Eating with the locals in Negril, Jamaica

I get the best enjoyment from a place when I can immerse myself in another culture. In Negril, this was very difficult, significantly more so than usual. In between the 7 miles of beach resorts and the obligatory 7 miles of locals flogging shit at bargain prices, beautiful as it was, it seemed impossible to see how the locals actually live without having a form of transport to take me outside of the resorts.

One day, however, I stumbled across 2 gems in the space of an hour, all because I went looking.

Frustrated with the 3 full days of seeing nothing but beautiful beach, my wife and I decided to explore the less picturesque side of the resorts: the street side. After 30 mins of trudging through the hot sun the idea because quite old fast so when we saw a small hut on the opposite side of the road with shade and $2 beers it seemed like a no-brainer.

We had found Roger’s Bar.

The bar had clearly been established in this gentleman’s front yard and although there was only one other couple there, Roger – I assumed that was his name – said that in peak season this place will be packed. And when I say packed, I think I counted approximately 20 seats around the bar.

I could imagine this being a very cool place to spend an evening in a packed state. My Red Stripe even came with a free aloe vera plant demonstration! It’s so diverse. Though Much to Roger’s disappointment I decided not to buy any. US$5 for a leaf was a bit steep.

On we meandered until we cut back across to the beach side. It was about lunchtime so the hunt for food was on. But don’t tell the locals this…because they all just happen to have a friend who does fantastic food. How convenient right? The place at which we crossed was a fairly small hut with an awning and about 4 large tables on the sand.

As our feet made contact with the sand we were greeted by a local who asked if we were hungry. I sensed this was a leading question but I responded “yes” anyway and as it wasn’t a resort I was happy so I asked to see a menu. Here’s where things got interesting.

“No we don’t have a menu, just tell me what you want to eat and I’ll cook it for you.”

I’m sorry what? No visual stimulus for me to select an appealing option based on perceived value and projected deliciousness? Just what every tourist wants to hear. I opted for fish with a side of fries and had the biggest surprise of my entire month-long vacation. It was the freshest fish I’ve ever eaten and it was covered in some sort of delicious oniony sauce. Negril Sun actually ended up being a great place to eat some real local Jamaican food.

Well regardless, the locals were friendly, if not a little pot-soaked and incredibly hungover. There was an empty bottle of cognac on my table from the night before. But it was a perfect place to people watch and enjoy time away from the resorts.

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