Thursday Food was wheels down and headed west with our ‘foodar’ on full scan last Saturday. We picked up on an interesting joint in Green Island in Hanover. The sign read Lobster Smokehouse. This we had to check out!

Tucked away neatly, by the bridge to enter the community square, this spot was already promising simply by the décor. Cut-stone, water feature, palm trees, deck dining by the river and the freshness of the newly minted.

The team was pleasantly greeted by our waitress for the afternoon, Tajera Roper; quick introductions were made and soon after we started talking to acting supervisor Romando Jones. He spoke to us about the idea behind Lobster Smokehouse and what the response has been like.

“The idea for the restaurant came about as we are residents in the area and we realised that the community really didn’t have a place where you could dine, have a drink and just relax. What stood out for us, too, was the journey between Montego Bay and Negril has somewhat of a gap when it comes to food spaces. The idea was to create a place where persons and families could come, enjoy a meal, listen to relaxing music and get refreshed from a day or week of work. That is the type of atmosphere we wanted to create,” Jones explained.

“We have been open for just over two weeks but the response has been very good. As our name suggests our menu focuses on jerk and seafood. A feature for us is our brick grill. It has different sections and in our version of jerk we put different sticks in each. With the brick storing the heat and, say, pimento sticks in one section I think we get different flavour and texture than the normal method of jerk. We are in seafood, and lobster will feature heavily as we are going to do it in a variety of ways that you may not find at other restaurants,” Jones added.

Chef Steve Scott gave an insight into the thought process behind his dishes and his vision for Lobster Smokehouse.

“We have a lot to draw from nature in the Caribbean. Our cuisine has distinct flavours and fragrances and the aim is to bring all of that here. From our use of pimento for grilling, fresh ground provisions, and seasoning our meat days in advance. We want to deliver the best variety, quality and to always keep our patrons coming back. If there’s a request for lobster to be done a certain way, we will do it. Our menu will also have a signature lobster dish and specialty sauces. This restaurant represents growth and a chance to continuously improve and refine our offerings from local to international dishes,” Scott stated.

The management team also plans on incorporating a gift shop and, eventually, rafting on the river. Thursday Food will be keeping an eye on this one.

— Photos & text by Aceion Cunningham

Lobster Smokehouse

Address: Main Street, Green Island

Hanover

Phone: 876-918-7675