Our Food Awards Judges hit the town Friday last and now present their score card…

Good news to report at Bin 26… firstly, the shelves are filled with a selection of wines that is unavailable anywhere in Jamaica. And there are offerings at every price point. So whether you are just starting your first job or you own the company, there is a wine at Bin priced for you. The revamped staff seems more appropriate and service-ready. On Chris Reckord’s suggestion we sipped on a Blue Vin Riesling, which worked well with the fish sliders and tasty mango salsa with chips. The white sangria wasn’t half bad. And best of all, the place had a nice vibe with a mix of foreigners and locals of all ages and stages. We met and hung with a French singer/musician, Salla Sidibe, who was on his first trip to the Rock. Bonus: we asked the wait staff to turn off the piped music for a few minutes while Salla indulged us in an a capella performance of Stand By Me. The crowd roared. Bravo! This was the kind of evening one would expect at a place like Bin 26. Glad to have it back and active on the social landscape.

Meanwhile, we have always liked the Spanish Court Rooftop Bar. It surprises us that more people don’t take advantage of the comfortably chic after-work setting. The special cocktails are good. The bar snacks are tasty enough. The bartenders are jovial and engaging. The musician always plays the right covers for a mixed local and foreign crowd. What’s not to love? Despite years of operation, this place is still waiting to be discovered as a viable option for after-work drinks. We have been going, so should you.

As usual, Medusa on a Friday night was hopping. Parking is always a problem, but who cares when you can mingle in this vibrant crowd? It is a place of regulars: our local Cheers. Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they are really glad you came. And on Fridays it’s all about the steak. We ordered medium-rare and it actually came as ordered. In Jamaica, this is as miraculous as the Second Coming. All nodded when judge Odette Dixon Neath said that it was “mouth-watering, juicy, tender, flavourful and all the other adjectives in the dictionary that you can use to describe a steak”. Food empress Jacqui Tyson is here every Friday night unless she has a catering gig. And with good reason! At $1,500 for a 10-ounce fillet (yes, you read that right) it is the best deal in town. The ribs and sides were okay – bar food-appropriate, better than passable. Go for the steak and the fabulous bar vibe.

Now Chasers is tops for the musical selection and mix. Selector, tun it up! More than anywhere else on our crawl, this was where the judges most felt the urge to dance. (Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah yeah!”) We stuck to white rum and coconut water. After a few Qs, multi-talented food awards judge Annaliesa Lindsay showed off her ‘dancing’ skills. Chasers is not usually known for its food but some of our judges were reasonably impressed with the red peas soup. We like Chasers. Location, patrons, affordable drinks and the music make it an easy choice.

At South Beach, there may be just too much going on. Too many empty activity rooms, from the cabanas to the dance club to the restaurant. We stuck to the back bar but found that the drinks (Mojitos) were too sweet and the food was too fried. Our judges recognised that these “sweet and fried” tastes may indeed be right for some palates, but if South Beach wishes to attract a broader audience, they will need to rethink some of the offerings. The private cabanas, while a nice idea in theory, need to be outfitted with more lounge furniture for the hipsters to get a little freaky inside. What’s a cabana, after all, if you can’t steal a grope? South Beach Café was however, the perfect spot for Brittannis Martin’s gender-reveal party and celeb spotting.

At the open-air beach-style Macau, the Kamikaze shots and the spicy jerk chicken pasta were the licks. On the other hand, the cheese and bacon fries sounded better in theory than in execution. Macau is the kind of place where you need to go with your own big group and make your own fun. It is not the right spot for two people on a casual night out hoping to catch a vibe. The place lacks soul, so the gang has to bring its own.

