Comments:Â Great Service and Authentic Thai Cuisine dishes infused with a well-balanced variety of herbs, spices and flavours in satisfactory portions for affordable prices. Ambience and lighting for a romantic dinner, but also a neat spot to meet for lunch or dinner with family and/or friends over drinks.
I challenged Mystic Thai in Montego Bay to cook me Pig Ears Thai style and they did not disappoint!
I visited Mystic Thai two weekends ago to not only try the Pig Ear dish prepared for me, but to also enjoy other dishes for dinner on Saturday night at about 8:45pm with my husband, Randy who does not eat pork.
Randy started off with a fiery Tom Yum Vegetable Soup ($4USD), which was a mixture of lemon grass, Thai herbs and chilli paste. It’s not for the light-hearted. It was a burst of flavour defining all herbs that later offered the taste buds some relief with the cool, minty effect of lemon grass.
He then enjoyed the Crispy Fried Okra Appetizer ($8USD) that I highly recommended.
In my last article on Pig Ears, I took my readers through several countries and how they usually prepare Pig Ears for their cuisines. So I wasn’t surprised when Chef Bansi Joshi came to our table presenting a Pig Ears Salad. The Pig Ears were boiled first, then cut longitudinally and deep-fried.
Pig Ears Salad with lemon juice, cilantro, scallion, tomato and onion.
I thought that was going to be it, but out came another Pig Ears dish!
Kapow style Pig Ears with Thai Chilli, garlic and other spices.
This time the Pig Ears arrived Kapow style, that is, based in soy sauce and cooked with garlic, chilli and other spices. I am not a fan of soy sauce, but appreciated the spicy flavour brought on by the Thai Chilli that accompanied it, along with other added spices. It was sweet, then immediately followed by a hit of spicy.
The Pig Ears had a bit of crisp and slightly rubbery texture as expected for both dishes and they were prepared the same way. I preferred the Salad that was lighter with a more highlighted taste and texture of the Pig Ears, along with the refreshing taste of lemon juice and cilantro.
I actually could not accommodate much more food. I had a few of my delish Shrimps in Panang curry, then sampled a bit of Randy’s Basil Naan and Lobster in Red Thai Curry. The Lobster was tasty, meaty and its sauce complemented it well.
A. Shrimp in Panang Curry based in Red Chillies and Peanuts topped off with coconut cream sauce ($14USD) B. Basil Naan ($3USD) C. Lobster in Red Thai Curry, a blend of Dried Red Chillies, Kaffir Lime rind, Coriander root and Cumin ($18USD)
We were both stuffed and satisfied, especially after the gastronomic day we had, but I ensured space was made for the Fruit and Nut Chocolate Naan that I missed out on the last time I visited. I am paying for that Nutella at the gym right now but it was worth it!
Fruit and Nut Chocolate Naan
Suga snaps to Owner, Kareena Mahbubani for taking on and facilitating my Pig Ears challenge, Chef Bansi for great execution and the staff for their usual great hospitality and attentiveness.
Hope to visit again soon! #SugaEndorsed
Mystic Thai (Asian & Thai Cuisine)
Location: B11 – Fairview Towne Centre Unit, Montego Bay
South Beach is where it all went down for Foodies and Wine enthusiasts last weekend at the 17th annual Food Network and Cooking Channel’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF)!
It was a 5-day destination event in Miami from February 21-25, showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits’ producers, chefs and culinary personalities. Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, Emeril and more were there!
The Festival had many high-end events, including elaborate dinners and brunches, but also had events that costed less than $100US to attend. Whichever patrons chose, it definitely looked like value for money. The Festival is also for a good cause, as it benefits the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University (FIU) and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center.
Over 1000 students get the opportunity to work at the Festival each year and the experience they gain is invaluable for their future in the hospitality field.
To date, the Festival has raised more than $26 million US for the School.
Let me show you a few of Suga’s favourite teasers that should have been palate pleasers. You can also note the Restaurants responsible to pay them a visit soon in Miami!
Ceviche Ceviche Ceviche!
Agung Miami Beach’s Ceviche! (Photo: Agung Miami Beach)
Sushi like you’ve never seen it before!
Omakase Plate from Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill (Instagram Photo: @jasoneats)
A mountain of Tuna Tatake!
Tuna Tataki is a lightly seared yellowfin or ahi tuna that is served rare with a citrus based soy sauce.
Tuna Tatake from Moshi Moshi Japanese in Miami, Florida (Instagram Photo: @goodeatsmeets)
How about some aged Ribeye on a skewer?!
Aged Ribeye with spicy Garlic sauce from Byblos Miami Mediterranean Restaurant (Photo: @jasoneats)
Topping things off with Dessert!Â
There were cascading doughnuts, gelato in probably every flavour and more at SOBEWFF.
