Posts tagged: Kingston

Suga’s Ratings for Organic Seafood Restaurant!

NB. Ratings fill 5 stars maximum

Parking: ★★★★☆

Ambience: ★★★☆☆

Décor: ★★★★☆

Comfort: ★★★☆☆

Service: ★★★★☆

Speed: ★★★☆☆

Value for $: ★★★★☆

Suga Endorsement: ★★★★☆

Comments: 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.

My Fish was picked out for me about half an hour before I arrived at 8pm. Everybody was seated and looked comfortable chatting in the well-lit Restaurant that was quite cool with the A/C. The décor was interesting as it included light fixtures made from liquor bottles along with simple furnishings.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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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