The opening of the Portmore nightclub Famous was the only social event of the year that some of our judges were looking forward to. We were all eagerly anticipating Kingston fab competing with Portmore glam causing nightclub fireworks. Bring it on! When we arrived, the crush of the crowd outside the gates portended excitement inside. Despite being “on the list” we had difficulty getting in and had to be hoisted by security through the onslaught of onlookers. This, we thought, is going to be better than the summer circuit parties in Ibiza and Mykonos. But then, meh! The night was far less interesting than we had hoped. The club did not live up to the hype. The dance floor, which is the heart of any Portmore mash-up, was dead. The crowd looked – sacre bleu! — bored. Maybe it was the DJ? The selection was often monotonous and forgettable. Maybe it was the crowd? Too much low-energy uptown, not enough high-energy Portmore! We missed Attitude. But it is very early days yet. There is time to get the formula right.

We would hope to see nights of Kingston vs Portmore DJs. We want to see the fashionistas of Independence City and Bridgeport take on each other on the Famous runway. We want to see de gyal dem who can wine. We want to see the boys let loose to innovate the dance moves that have the Japanese girls squealing in Tokyo. Tun up the energy on firearm-free neighbourhood competition in fashion, in music selection, in dance and in attitude so that Famous becomes THE place for the global buss-out! We want to see Famous as THE night club for the Caribbean Las Vegas. Stream it live across the Internet for the Lights! Camera! Action! crowd. Our judges are watching! Some of our judges will return to Famous in a few weeks to see how the formula is progressing and if it’s worth the trek across the waters.

At 3:45 am, we called it a ‘night’ and caravanned back to Kingston.

(Photos: Christopher Reckord)

Captions

BIN 26

Bin 26 carries a selection of wines for every desire and budget

Bin 26’s mango salsa and chips are the perfect wine bar food munchies

MEDUSA

# 9466 Medusa manager Stanford Cocking claims that ” you will never get another steak in Jamaica as good as ours” Food Awards judges Odette Dixon-Neath (right) and Annaliesa Lindsay would later discover that it was no idle boast

# 9471 Food Awards judges Annaliesa Lindsay, Odette Dixon-Neath and Toni Spence enjoying drinks at Medusa (CUT OUT LADY AT RIGHT)

# 9474 Medusa

# 9480 Medusa’s excellent steak

# 9491 Known by all as “Stewie”, Warren Stewart is the man behind the much-touted Medusa Steak

MACAU

# 9584 SIGN

# 9604 Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards judges at Macau with guest Alicia Ganess (left) raise shots of Kamikaze

# 9613 The spicy jerk chicken pasta is met with approval by Food Awards judge Nevada Powe

# 9620 Macau’s well-appointed bar

# 9630 Macau’s cheese and bacon fries

CHASERS

# 9507 Table Talk Food Awards judges at Chasers with guest Alicia Ganess (right)

# 9517 CHASERS SIGN

# 9522 Codfish fritters

South beach café

9529

#9533 Jamaica Observer Food Awards judges at South Beach Café with owner Basil Williams (left)

# 9536 Celebrity guests at South Beach Café: Writer and producer H Monty Bryant (left), music producer Blade and singer Sky

# 9542 & 9550 Brittannis Martin celebrated her gender reveal party at South Beach Café Friday last with family and friends. Dinner was followed by a close-up and two cakes # 9582

# 9548 Service with a smile at South Beach Cafe

# 9565 Wings and fries at South Beach Café

FAMOUS

# 9639 THE SIGN

# 9641 The bumper crowd

# 9648 Food Awards judges at Famous Portmore

ALL SMILES:

Gary Dixon (left) Head of Marketing at J Wray & Nephew, shares a laugh with CEO of Pan Caribbean Financial Services Donovan Perkins at the Appleton Jamaica-Rum sponsored Famous nightclub in Portmore.

COCKTAILS

Cecil Smith, marketing manager of Owned Brands at J Wray & Nephew Limited enjoys Appleton Jamaica Rum with Alicia Wee Toms (left) and Kadia Prince

First Drinks

Gary Matalon (right) receives the first drink prepared at the Famous Nightclub in Portmore, an Appleton Jamaica Rum Cocktail made by Gary Dixon, Head of Marketing at J Wray & Nephew