Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards judge for the parish of Manchester, attorney-at-law and barrister Camille Shields, shares more culinary gems.

Seafood Palace & Sports Bar at Kingsland, Manchester has the best seafood close to Mandeville I have ever had; it is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 am to 10 pm. This seafood is as good as seafood from Alligator Pond and the best part is the short 10 minutes’ drive to get it from Mandeville. Easy to find, too, as it’s on the roadside, when travelling from Mandeville towards St Elizabeth; about halfway between Hatfield and Spur Tree, perched on a slope, is the brightly painted restaurant.

Seafood is the specialty but there are many other Jamaican dishes available for dining in or takeaway. As far as roadside establishments go, Seafood Palace is comfortable and clean and the staff very friendly and jovial; they seem to maintain a great rapport with the regulars and there are many regulars. It has parking off the road, too.

My first experience with their food, I had a steamed lion fish and jerk conch which I ate at home; to my delight and surprise it tasted fresh from the fire and was delicious. On the last occasion I had steamed lion fish and a fried snapper with escoveitched sauce, ital-style; that lean clean life I’m trying to live warrants it, and it was just as delicious. They offer crab, lobster (in season), shrimp and all other seafood fare with the usual fixings of bammy, festival or rice.

SEAFOOD PALACE& SPORTS BAR

Kingsland, Manchester

342-3670