Celebrating their one-year anniversary last week, the Old Harbour-based Kaluga Kafe is a worthwhile dining destination to enjoy authentic Jamaican delicacies as well as Asian-inspired and Euro-centric fare. Located a few minutes from the iconic clock in the town’s centre, the eatery brings a taste of cosmopolitan flavour to the town.

Kaluga Kafe — owned by Adrian Samuda with Akeeli Dixon ably fulfilling his duties as executive chef — offers a comfortable rustic ambience with varnished bamboo décor and options of booth-, centre-, or outdoor-space seating.

For my recent culinary discovery mission that also functioned as a lunch date, I was happy to find Kaluga’s menu filled with unexpected offerings in Old Harbour, no less.

Orange-scented breasts of chicken with lychee coconut sauce? Who would have guessed? The Kaluga Thriller Bean Burger — with black, beans, red peas and pinto beans — served with a tomato salsa? It’s there!

So, too, are lobster and chicken pastas, curried coconut and roasted garlic shrimp, as well as dragon jerked pork and apple mint BBQ ribs.

Your food is done to order, and you can watch as it is prepared right before your eyes. Whether you have a special request or simply want to order off the tantalising selection, it’s a great spot for friends and family to come together.

I found the service at Kaluga very warm and relaxed, with the wait staff in particular very courteous and super-attentive.

Post-meal, chatting up Dixon, the man in charge of the kitchen’s output, he swears that Kaluga’s Friday brunch will wow guests with one of the best seafood stations in town. It will be hard, he said, to decide between the plump prawns, decadent oysters or seared scallops on offer.