Honeybee Doughnuts Miami at the Southern Kitchen Brunch hosted by Trisha Yearwood, part of the NY Times Cooking series at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel (Photo: Honeybee Doughnuts Miami)
Suga’s friends and others that went to the Festival said there was every kind of food and wine you could think of, an absolutely gastronomical, star-studded, international event.
If you missed the Festival this year like myself, you should definitely put it on your calendar for 2019!
The Food Network and Cooking Channel’s South Beach Wine and Food Festival
Eat. Drink. Educate
Website: www.sobewff.org
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @sobewffestÂ
By: Gabrielle Burgess
If you liked this blog, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
Suga a.k.a Gabby will be on RJR Fm this morning at 7:45 to 7:58am. Tune in if you can! Hear all about Gabby’s Personality and Careers.
Last Wednesday, Gabby’s Entrepreneurship story was featured on the Vitamin M Box’s Instagram page, @thevitaminmbox.
The Vitamin M Box is about bringing brands owned and produced by people of colour- Melanin to your doorstep in the form of beauty, fashion, books, home and lifestyle brands. So check them out too and the lady behind the box, Kerry Yanique Croft, her story and how you can purchase your monthly prescription on www.thevitaminmbox.com.
Repost via @thevitaminmbox:
Gabrielle Burgess (Suga a.k.a Gabby) from Suga Lifestyle
Get your dose of Vitamin M!
Today’s spotlight hails from Kingston, Jamaica! I tease Gabrielle all the time because I seriously don’t know what she can’t do. Read how she’s managed to escape to her creative side while still working in the hardworking medical field.
Growing up, I always wanted to be a Doctor (Obstetrician) and do Art on the side. I eventually realized that even though the income would be great after the initial struggle of paying off a hefty student loan, I would not have the time on my hands that I would desire to be the Free Spirit that I am. I still entered the field of Health Care as a Radiologic Technologist. It’s a skill and I enjoy the field. But it wasn’t enough for me as a young adult who just started working in 2010, that used to be the President of at least 2 service Clubs, while sitting on the committee of others, also engaging in modern dance and other sporting activities. I felt like I also started life 3 years behind my high school peers who did not do a 2nd Degree and who were fortunate enough to have their parents pay their way through tertiary education for them. While I had not one, but two degrees worth of Student Loans.
My walls were empty when I moved out on my own into my apartment and I said, ‘Why buy paintings when I can paint them myself?’. I officially started my company, GW Art with seasonal Collections, that has grown so much since then and still has some way to go.
I started to help a friend train her Boot camp (aerobics) class in 2011 too. She had to leave the country for a year and I did so well administering and training classes that I eventually branched out on my own. I got certified in both Personal Training and Sports Nutrition. After a timid start to do this on my own, I thrived by seeing positive results in my clients and being a part of and changing person’s lives. I am now confident and in demand in the Fitness Industry in Jamaica.
I currently find ways to express my 3 fields along with Hobbies, which include Restaurant Reviews, Sports and more on my Website, www.sugalifestyle.com. This continuously inspires me and makes me feel like I can branch out even more! #blackentrepreneurship #blackexcellence
By: Gabrielle Burgess
If you liked this Blog, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
*I didn’t get the chance to purchase Capers, but for those who like Capers with Salmon, it is not needed with the strong taste of Ashebre’s Spicy Dairy-Free Pesto sauce
*Ashebre’s Spicy Dairy-Free Pesto can be sourced at John R. Wong Supermarket, Kingston Ja
Method (Serves: 2)
Salmon Fillets
1. Tilt the Salmon fillet up/Lift and bend it to make several slits on the skin side of the Salmon with a very sharp knife. (This makes the Salmon cook quicker, the skin crispier and does not let the Salmon curl up in the heat)
*Don’t slice too deep or you will overcook the Salmon
2. Season the Salmon with Salt and Black pepper
3. Lightly grease frying pan with Olive oil over medium heat
4. Place Salmon fillets in pan skin side down to prevent overcooking
3. Look out for a distinct white line in the middle of the fillet at about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the Salmon. When you see it, the Salmon is cooked halfway through
4. Flip the Salmon and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the skin is crispy.
5. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and steam your Salmon for about 10 minutes to be cooked medium. Add an extra 2-3 minutes to cook medium-well.
Pasta
1. Cook Thin Spaghetti until tender and drain in coriander.
2. Add sliced Cherry tomatoes and mix in some of Asbebre’s Spicy Dairy-free Pesto Sauce.
Creamy Sauce
Make your own healthy version of a Creamy Sauce instead of using an Alfredo sauce or Coconut cream sauce to put on your Fish or your Pasta.
