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Cruising out to Pelican Bar!

by Restaurant Reviews & RatingsWhat's Hot

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Pelican Bar is a rustic bar that was built from wood by a fisherman, Floyd Forbes in 2001 on a sand bank in the middle of the sea. It is half way between Black River and Treasure Beach.

Of course it was named after the flocks of Pelicans that used to rest on the sand bank.

It is now an established attraction as the hotels quickly recognized what a nice get away it is. Local fishermen will ferry you over from Black River and Treasure Beach, that are about 20 minutes out.

Suga enjoyed the Catamaran Cruise about a month ago with Island Routes from an hour and a half away. The boat was anchored about 2 minutes away from the Bar and we were carried over the low waters by a small motor boat that would collect us in an hour.

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Island Routes Boat anchored 2 minutes away from Pelican Bar

Upon arrival we were greeted by the local fishermen that took orders for fish and drinks from the bar. They keep it simple as they are literally out in the middle of the sea so options are limited. For food, the only meal of the day was Brown Stew Fish and rice an peas. Rice and Peas? Yes. Asking for a side of Bammy was a special order. That’s it. As a tourist attraction and for the experience, I found $15US for the food to be quite reasonable. Tourists mostly enjoyed Rum, Red Stripe Beer and Heineken and the food was ready by the time you explored a little and had a drink.

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A man walked around that would etch your names in the wooden floor of the bar, who I am sure collects a lot of tips.

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Some tourists did a bit of swimming and snorkelling and collected sea eggs and sea urchins while I enjoyed chilling in the water, chatting and drinking beer. Before we knew it, it was time for those who came by Island Routes to head back to land.

It was not an oh so spectacular place but it was all about the experience and it was definitely an opportunity to get away, relax and enjoy the simplicity offered. One thing that could really amp up what they had to offer? It’s St. Elizabeth, so they could get some Shrimp aka ‘Peppa Swims’ at that bar!

Awesome, Picturesque Beach Day. Lovely spot to enjoy with family and friends. Explore Jamaica! Suga endorsed.

Pelican Bar

Location: ‘Di middle of di sea’ – St. Elizabeth

Ph: 876-354-4218

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Café El Centro, cosy spot to eat all day long

by Restaurant Reviews & RatingsWhat's Hot

About 2 Saturdays ago, Suga faced the famous question from her other half, ‘Where should we go for lunch?’. After the usual pondering for a few minutes, I mentioned that House of Loaves was having a New York ‘Halal’ Cart-Style day at Active Home Centre. His response when he looked at the ad showing that their food ranged from $800-$1500JMD was, ‘No sah. 15 bills for food from a truck that sells in New York for $7.99US and we can still sit down and have something nice somewhere else for that price or less?!’ He suggested Café El Centro above Fromage on Hillcrest avenue where friends have been going and enjoying their food, so I agreed to go.

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Smoked Pork Chops enjoyed by a Suga Bear yesterday at Café El Centro      Photo credit: Tennyson Arnold

We arrived at about 3:30pm and we were greeted pleasantly and seated. I instantly felt cosy in the quiet, quaint atmosphere with vintage décor. I loved the use of wooden palettes for the ceiling, hanging lanterns, decorated wooden signs on the walls and wine glasses hanging from the palettes in part of the ceiling above a wine and pastry cooler. All of this was complemented by a calming colour scheme of browns, beiges and a pastel green.

There were a few diners and one of them was enjoying Pancakes and Eggs beside us because they serve American-style Breakfast all day!

My husband and I were discussing items on the menu which they seemed to have revised again including items for dinner as well. The menu had quite a range of items including Paninis, Sandwiches and Wraps, Pastas, Soup, Snapper Fillet and Shrimp dishes, Pork Chops and more. The prices quoted were tax inclusive as well.

The diner beside us overheard us trying to decide and since I mentioned that I felt for a Wrap, she said that their Chicken Roti Wrap was really good. So my husband ordered the Lamb Burger with fries, which you can get with a wheat bun ($1200JMD) and I ordered the Curried Chicken Roti Wrap with veggies on the side ($950JMD).

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Our food arrived quickly and the manager, Tina Newman who took our order was very attentive. She was Professional but friendly at the same time. She gave my husband the option of having Mint jelly on the side, which she brought and I also ordered their homemade Lemonade ($300JMD) that was refreshing.

The Curried Chicken Roti Wrap was very tasty and did not kill me with pepper, it had just the right amount of spice that I enjoyed. I liked that the veggies were fresh as well.

The Lamb was tender and flavourful for the the Lamb Burger, the bun was fresh and it was appreciated that the meat filled the bun perfectly. Not many places get the meat and bun proportion right.

Even though we were sitting and chatting after our meal, our table was cleared quickly. The Chef came out and asked for our feedback, which was positive.

Tina came back over to our table and told us about their Steak night that they started on Fridays. Since Medusas is now closed, the same Chef Robin Rickhi does Steak night and I know his Steaks are succulent and he has a special marinated seasoning.

