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My My My, Fling Back Friday to Pork Palooza!

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Last Wednesday night was Pork Palooza, part of the Jamaica Food and Drink Festival. It was held at The Savanna, 42 Lady Musgrave Road and Gabby’s trusted Suga Bears were out and ready to report!

Hundreds of patrons came out to support the event, excited to see what would be in store. There was Roast pork, stashes of Bacon, Pork cheek, Pork belly, Pig ears, every part of the swine you can think about!

The handpicked best Pork Chefs on the island were Alexa Von Strolley, Chantay Campbell, Gairy Bowes, Christian Sweeney, Shea Stewart, Dale Delisser, Simon Levy and Sarah Willers.

Parking and entry into the venue was well-organized and executed. Tents were displayed nicely and logically for easy access in a U-shape with a Bar in the middle and a Band at the bottom of the ‘U’. Bistro tables were all around the venue and the Band was quite entertaining. Organisers failed to acknowledge them between sets.

Christian Sweeney and Shea Stewart had the longest lines for the night.

Shea had Pork loin stuffed with feta and callaloo complemented by a mushroom sauce that was magical. The pork was a juicy, lean cut that tasted FANTASTIC!

Sweeney’s dish was EXCELLENT. The pork was lovely and well seasoned. The plating and presentation were very original. The guac was a different touch and he advised patrons to squeeze a little lime over it. Before the lime, it was great and after adding the lime, it was even better! Patrons thought visiting his tent was very interactive in comparison to the others.

Simon Levy had a 4-Pork Ramen soup. Call the ambulance because people were suffering from a hypertensive attack from one of the pork cuts used. It threw off the entire broth, causing some people to stop eating the entire dish.

A Suga Bear asked for no water/broth because she didn’t like how it looked as a soup. So she was able to enjoy everything else in the bowl.

There was a tent with Pork Burgers but it was not impressive. The bread was too thick and the patty wasn’t well seasoned. It was a bit disappointing and later in the night when the crowds came and all the lines were full, that station was empty. Their sauce deserves a ‘big up’ though!

Gairy Bowes had Stuffed Pork Butt with Gold Bread. Patrons thought it was superb. Wow!

The Pulled Pork Panini sponsored by National was very tasty and had a pleasant kick to it.

The organizers certainly had a treat for patrons with a Copperwood Pork creation! They had something that many people have a weakness for – Bacon! Candied bacon. It was the rave of the night. It was in beer cups floating around the venue. Extremely tasty with a unique presentation. It was like picking sweetie out of a candy jar.

Now for Alexa Von Strolley! The oh so talented young caterer to watch! She surely took us through a culinary journey of the pig’s anatomy.

IMG-20151029-WA0007-1In the dish pictured, on top is Deep Fried Pig Ears, below was a big chunk of Crispy Pork Belly and on the side were pieces of Orange Braised Pork Cheek. It did not look appetizing at all but this was Pork Palooza and Suga Bears were determined to try everything and embrace the culinary adventure. So even tho the Pork Belly just looked like a slab of fat and was indeed fatty, the taste was pleasantly soft and not chewy. The Ears was of course an interesting twist. Well done Von Strolley.

Other tents failed to be as impressive.

There was Crispy Roast Pork by Dale Delisser. It was like a drier version of Crispy Pork from any Jamaican Chinese restaurant with a little extra kick to it. It was alright.

There was a tent with Pork Heart and Fried Pork, where the texture of both was off and the Fried Pork was too salty.

Desserts were offered too! Banana bread and another dessert with the essence of pumpkin was in the National tent and ice-cream was there as well.

This was actually all a Competition. The Crispy Roast Pork won for the night surprisingly even though Suga Bears rated it as the 4th or 5th best tent for the night. However our natural ethnic population is changing as we speak and the presence of the Chinese was strong.

How exactly did the voting process go?

According to Tina Hamilton, Brand Manager of CB Foods and Nutramix, only the 8 featured chefs were eligible to win Top Hog. Voting was done by the patrons who were given voting tabs at the entrance along with their wrist bands.

Somehow, every patron was not aware, but Ms. Hamilton stated that they were urged to vote for their favorite chef throughout the night by dropping their tab in a voting box provided at the chefs’ stations. These boxes were collected and votes tallied at 10:25pm showing Dale de Lisser as the one with the most votes. Anyone who voted for Dale also got a takeaway gift from Copperwood.