Melt olive oil, garlic powder, onion, cream cheese, grated parmesan cheese and almond/skimmed milk in a pot, with varying amounts to create your desired consistency.
Plating
Plate Spaghetti with Salmon fillet on top. Add a little Pesto sauce to the Salmon and layer your homemade creamy sauce on top. Yum!
Enjoy!
By: Gabrielle Burgess (Certified Personal Trainer & Sports Nutritionist)
If you liked this Recipe, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
Left side: Pesto Pizza with Mozzarella, Pine Nuts and Basil; Right side: Pizza Bianca with Double Pepperoni and Mozzarella
MidiCi Fort Lauderdale makes wood-fired Neapolitan Pizzas. Neapolitan Pizzas are authentic Italian style Pizzas that are made with San Marzano tomatoes grown on volcanic plains in Italy and Mozzarella cheese made with milk from water buffalo that are raised in the marshlands of Italy. The Mozzarella cheese used is known as ‘white gold’ because of its high premium quality and taste.
MidiCi has a Daily Happy Hour from 3-7pm and all day on Thursdays. They also do Wine and Cheese on Wednesdays for $19.95USD.
They have quite a salivating Instagram page. Looks like they are worth a try on my next trip!
MidiCi Fort Lauderdale
The Neapolitan Pizza Company
Location: 510 North Federal Highway. Fort Lauderdale. Florida
If you’ve been eating Whole Wheat, Whole Grain or Gluten-free Bread since the start of 2018 and you would like a change, then this is the Recipe for you!
You could be a Vegetarian looking for an exciting new Recipe too.
Ingredients
1 Yam (Complex/Good Carbs)
1/2 Avocado (Healthy Fats)
1 tsp Hemp/Sesame seeds (Protein)
Asparagus (Vegetables)
Olive Oil (Optional)
A sprinkle of Garlic Salt (Optional)
A sprinkle of Black Pepper (Optional)
A pinch of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
Method
Yam Toast
â— Cut 1 large Yam into even slices (around 2cm thick)
◠Place in the Oven at 220°C for 30 minutes OR Place on a Grill for 30 minutes on each side on medium-high heat
Roasted/Steamed Asparagus *(Edited by Gabrielle Burgess)
Roasted:
◠Preheat oven to 220 °C
â— Place the Asparagus into a mixing bowl, and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat the spears, then sprinkle with garlic salt, and pepper
â— Bake in the Pre-heated oven until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes depending on thickness.
Steamed:
◠Fill a skillet with ½ cup of water per ½ pound of Asparagus and Add the Asparagus.
◠Cover the skillet with a lid and Boil over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until the Asparagus turns bright green and tender.
Avocado/Avocado Puree *(Edited by Gabrielle Burgess)
â— Mash the Avocado with a fork or puree in a blender until smooth, adding water if necessary to reach desired consistency
â— Top off the Yam slices with Avocado, Hemp/Sesame seeds, Asparagus and a pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt.
Benefits
A Fibre and Protein-rich Breakfast with Veggies and Healthy Fats all at the sane time!
ENJOY!
#SugaEndorsed Recipe by:
Jhanae M. PauleÂ
Vegan Humanitarian and Environmentalist
Instagram: @plantpoweredpaule
Website: jhanae.com/recipes
Reposted and Edited By: Gabrielle Burgess (Certified Personal Trainer & Sports Nutritionist)
If you liked this Recipe, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
Simo’s Bread and Catering (Christina Simonitsch) will be doing a Valentine’s Brunch in Kingston with Tooksie Kay Catering (Alexa Von Strolley) on Sunday, February 11!
The Brunch will be at Kayter at 18 Balleter Avenue, Kingston 10 from 12 noon to 4 pm!
It will be 4 stations with All You Can Eat accompanied by Beverages!
It should be a Treat! Treat your Valentine with this Brunch that should have memorable eats.
Today is the last day to sign up for the Early Bird tickets that cost $60USD per person.
Comments:Â Neat, under the radar spot in town for Jamaican-style Seafood with a different presentation and its own unique, flavourful taste. It is a simple and comfortable atmosphere for a date or groups of families, friends or coworkers to dine where the food is visibly prepared, fresh to order.
Suga’s Experience
Two Wednesdays ago, my husband, Randy and I still had family visiting in town and we wanted to all meet up for some Dinner. Being Jamaican-British, their choice was Seafood and the natural decision would be to go to Gloria’s in Port Royal. However, we were back at work and we deciding we would not be doing a trip to Gloria’s at night, mid-week.
Randy always passed a Seafood Restaurant by Balmoral Avenue, but never got to stop by and try it. I told him with Seafood there is usually a wait. It would surely be a gamble with it being a fairly new Restaurant too.
Prices online looked reasonable, generally $1600JMD+tx for Fish any way you like it. We decided to brave it.