We were told they face the demand for Steak on other days so she said you can call in your order early if you wish to do so and the Chef there will whip it up for you, whether you are ordering steak or not.

The newlyweds had a delightful experience and we will return.

Café El Centro 

Location: 8 Hillcrest Avenue

Ph: 876-927-8415

Opening hours: 9am -10pm

Email: [email protected]

 

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Affordable stop on a South Coast country run

by Restaurant Reviews & Ratings

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Suga finally hit the South Coast a few weeks ago and stopped by Murray’s Fish & Jerk Hut.

You can get Steamed fish, Brown Stew fish, Fried fish, Curried Goat, Festival, Bammy and Soup on one side and on the other side you can get the usual Jerked Chicken and Pork and try their Jerked Rabbit!

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Posted sign of Rabbit Meat Facts                 N.B. There is a typo for no. 8

 

I had Fish soup, Jerked Chicken and Jerked Rabbit. The food was decent and affordable. Service was quick too. None of the dishes costed over $1000JMD. Definitely value for money.

Murray’s Fish & Jerk Hut

Location: Toll Gate, Clarendon

Ph: 876-987-1111; 876-367-4967

 

 

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What’s going on in the NBA Playoffs?!

by Restaurant Reviews & RatingsSportsWhat's Hot

There have certainly been some crazy endings to the last couple of games in the NBA Playoffs for both the East and the West recently.

Kyle Lowry of the Raptors made a crazy buzzer beater from the half court line the other night to force OT with the Heat but Dwyane Wade was on fire and they couldn’t hold him back. Heat won 102-96 to take the lead in the series 1-0.

Watch “Kyle Lowry Buzzer Beater to force overtime in Raptors vs. Heat Playoff Game!” on YouTube here:

Suga had Miami to win this series but with the recurrence of blood clotting in Chris Bosh’s left calf over the All-Star break keeping him out of the games, it will not be an easy task to overcome the Raptors. Their fate to meet LeBron and the Cavs is now at stake.

The Cavs – Hawks series will be dead. Cavs won easily 104-93.

But the last 13.5s of the Spurs-OKC game with OKC leading 98-97 in San Antonio was madness! So many things happened and no fouls were called for either team. The most obvious foul was the offensive foul on Ginobili on the inbound, players were scrambling all over the place and falling on the court and most hilariously, a Spurs fan (no it wasn’t Suga) grabbed the arm of OKC’s Steve Adams! Even though no fouls were called, at the end of the day, Ginobili should not have passed the ball to go for a 3. Shame on him. This win for OKC levelled the series 1-1. This will be the most exciting semi final series.

Watch “Dramatic Finish in San Antonio | Thunder vs Spurs | Game 2 | May 2, 2016 | 2016 NBA Playoffs” on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/zJEoEQvNO6s

Watch “Spurs fan grabbed Steven Adams’ arm on the final possession Spurs vs Thunders” on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/KOa42v7ZUUw

Last night, Trail Blazers led Warriors for the majority of the game with a 11-point lead into the 4th quarter. Lillard was on fire and Klay Thompson was not. Then Blazers forgot they had to play a 4th quarter and it all went downhill from there. They started to trail again.

Klay Thompson then started to make shots when it counted, ending the game with 27 points and the Defending Champs quickly erased the 11-point deficit in the 4th to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Trail Blazers have no chance.

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Photo: www.nba.com

So what’s the status of the NBA 2016 Playoffs now?

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Photo: www.espn.go.com

 

 

 

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La Bonne Crepe in Florida

by Restaurant Reviews & Ratings
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Cappuccino

 Two weeks ago, Suga took a walk on the strip of Las Olas Blvd. in Florida in search of a late Breakfast. It was quite a busy atmosphere because of the Festival taking place. People were everywhere!

I wanted to try somewhere new too so the sign, ‘La Bonne Crepe’ caught my eyes. I was like great, Breakfast Crepe.

Missed that though, because upon entry my friend and I were greeted politely then told that they were switching over to lunch so we may have a little wait. It was about 11am and we were fine with that.

Our waitress was not initially pleasant and she was a bit up in age but thankfully she warmed up as time went by.

We ordered Salmon and Turkey crepes with cheese ($15.70USD and $14.64USD respectively). Prices were reasonable and the Crepes on their menu were in different categores such as Breakfadt Crepes, Dessert Crepes, Cheese Crepes, you name it.

They are also a Café so a variety of coffee, hot and cold and other beverages were available.

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Turkey and Cheese Crepe with Bacon

After much anticipation, HUGE Crepes came our way but we were not impressed. We had no idea it would be crispy Crepes and they were bland. The meats needed more seasoning and a different kind of cheese should have been used to complement them or add some flavour. So it really was just a big pile of nothing that just satisfied my hunger. I enjoyed my frozen Cappuccino though. The experience makes me have to big up our local, Tea Tree Crêperie, although they usually have you waiting on the one person making their Crepes, the quality is good, consistent, tasty and the flavours are brought out well in the Crepes.

So next time I go back on that strip I will just go with what I know, YOLO!

La Bonne Crepe

815 E Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale,

FL 33301,

United States