At the end of the night, for $5000JMD, Jamaican patrons had a bellyful and enjoyed themselves, getting value for their money.

What followed last night? Crispy Fried Fare and Beer at the Gardens of The Jamaica Pegasus. That was well supported as well, featuring The Pegasus’ own Chef Mark Cole who cooked for President Barack Obama, Chef Suzanne Couch and more.

Tonight is Stix + Stones Skewers and Spirits at The Ruins, Mona Visitor’s Lodge, UWI Mona for $6500JMD from 7pm to 11pm. 

Winner of Best New Caterer at this year’s Observer Food Awards, Allison Porter-Smalling, Opa, Jacqui Tyson, Liqy Liqy and more will be present. Select Brands is also a sponsor, so cheers to a great Friday Foodies and enjoy the weekend!

For more information, visit www.jamaicafoodanddrinkfestival.com

Sweet & Sour Chicken - $500JMD

Get some Grub for Lunch at Sakura for just $500!

Sweet & Sour Chicken - $500JMD
Sweet & Sour Chicken – $500JMD

The service is alright, you can be in and out within 10 minutes and there is quite a variety to choose from for affordable prices. A Large lunch with 1 Meat, rice and veggies costs $500JMD and a drink costs $120JMD. The menu does not comprise solely of Chinese dishes, there are Jamaican dishes as well. For instance, Cowfoot was served last Wednesday.
Sakura hits the spot for reasonable food when hungry. Nothing fancy and no burst of flavour, but it tastes like what it is supposed to be.

Sakura

Location: 7th Avenue Plaza. Kingston.

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Turkey Bijou Panini from Fromage!

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Last Saturday, I needed a quick, light bite that was somewhat healthy because of the Sunday binge ahead at the Restaurant Week launch (Review coming soon folks!).

I quickly realised I was due a visit to Fromage Gourmet Market and made my way there a few minutes before 3pm.

I received the usual pleasant greeting and good service. I already knew I wanted a Panini, so ordered instantly, choosing the Turkey Panini Bijou over the Smoked Marlin Panini. I was happy to hear I had the option of having my Panini with wheat bread. Fantastic!

I had to wait 5 minutes more than I would have liked to though, because I do not think a Panini should take more than 15 minutes, but it arrived hot and was quite flavourful with the blue cheese.

The mason jars for drinking water or juice and flesh flowers on the table added a refreshing touch.

My Panini was also quite affordable and filling, costing $900JMD +tx. Thanks to Pop Up Gourmet Jamaica, I could use my Advantage card there for my 10% discount, so my bill did not go over a $1000JMD.

I am delighted that Fromage has maintained a high standard of service and food quality and also revise their menu so patrons never get bored there.

Fromage Gourmet Market

Ph#: (876) 622-9856

Address: 8 Hillcrest Ave., Kingston 6

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The Pegasus Burger!

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For only $960+tx and service charge ($1214.40), ‘The Pegasus Burger’ served with fries from The Blend Bar and Lounge is fantastic!  Spicy and succulent to the core with jalapeños, mushrooms, cheese, bacon and more.

Suga gives it 4.5/5 stars but just because the bread broke up a bit too much while eating.

Fatty b

ut wholesome. Worth a day of make up in the gym.

The Blend Bar and Lounge

Ph#: 876-926-3690

Address: The Jamaica Pegasus, 81 Knutsford Boulevard, Kgn. 5

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Throwback Thursday to the Garlic Shrimp Appetizer from The Wine Shop!

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The Wine Shop 

Ph#: 876.620.5098

Address: Shop 7B, Southdale Plaza, South Avenue

Did you like this Promo? VOTE for Gabby from Suga Lifestyle to be 

The Jamaica Gleaner’s Restaurant Week Ambassador!

Go to http://go-jamaica.com/rw/ambassador

You have 10 votes per device and wifi connection until October 2, 2015. Just Refresh the page after each vote as instructed. Much love!

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How was last Friday night at the New Bar and Hot Spot, 100?

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Terrible. Suga and many others left sober.
Located at literally 100 Hope Road, is the new Bar 100. It is not only a bar but has a casino with the new, Island Bet and not 1 but 2 restaurants, The Terrace and The Lounge.

