'J' for Jamaican- Negril Village

I thought that having Jamaican food would be a good option instead of Japanese. That’s why I initially picked Negril Chelsea which specializes in authentic Jamaican food. However, the place had to be changed as it was a bit small for 11 people! The Negril chain has another Jamaican place called Negril Village which can accommodate large parties.

Negril Village located on 3rd street specializes in new style Jamaican food. The atmosphere is great with good music and a contemporized décor. The place was crowded when we reached there, but we didn’t have to wait for a long time as all of us were at the restaurant on time for our reservation!

We ordered carafes of Negril’s Mojito and regular mojito for drinks. Both were pretty good. I personally liked regular mojito more.
For the appetizers we ordered jerk shrimp, salmon crab cakes and a Negril sampler which consisted of a platter of codfish fritters, jerk shrimp, jerk ribettes, collard green wontons with Island chips and homemade dips. All the appetizers were very tasty. Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which the meats are rubbed with a very hot spice mixture called the Jamaican jerk spice. The jerk shrimps were charcoal grilled and served with a jerk sauce. The salmon- crab cakes were garnished with corn chutney which added a different flavor to it.

Our server helped us well to order the main course. He recommended the sea food as their specialty - salmon and red snapper in particular. We ordered a variety of dishes such as HOUSE RED SNAPPER-Pan-fried whole fish simmered in fresh herbs and spices topped with stewed okra, RUM PAINTED JERK SALMON -Pan-seared filet, glazed with aged Mount Gay Rum and jerk marinade, CURRY GOAT STEW -Tender organic goat meat stewed in our house blend curries, with white rice or boiled green bananas, CURRY BONELESS CHICKEN- Trinidad style flat bread filled with chicken.
The Red Snapper was a whole fried fish garnished with a very tasty sauce. This was served with any one side like boiled vegetables in garlic sauce, fried plantains, potato fries, and rice with peas, etc. The Jerk Salmon entrée was served with fried plantains and boiled vegetables. The Jerk sauce put over the salmon made it very spicy and different than most grilled fish filets I have had. The Curry Goat Stew looked flavorful as well; and I heard from the friend who had this, that it tasted so much like our Mumbai goat curry!!! Although I didn’t taste the goat curry, I’m sure it must have been very delicious.
The Curry Boneless Chicken was rolled in flat bread. It looked like a burrito. All the entrees had big portions. All of us were so full after this meal, that we didn’t order any desserts.

The meals were also well spaced. There was enough time between the starters and entrees so that we could properly enjoy all the food and the drinks.
Overall, the restaurant was very good. All of us loved the place and had a great time there!

Ambience- 8/10
Food- 9/10
Service- 8/10
Price- 7/10
Worth a visit definitely…