Randy called ahead to order and for them to expect our group of almost 20 persons. However, they cook everything not only to order but fresh to order, that is, prep and everything. So when persons arrived they would need to pick out their Fish.
I heard I missed Chef and Owner, Lloiid Thomas who came out to greet everyone and was quite confident about the quality of food he would be serving.
He also explained the authenticity of how Organic his foods are and how he liaises with suppliers to ensure that is reinforced as well as keeping seasonings, herbs and spices organically farm to table. It was evident from the shelves stocked with ground provisions and more and the staff who handpicked items from it back and forth, that meals were prepared fresh.
Our Conch Soup came out first. I loved that it wasn’t salty, noting that MSG is not used at Organic Seafood. Instead, even though I did not have any conch in my cup, it was thick with a rich flavour.
Food started to come out by 8:30pm. My in-laws had the Caribbean Salmon.
Caribbean Salmon
The Salmon was well cooked and creatively presented on a fresh bed of lettuce that rested on a furnished portion of tree bark. The sauce was what added the special touch and flavour to the Salmon.
Served side of Plantain, cooked fresh from the Restaurant shelf
Their sides of Plantain, also well presented were tasty. I had to ask for some.
Orders of Brown Stewed Fish and Steamed Fish followed. The family was pleased so far, including myself who had the Steamed Fish. It definitely wasn’t like any Steamed Fish you would normally get. The Chef had a right to be confident, as the richness in flavour of the dish was truly unique. Snaps for offering it with the option of Wheat Crackers too.
Steamed Fish, varying in size based on Customer preference, served with Wheat Crackers (Top) and Traditional Cream Crackers (Below)
We had family that decided they were still coming, so we picked out fish for them at that point in order to get things moving before they arrived.
The tiniest member of that party had a Shrimp Pasta that had a huge serving he could hardly make his way into.
Shrimp Pasta
Two brothers enjoyed their Fried fish to the bone. They were the second to last to get their food, but stated that it was definitely worth the wait.
Marcus Perkins (left); Tariq Perkins (Right)
The sides of Festival and Bammy were enjoyed as well. The Festival was done true Jamaican style and it was delicious.
It was reported that the Fried Bammy tasted as if it was soaked in sugar-water or cinnamon rather than milk, but it was tasty nonetheless. Perhaps it could be requested that it be soaked in Almond milk.
There were two diners that were not so pleased with their food though, including our cousin who was a member of the late party (arrival a bit after 9pm) and got her Fried fish last, some time after 10pm. They were very disgruntled.
They stated that their Brown Stew and Fried Snapper were fresh, needing more salt and seasoning. I can testify to the Fried Snapper needing more seasoning because I tasted it after her complaint.
The sentiment of not getting to eat together was also expressed, but personally in a situation like that, I prefer to get food once it is ready. Even though food came out at different times, there was a steady flow once service started and the wait was not unusually long for such a large group. The wait was definitely shorter than what you would have at Gloria’s.
With that aside, to please a hard crowd of 15 out of 18 diners is quite an accomplishment on their part. Each person’s meal including Soup, a Main dish with sides and a drink came to about $3000JMD including tax and service charge, which was reasonable.
I must mention though, that the winner of the night was Randy’s Jerked Fish. It was not oily, even though it was fried, then jerked. The burst of flavour as you had one bite was amazing.
Jerked Fish
It was nice to see courteous Diana, a member of staff who had a long night on her feet, come out and take some time to have a little chat with some of the gentlemen in the family.
Organic Seafood Network’s Diana having a chat with members of Suga’s Family
Owner and Chef Lloiid Thomas also came out to receive his honest feedback and pleasantly said he is open to requests to cook fish the way it is preferred. Whether it is more or less seasoning, herbs etc., he can be notified from the fish is picked out and adapt to such requests.
Chef Lloiid Thomas (center) with Veronica Burgess (left) and Reginald Burgess (right)
Chef Lloiid came from Atlanta, Georgia, to set up his Organic Jamaican Seafood Restaurant and it has been open for 9 months.
I intend to return to compare service with a smaller group or even when just two persons are dining and I am interested in trying their Smoothies. I am already impressed and happy to see almond milk as an ingredient option. Many other places need to do so. Straying a bit from that healthy note, they also had a salivating video on Instagram of their creative preparation and plating of Shrimp. That is on my list as well.
Kudos to Chef Lloiid and his team who remained pleasant and professional with a hungry set of almost 20 demanding diners and still produced predominantly good food to please the majority.
Organic Seafood Network – Restaurant, Bar, Market
Location: 19 Balmoral Avenue
Ph: 876-620-9242
Facebook: Organic Seafood Restaurant
Instagram: @organicseafoodrestaurant
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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