Miss Sonia Food Review Negril

Miss Sonia a review on more than just great food!

Upon my arrival at Miss Sonia’s, I was greeted by Miss Sonia and her son Elton.  I told them that while I was hungry for some breakfast I really needed to find a Cambio (bank) so I could get some money to pay for breakfast. Note- it was my first morning in Negril and I had USD but no JMD on me. Elton offered to drive me to a Cambio about 5-10 minutes away!  Where else in the world can you find that type of service?

Miss Sonia Review

Location: A perfect mid beach location that is within walking distance of 90% of the resorts on the beach road.

Seating: Miss Sonia’s offers covered seating that provides a nice shady area to relax and people watch while you are enjoying your meal.

Time from seating until order is taken: Since I was the only person there, my order was taken instantly.

Time from seating until drinks are delivered: My first beer was delivered within a minute or two.  Miss Sonia sort of reminds me of my grandmother in that she offered to get my other beers or I could help myself to her kitchen.  I loved the idea of being able to walk into her kitchen and helping myself to the nice cold beers in her refrig!  Where else in the world can you walk into a kitchen and help yourself and then pay on the honor system?

Time from seating until food is delivered: About 15-20 minutes but I was in the kitchen talking to Elton most of the time while he cooked so my mind was being entertained.

Food quality: Excellent!

Service quality: Excellent, I loved the whole “we can serve you or you can help yourself” concept.  I really felt like I was eating with family instead of just being a number on a meal ticket.

Food & Drink prices: Cheap!

Overall quality: My overall dining experience was one that I will remember until the day that my memory fails me or I die.  never before have I enjoyed a meal in such a friendly trusting environment.

Overall price: For the experience I had, I feel like I underpaid Miss Sonia.  Since I like to eat at as many places as possible, I really felt bad not giving her more of my business.  Every time I walked by her place she was out front and we would exchange a few words…..as I said before, she really felt like a family member or friend more than just a business owner.

If you are heading to Negril be sure to eat a meal or two at Miss Sonia’s!

Fanso Food Review Negril

Fanso’s Jerk Centre and Beer Garden in front of Alfred’s on the beach road in Negril Jamaica review.

After hearing from several people how good the food and service is at Fanso’s I decided to give them a try.  Since they serve up great Jamaican pork and chicken and I don’t eat meat I thought I might have a challenge but I was wrong!  I talked to Alfanso Miller the owner and explained that I don’t eat meat and try to stay away from fish and he just smiled and suggested his “veggie chunks”.  Since I love to try new food, I order his veggie chunks with some rice.

Fanso Review:

Location: Fanso’s has a good mid beach location in front of Alfred’s which is one of Negril’s most popular clubs.  It is within walking distance of 90% of the resorts on the beach.

Seating: The Seating at Fanso’s is open air but they do have covers over some of the tables in case it rains.

Time from seating until order is taken: Instant!  As soon as I walked in I was greeted and my order was taken.

Time from seating until drinks are delivered: Less than a minute!

Time from seating until food was delivered: About 10-15 minutes.  I was having such a great time people watching that I did not really pay attention to the time but the service was very fast.

Food quality: Excellent!  Generally I’ll ask for a bottle of hot sauce in case my food is served with a bland taste, at Fanso’s hot sauce was not needed!

Service quality: Excellent!  Fanso kept an eye on me while I ate and asked a couple of times how is food was and if I needed anything.  Out of all of the places that I have eaten at in Jamaica Fanso’s offered the best service that I have ever experienced.

Food & Drink prices: Around $700J (under $8.00 US) for my food and $200J ($2.20US) for my beer.  Note- I kept bad notes that evening so please don’t quote me on the prices.

Overall quality: Excellent!

Overall price: Perfect since I was on a tight budget but in my opinion Fanso should raise his prices to reflect his great food and service.

Please leave a comment if you have been to Fanso’s or if you have a question about Fanso’s

Sunsets in Negril Jamaica

The sunsets in Negril Jamaica are considered by some to be the best in the world!  Most people flock to the west end “cliff area” of Negril to enjoy the sunsets from popular places like Rick’s Cafe or 3 Dives.  Unless the sun is setting deep in the south, almost anywhere in Negril offers a great location to view the sunset.

The first slide show is a series of pictures and a short video of two sunsets viewed from 3 Dives and next to Sexy Rexy’s bar on the cliffs.

The second slide show is a series of pictures viewed from Herbie’s on the beach.  At Herbie’s, you can enjoy ice cold Red Stripe beers for less than $2.00us while relaxing in his beach chairs.

If you are heading to Negril to take pictures of the sunsets remember to bring extra memory cards and a small tripod if you want to take long exposure pictures once the sun has set deep into the ocean.

Helping the Kids in Jamaica

So, you are going on a vacation to Jamaica and you want to bring something along to help out the kids in Jamaica. If so, there are schools all over the island looking for donations and kids all over the island that would love some gifts. With some of the airlines still offering 2 checked bags for international flights and the fact that as a tourist you want your second bag empty so you can bring back gifts, how about packing it with gifts on your way down to Jamaica?

Most of us live around “dollar stores” where they sell all sorts of art supplies for around $1.00 each. In the picture below, all of these art supplies cost $1.00……added up the total for all 60 items was a little over $60 with tax. If each kid gets 2 of these items, that extra suitcase can bring a big smile to 30 kids. If the items are donated directly to a school, the smiles will extend to many more kids.

If you want to hand out school or art supplies directly to local kids just head away from the tourist areas and you will find plenty of them.  I would suggest asking a taxi driver where there are kids in need and he will take you on a short drive to find them.  Another option is using the internet to find schools in Jamaica that have a “wish list” of supplies that they need.  Here are a few schools and their wish lists:

Treasure Beach Schools in need of donations <— Click on that link and scroll down to see all of the stuff that the schools need.

Project One Love <— These people not only collect supplies for schools in Jamaica, they actually go to Jamaica and help to build schools!

Since this article is a work in progress, please leave a comment if you know of any other schools in Jamaica that need donations.

Ackee in Jamaica

Jamaican Ackee, a great tasting food that is part of the national dish (Ackee and Saltfish).   Ackee is very cheap to eat in Jamaica, but fill up while you are there or be prepared to pay $12-$16 a can in the US!

In this first picture you can see what Ackee looks like before it naturally splits open and once it is ready to harvest.  Eating it before it splits open can make you sick and in some cases it can kill you!

Pictures of Ackee

In this second picture you can see what you actually eat (the off white stuff) and the seeds (the black stuff <don’t eat them>).

This is what Ackee looks like when you buy it ready to cook at a local market.

This is how Ackee looks when it’s served in a meal.  In the middle of this plate is a serving of Ackee and Saltfish along with some of the other ingredients that you will find in a “Jamaican breakfast”.

Pictures of Jamaican Money

Pictures of Jamaican money also known as JMD if you are looking at foreign exchange rates.

Notes:

Jamaica has added a $5000 bill since these pictures were taken and I will add some pictures of the new bill when I return to Jamaica in 2 months.

Jamaica is in the process of introducing round coins to replace the irregular sided coins shown in some of the pictures here.

To view current Jamaican exchange rates <—click there.

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