Strawberry Hill Hotel
Kingston is a feast for the senses. The city pulsates to reggae music; streets ripple with a cacophony of taxi horns and motorbikes; the air is smoky with the aromas of pan chicken. While food has always been an integral part of the city’s allure, in recent years this facet has leveled up, as chefs produce innovative and creative interpretations of Jamaica’s culinary traditions, securing the city’s place on the global culinary map.
Down on the flats, you’ll find street food, redefined Caribbean gourmet, distinct dishes from the island’s various cultures, vegetable-forward flavors from the Rastafarian community, and fresh seafood best eaten with sand between your toes. Up in the hills — 3,500 feet up in the lush Blue Mountains — a rich natural bounty from the earth finds its way to tables, accompanied by a serene breeze and quiet rolling clouds.
Kingston may not offer the quintessential sun and sand experience that you’ll get down the coast, but it ingrains in visitors its own unapologetic, raw, spicy Jamaican flavor.
Lifestyle writer Leisha Wong has lived in Kingston, Jamaica, for the past 17 years and turned her passion for food into curating food events, including Jamaica’s first food market event, Kingston Kitchen.
