Let’s start this with the most important pieces of advice:
1. If you are a vegetarian this is not the place for you.
2. Order the chicken. Order the chicken. Order the chicken.
Jamaica is known for lots of things (cough), but in terms of food, it’s best known for it’s Jamaican jerk spices and barbeque. Primarily on chicken, though you can get other meats too.
So, we decided to head to Scotchies, which is well known in Montego Bay and a short 3 minute drive from our hotel. I’m glad we went, though the jerk chicken at the hotel gave Scotchies a run for their money.
Scotchies is a barbeque, pure and simple. They have a cute, covered but open-air bar area with seats made of kegs. There isn’t a ton of seating, so get there early. There was definitely a mix of tourists and locals when we were there.
The good:
1. They offer another local beer by the bottle–Dragon–which is a dark beer and absolutely delicious, particularly if you are tiring of Red Stripe.
2. The chicken is SO tasty. It’s tender, moist, seasoned nicely, and there is always spicy jerk sauce to add if you want to burn your mouth.
3. It’s cheap. We ordered a ton of food, 2 beers, and the total was $23. That’s it. I can’t even remember the last time we had a $23 dinner (Thailand?). That’s like 2 sweetgreen salads in DC. (Yes, DC I still love you anyway).
The “eh”:
1. The sausage was not up to any of our standards and was incredibly dry. DH got a piece of bone. I’d advise avoiding it.
2. The pork was o.k., but definitely dryer and no where near the tastiness of the chicken.
3. There is literally nothing green on the menu. I know, you are thinking–it’s a BBQ place, what would be green? Whatever, I still wanted green. Peas=beans in Jamaica, fyi.
It was fun to get away from the hotel, and try a quintessential Montego Bay mainstay, so we have no regrets given Scotchies a shot, and you shouldn’t either. I think we all just wished we had ordered more chicken, and less other stuff!
Also, be sure you have bug spray. While I mysteriously was the only person who had no mosquito bites from Montego Bay (what?! I always am the bug attractor), they definitely were out feeding at Scotchies.
Where did you find the best food in Jamaica?
