, wooden floors, hands of banana, ginger lilies, wooden seats, bamboo mats and Home Sweet Home lamps on the table. It was a welcome respite from our Kingston-Ochi traffic congestion.

On the menu for starters were:

Dr T’s ackee bites — curried ackee wrapped in a wonton skin and fried until crispy and served with a spicy sorrel sauce.

Miss T’s pick-up saltfish -salted cod, pickled in vinegar with onions, tomato, Scotch bonnet pepper, served with Jamaican cream crackers.

Jerked Chicken bits — Bite-sized pieces of chicken jerked with Miss T’s special sauce and served with garlic hardough bread.

An excellent St Ann crayfish chowder followed ahead of mains of: curried mutton, “rundung” shrimp pasta – succulent shrimp simmered in coconut cream sauce with local herbs and spices and served atop the pasta.

Local favourites like curried mutton, oxtail and beans, escoveitch chicken, whole snapper as well as escoveitch tiplets (a vegetarian favourite) satiated appetites.

Sweet treats by Jing Shi

Our judges and in particular our younger ones were in for a special treat. Master pastry chef Jing Shi gave a peek into his extraordinary talent as he presented four desserts:

A dark chocolate mousse with chocolate cream

Apple crumble pie with rum cream and dehydrated apple chips

Hazelnut cake with coffee cream.

Caramelised pear pie