1 week after their opening and having people watch the last fight of Mayweather’s career, they should have been ready for the crowd. A huge crowd. People have been wanting and waiting for a new spot eagerly for quite some time now. With the controversy surrounding Don Creary from Ribbiz with his rape charges and The Regency enforcing new policies to keep their guests more uptown in Suga’s opinion or to manage ‘crowd control’ as they call it, 100 is in a real good position to hit them where it hurts.

The bar has a lot of space, upstairs and downstairs, but the parking lot was filled to capacity AND so was the additional parking at 80 Hope Road when it was still early. Wow. So eventually people were parked on the side of Hope road and that is not safe, especially with the fast driving that occurs on that strip in the day much less late at night.

Thankfully the security loves polite ladies not too bad on the eye and Suga just had to wait two minutes until a parking spot freed up inside the venue. But really, how about being creative or innovative and having a proper 2 or 3-storey parking lot, with the hope that your spot is buzzing for a while. Afterall, they have Island Bet and the Gaming Lounge to buffer temporary expenses.

Anyhow, I loved the look of the place. Decor was very modern and tastefully done. Lighting could be better upstairs aka the Rooftop that had thatch covered seating areas, but was good in the other areas. Due to the large crowd, seating was limited. There was only 1 bar upstairs behind a sea of people. Waiters were not abundant or accessible upstairs if one wished to run a tab. It took ages to get a beer by the bar. It’s simple, open and close the cooler door, that’s why I chose beer! Then there was only one computer to cash out people and most persons did not have tabs. The bartenders were not all well versed on the system either. Some persons may have walked out without paying, Macau had that issue when they just opened.

There was a wide crowd variety though; young, old, hype, nerdy, you name it. A sea of out of many one people, with only one exit from upstairs, quite dangerous if you ask me. If something went down, people would have to be jumping off the building. Something for them to consider. What happened to the building code anyway and how did that get approved?

The music? Well it was neither here nor there, I was not impressed. It was not a consistently good mix being played. Maybe the DJ was also confused by the wide genre of people there and how to please the majority. A good DJ always finds a way though. I think it was DJ Bambino playing, who is supposed to be experienced but he either had a bad night or is just better on the radio.

Well, what can I say, when you don’t have any Instagram pics you either shouldn’t be there, were having too much fun or it was too ‘lame’ to be ‘instaworthy’. For me it was the latter.

I wouldn’t advise persons to hit that spot on a Friday night for the next month, especially if you are not a fan of crowds. If you wish to check them out, I suggest going during the week to the bar, as people have had better experiences on week nights.

Fret not though, Suga went to the Restaurant on the Terrace the day after, also scoped out Island Bet and has a fairly good review coming soon!

100
Location 100 Hope Road. Kingston 6
Ph: 876.665-3BET (3238)
Instagram: 100hoperoad
Facebook: 100 Hope Road

By: Gabrielle Williams

If you liked this review, FOLLOW
https://sugalifestyle.com/ to get other reviews or LIKE the Facebook page, Suga Lifestyle.

Image: www.hotels.com

Regency will Deny Access to persons tonight! Back to strictly UPTOWN

Image: www.hotels.com
Image: www.hotels.com

Last Friday night, Mrs. Hussey seemed to be out a bit too late, seated close to the terrace outside of the Regency Bar and Lounge. The recruited, foreign bartender, Thomas’s eyes were peeled supervising the bar, back and forth. Staff including doormen were being monitored closely and it was said that even the DJ was instructed not to play Dancehall, but strictly EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and Soca. Suga smelled the rat that they would soon be filtering crowd access to the ‘high profile’ Bar and Lounge that was ‘high-profile’ no more after hours.

The Regency Bar and Lounge sent an advisory email out today to Loyalty card members, Frequent guests and Business partners.

They stated that from 9pm until closing time, access to the Regency Bar and Lounge will be limited to only those who were addressed in the notification and their friends.

They say it has always been their top objective to provide quality service to all guests, while ensuring that those who are regulars access at all times while fulfilling their obligations regarding Capacity regulations, Safety and a Carefree environment.

Challenges faced concerning the high demand and popularity of their Friday nights have forced them to review their capacity control polices, thus Friday night access adjustments.

The door staff will control access.

Suga advises not to head there tonight, elite or not elite, as it may be a bit chaotic upon entry. Care to check out the new spot on Hope Road, 100? Suga hears it is quite pricey for a cue of rum but will check it out soon!

TGIF! Enjoy the weekend and Keep reading or Follow Suga Lifestyle!