1st September 2006

Another week-end lumbers slowly into view and the Lady of Leisure is determined to mark the occasion by getting out of the compound. I am awfully inconsiderate in that after a week of work, I tend to come home to sit in front of the television on my ever expanding rear. Perhaps a dip in the pool with the kids, but generally expend as little effort as possible. LoL however, who will have spent the whole week on family logistics, lifting and laying, feeding and watering, justifiably feels miffed if her enforced incarceration in the squat is extended beyond the five day term.

There are sights around Kingston that I should make more of, but a lone trip up the Blue Mountains has bee it thus far and even then I didn’t make it to a coffee plantation. Most of my sightseeing around Kingston to date has been in restaurants.

The term restaurant is a very broad church in Kingston (there is another of those religious references creeping in again), encompassing anything from a Jerk centre to exclusive fine dining. There are numerous shacks and dark un-inviting corners, I have spotted along the roads in Grants Pen and Barbican that I have not been brave enough to try. Some of these have taken the effort to pictorially represent their bill of fare on the walls, but no matter how pretty the painting of a pigs trotter, I’m still not tempted. I think there must be a law in Jamaica, where once you get a certificate for the Food Safety authority, if indeed any such authority exists, you are forbidden from ever changing your menu. Even in the more expensive establishments such as Red Bones or Macs, you can be assured that your favourite dishes will remain on the menu longer than you will in Jamaica.

Macs is an unusual place, and it sets itself apart from other establishments, though you certainly pay for the experience. While not completely denying the fact the restaurant is in Jamaica, as it has local produce on offer, I think the fact that the restaurant has no windows is designed to you can actually forget where you are. The service is attentive here, boarding on the overbearing, but this is welcome relief from being ignored completely in most other eateries. The wine list is laughable at 8 reds and 8 whites, but even this is comprehensive to most. The range is ludicrous within the 8, stretching from Jacobs Creek and Yellowtail (at US$40 per bottle before service!) to Mouton Rothschild and Lafitte. I had the occasion to celebrate there recently, and had a fantastic meal of spiny Lobster followed by a beautifully cooked tender steak. Good steak is a real luxury in Jamaica, though as it is inevitably imported from America, a second mortgage is advised before ordering. The whole soiree was everything I had hoped for and expected, and was good value too. I feel though my expectations must have changed greatly since I have been here as the perceived good value was based on a level of service and quality of food that with hind sight that would be minimum requirements at home. Given that this was by far the most expensive meal I have ever eaten, bar none, it goes to show the lengths one will go to, to feel part of the first world again, if only for a few hours.