Suga Taster, Stephen amongst Elite Company at the JHTA Celebration of Fine Jamaican Cuisines in MoBay!

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Escoveitched Smoked Marlin from Holiday Inn Resort
Last week Saturday, August 24th, Suga Taster, Stephen Greig had the pleasure of attending The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Montego Bay Chapter’s Celebration of Fine Jamaican Cuisines on the lawns of the Rose Hall Great House.
The food and wine pairing event is considered as one of the top culinary social events in Montego Bay and was well supported as expected. The event is also for a worthy cause, as proceeds go toward various Charities in Montego Bay, such as the SOS Children’s Village, Montego Bay Learning Centre and the Save the Child Programme.
The Great House was colourfully lit to enhance the ambience of this elite foodie affair and patrons could get a guided Night tour of the Great House. It is rumoured you have a greater chance of seeing the witch at night!
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Rose Hall Great House lit up for the night tour.
The real attraction however, was the food and wine and there was an abundance of creative and delicious dishes on offer courtesy of booths from Holiday Inn Resort, Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Half Moon, RIU, Secrets, Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa, VIP Attractions, Goddard Catering Group, The Tryall Club and Deja Resorts amongst others.
Highlights
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Escoveitched Smoked Marlin from Holiday Inn Resort.
Jerked Lobster on cucumber and the Escoveitched Smoked Marlin from Holiday Inn Resort courtesy of Chef Omar Gordon.
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Jerked Lobster on cucumber from Holiday Inn Resort.
Round Hill Hotel and Villas had Vegetarian Flatbread on the grill, Vegetarian Chilli and Beans as well as Breadfruit Taco shells with choices of Chicken or Pulled pork. A variety of toppings included sour cream, cilantro, bacon bits, cheese and  salsa.
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Vegetarian Flatbread on the grill from Round Hill Hotel & Villas
Half Moon featured Roast Suckling Pig!
The Tryall Club had an interesting array of Appetizers including a Pineapple Cold Soup, which Stephen wasn’t really a fan of, but he enjoyed the Vegetable Caponata Tartlets, the Curried Vegetables with Roti and the Hummus with Cocoa bread.
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Vegetable Caponata Tartlets from The Tryall Club.
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Hummus with Cocoa bread from The Tryall Club.
RIU had Oxtail Patties!
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Oxtail patties from RIU.
Also on show were decadent Desserts from the Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa and RIU Hotels.
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Aren’t you ready to visit one of those Hotels now?!
Get to know a little bit more about the Suga Taster, Stephen Greig who was responsible.
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[Photos and Review contributed by Suga Taster, Stephen Greig]

Suga Taster, Stephen Greig is an Attorney-at-Law whose favourite dish is Singapore Shrimp. His preference is Seafood, so enjoys casually eating at Sharkies out of town. But his favourite place to eat out of town for an occasion is Stush in the Bush, and if in Kingston, Steak House on the Verandah at Devon House. The country he has travelled to with the best Food is Thailand and he is always open to new food experiences.

Edited By: Gabrielle Burgess (Founder/Owner, Suga Lifestyle)

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Italian ‘Luna di Mare’ Restaurant at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa

The Italian Restaurant, Luna di Mare is the winner for fine dining restaurants at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa. Two Saturdays ago, it was an elegant evening for my party of four. It was also a refreshing experience compared to the mediocre service, quality and poor range of options offered by the Main Buffet Restaurant and Grills during the days.

Our waiter, Kenrick pleasantly greeted the table and within 5 minutes our appetizers arrived, of which we all chose the Seafood Soup of the day. It was a bit spicy, but to the right degree. I must also point out that the table’s serving of garlic bread came with a very tasty Pesto sauce. Their menu included Pizzas, Pastas and Piattis with salivating descriptions of a Salmon Filet Risotto, Seafood Medley Pasta with creamy tomato sauce, Smoked Salmon Spaghetti with pesto cream sauce and more. Kenrick was quite knowledgeable about the menu and based on his description of various items on the menu I ordered the Fusilli Marinero, the Seafood Medley consisting of fish, scallops and shrimp with creamy tomato sauce. I suppose either my friends were not feeling as adventurous that night or the dish just seemed so appealing that we all ordered the same thing. The pasta was as good as we thought it would be.

Our servings were filling and the quality so satisfactory to our standards, that there was no room or need for dessert, so we enjoyed the quiet, dimly lighted setting with Italian themed wall paintings as we chatted about current affairs and sipped Chardonnay.

Dinner at the Seaside Grill, Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa, Montego Bay

It was the night to see what fine dining restaurants at the Hilton had to offer last week Thursday for the Rotaract District 7020 Conference. Of over 100 attendees, 32 dined at the Seaside Grill including myself. Our reservation was made weeks in advance and everyone was on time for their 8:00pm reservation excluding about 4 of us. So I was surprised to see them off to such a slow start.  By 8:20pm only some orders were taken and no appetizers had arrived as yet. I quickly contacted our Sales and Catering Manager who came down to the restaurant soon after. Then things started clicking.

I ordered at 8:30pm, immediately got my Lobster Bisque that was quite appetizing. We waited a little bit for our entrees that arrived at 9:05pm, but the wait was tolerable and quite worth it. I had the Seafood Mixed Grill with shrimp, fish and scallops kebab style accompanied by Cilantro Beurre Blanc, Rice and Vegetables. It was surely divine as the Cilantro Beurre Blanc sauce truly complemented the seafood well, as expected. Others were happy with their entrees, all of good serving sizes. Persons had Pork Loin, Grilled Swordfish Steak, West Indian Spiced Curry Shrimp, Beef Tenderloin and more. Clearly a wide range on the menu.

Sadly the Pie and Chocolate Cake may have given us diabetes, but the lucky ones had tasty Ice Cream and the divine entrees were still on our minds. A decent selection of wines were also available. So overall the Seaside Grill is a good choice for dinner at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa, Montego Bay.