The old capital of Spanish Town is a city teeming with neighbourhood restaurants that come in a variety of sizes, descriptions and locations. From the tiniest cook shop and roadside jerk spot to gourmet-type restaurants, delicious food is never further than around the next corner.

One of my absolute favourite haunts in ‘Spain’ is Irie Jerk and Seafood Restaurant, the town’s first 24-four-hour, seven-day-a-week eatery.

Opening its doors some 13 years ago, the Lucien Deer-fronted establishment is situated along the Brunswick Avenue hip strip and has developed a winning formula — uncomplicated, traditional, and freshly prepared meals — that has served the business well past its first decade.

The décor suggests a trattoria, so you feel immediately comfortable should you opt to sit and eat.

Grab a seat on Irie’s outdoor deck and you can people-watch between bites of your jerk or seafood order whipped up by the two-person team of owner Lucien Chen and his second-in-command, supervisor and cook Katrina Sutherland.

No worries if you prefer your meal to go: window-order service (for both dine-ins and takeouts) will hasten the process.

On the seafood half of the menu, the freshest of catches are cooked and presented. There’s fried and steamed fish, garlic or curried shrimp, fried and curried conch.

The jerk offerings are quite good and pair well with the list of side dishes, be it potato salad, pasta, fries, potato wedges, roti or plantain. For my Irie lunch date, I settled on a threefold order — jerk pork and Spanish rice ($390 for a small box; $460 for the large), hot and spicy fried and barbecued chicken paired with pasta and fried plantain at the one-standard cost of $460, and jerk chicken served with rice and peas for $460. My jerk-loving friends raved enthusiastically about the jerk chicken and jerk pork orders.

Dessert options include Devon House ice cream in conventional flavours, as well as flavours with a uniquely Jamaican twist, such as Otaheite apple or sugarcane.

Most important for me, I found Irie Jerk and Seafood’s menu reasonably priced and took comfort I didn’t have to go home with indigestion over the money I’ve spent!

The service was professional yet unobtrusive, allowing you to really sit back and enjoy your meal. I went there for a business dinner with my colleagues and got a great surprise; as soon as I entered I realised that they knew what they were doing.

Excellent food, excellent selection of jerk, incredible service and a nice family ambience. If you ever visit Spanish Town, do yourself a favour and seek out this restaurant; your taste buds will thank you!

WHAT I HAD TO EAT

Jerk pork paired with Spanish rice (large: $460; small: $390)

Hot & spicy fried/BBQ chicken paired with pasta and fried plantain (Standard cost:$460)

Jerk chicken served with rice and peas (standard cost:$460)