Jerk chicken is an authentic style of Jamaican cooking where the poultry is dry-rubbed with special seasonings and peppers. While there are a ton of places on the island that cook good jerk, no place does it better than Scotchies.
With one of their prime destinations being in Ocho Rios, the rustic restaurant serves up a wide variety of jerked items including chicken, pork, and sausages. There’s also a ton of other tasty options too like the roast fish (a classic!), hot dogs, BBQ ribs, and burgers. The availability of these items may depend greatly on your location and the day you visit.
Just writing this article makes my mouth water!
The chicken, however, is the one thing that keeps visitors returning over and over again. Smoked to perfection and infused with home-grown scotch bonnet peppers, it’s the one thing that allows Scotchies to stand out from all competitors.
If you’re thinking about supplementing your meal with some tasty morsels, then you’ll have a few options here too. You can grab some breadfruit, yam, bammy, corn or try the traditional “Sunday Dinner Style” of rice and peas.
While eating you’ll want to wash it all down with a cold beverage. May I recommend the Red Stripe Beer? This thirst quencher is everything Jamaicans have grown to know and love, so it’s quite popular.
How to Find Scotchies Jerk Center
At the time of this writing, Scotchies has three restaurants located in Kingston, Ocho Rios, and Montego Bay.
If you’re at one of the resorts I reviewed on this website, then you should be able to arrange transportation to Scotchies. Find the front desk staff and ask for their assistance in organizing a drive to your closest location.
I must note that some of the popular resorts do offer Jerk Chicken as a part of their menu options (for example the Luxury Bahia Principe). You can always give this a shot, but if you want to be hit with an explosion of flavor, from food which has soaked up our Jamaican seasoning and has been kissed by the smoke, I recommend you go to the source.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to compliment your taste buds. Once you try it be sure to come back, drop me a message and let me know how it was for you.
Must-Try Food at Scotchies
While there are many options to choose from, I recommend that you go for the jerk chicken and jerk pork with a few festivals. You can determine how many festivals you’ll need by the size of your group. Personally, 2 or 3 festivals is good per person (at least for me – I’m not that much of a heavy eater).
Secondly, I recommend (if they have it) some good ol’ Manish Water. This delicious soup is made from the entrails of the goat, prepared with green bananas, yams, dumplings and of course – scotch bonnet pepper (can’t leave that out). It’s all delicious I promise, so go for it.
Food Pricing
The food price is pretty reasonable. You’ll be able to get a decent filling serving for under $1000 J.A. dollars (roughly 7 U.S). The price depends on the quantity of food you order of course. 1/4 lbs of Jerk Chicken is more than enough for me personally, but they have servings of 1/2 pound and one whole chicken that cost a bit more.
