It's Jamaica Mon

On May 11th, I married the most beautiful and loving woman on Earth. On May 13th, with the planning and stressing and paying for every little detail over, we boarded a jet plane to Jamaica for our Honeymoon. With a week of stress free, all expense paid, no emails/cell phones/Facebook, and endless fruity drinks in our sight, we were ready to go.

We splurged a little on the trip, and went with the butler service (the lowest was the same price as the highest of the middle level which we were going to go with anyway, so it all worked out). As soon as we got to our room we had a fruit plate waiting with a note from our butlers.

The first night we went to The Sundowner for dinner.

We both went with the Smoked Chicken & Cream Cheese in Crispy Phyllo for an appetizer, although I really didn't know what a phyllo was. It basically was chicken and cheese in a shell ... can't go wrong there.

For her entree, Dawn went with the Portland Pimento Smoked Pork Tenderloin.

While I played it a bit safe, and got the Papaya Flavored Jerk Chicken Breast.

Our first breakfast on our Honeymoon was straight off of a post card. Normally it'd read "Wish you were here", but since it was our Honeymoon it'd say "I'm glad you're not here, because that'd be a little weird." 

For lunch we went to Bella Napoli Pizzeria and I turned one of their calzones into a pizza. I basically just asked for their pork, sausage and cheese to be on a pizza. Dawn got their Jerk Chicken pizza, but by the time it came out, I was elbow deep into mine, so I wasn't able to get a picture of it.

Day 2's dinner was at the Italian restaurant, Cucina Romana. 

Neither of was was really thrilled by any of the apps, so we just stuck with the main course. She had the Tortellini all' Scampi con zenzero.

While I went with the Costata Di maiale (pork chop) with Penne and meat sauce.

Now ... 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the greatest "hot dog" IN THE WORLD!!!!!

At the Beach Bistro, the Chef's Signature Dish is this bad boy. A "BBQ Pulled Pork Rib Dog with Mozzarella Cheese". Basically, it's everything amazing on a bun. 

The wiener,  they throw in the fryer for a few seconds to give the outside that crunch every good hot dog has to have. Then throw on their pulled pork in their sweet BBQ sauce, which is delicious. Then layer it in mozzarella cheese that melts into a gooy oooy yumminess. The fries were GREAT as well, but the dog was KILLER!!!!!

She got a side of hummus ... and then ordered extra bread since they give you a scoop of hummus with 4 pieces of bread??

Then she got a Curry Chicken Wrap. 

For dinner on night 3, we went to their Japanese restaurant, Kimonos. The greatest thing about Kimonos is you don't order ... you get the WHOLE menu for dinner. You get the steak, chicken, shrimp, scallops, and fish of the day. Again, I am NOT a big seafood eater. I can eat shrimp, but when it comes to fish, absolutely not. I couldn't eat enough of the fish they made here. I can't remember what the fish was called, but the sauce and everything on it was amazing. 

The cooks here make the cooks at your local Miyabi's or Kampai look like rookies. We went again a few days later with some new friends, and that night we got 2 chefs. The picture below is Napoleon. He's from the Philippines and said he cooks Jamaicanese. 

Rick's Cafe is one of the world's most famous bars (as you can see on the menu. It was voted one of the ten Best Bars). 

The view is amazing, but one of the main attractions is the cliff that people jump off of. It's not in the picture, but it's the same height as the ones across the way here. 

You get a loaf of bread, and we got the chicken nachos for appetizers with the salsa on the side (I didn't want all that mess on top). 

I wanted to try real true Jerked Chicken, and it lit me ON FIRE!!!!! The waitress laughed at me because I was talking about how hot it was. It wasn't like it was firey hot the whole time, but there was a bite or two here and there that would just light me on fire. 

I eyed Rick's Signature Dish, but Dawn actually pulled the trigger and went with the Chicken and Waffles. I sampled it out, and they were amazing. It was basically fried chicken with their gravy on a waffle and syrup. 

One night at dinner they brought us the "signature drink of the night" to our table. Everything is "free" at this point, so of course, we said sure. Well they described it as having "blah blah blah and shrimp stock". I wasn't sure to begin with, then as I went to take the sip and got the smell, I was even less sure ... then I took the sip and regretted the last 3 seconds of my life. This could have been the worst drink I've EVER had. We weren't the only ones that didn't like it either. Every table that tried it, left nearly the entire cup (as we did). 

Day 4 we went to the seafood restaurant Barefoot By The Sea.

For apps I went with the Coconut Tiger Shrimp with lime and green curry sauce.

Dawn picked the Tropical Cocktail of Baby Shrimps, Mangoes, and Bay Mussels. Although, she couldn't get the mussel out to eat it. 

I got the winner for dinner that night. I did the Grilled Shrimp with Herb and Garlic Butter sauce and fries. That Dawn even agreed was much better than hers.

She did the Grilled Shrimp with Slow Roasted Tomato and Chili Pesto with Polenta Cakes, that was good, but just wasn't as good as mine. She loved the polenta cakes, but the sauce wasn't as good as mine.

I did the Chocolate Bread Pudding for dessert and with the extra chocolate syrup on the side was delicious (also once I took the whip cream off the top).

Dawn got the Lemon Pie with Coconut Cream that I thought she was going to order 5 more because of how good she said it was.

Every time we finished (or even just had a single glass) out of the sparkling wine, the next day we'd have a fresh bottle. I must admit, I'm absolutely sick and tired of having sparkling wine. At least it made for a good picture though right? 

The next night for dinner. We went to Frech Brasserie in the main area.

Dawn got the Quiche Lorraine (Ham, Gruyere & Spinach Quiche, Field Greens) for apps.

While I did the Vol-Au-Vent. Sounds fancy doesn't it? It was really just a Puff Pastry Basket with Chicken, Mushrooms and Shallot-Champagne Sauce. Luckily, the mushrooms were ground up and mixed in with the sauce.

I wanted to branch out a little and got the Canard A L'Orange (Duck Breast, Orange Sauce, Roasted Garlic Mash) for dinner. If I had to compare it to something. I would probably say it was similar to pork. Still had a bit of a different flavor, but similar consistency as pork ... to me.

Dawn got the Crevettes Provencales (Shrimp, Provencales Sauce, Pumpkin Risotto). She was thinking it would be their version of Shrimp and Grits, and although it was different, she did enjoy it. I think she set the bar up high when she was thinking Shrimp and Grits, so it didn't meet her expectations, but again, she still liked it.

We stopped at the bistro for a mid afternoon snack on our last day ... it didn't hurt that it decided to pour down rain about that time either. She grabbed the Long Belly Beef Stew (basically nachos in a bowl), and I got another hot dog ... #3 on the week (I told you it was good).

For our final dinner, we went back to where it all started, The Sundowner.

To stick to my "try new things" plan. I went with the West Indian Curried Lamb, and let me just say, this could have been one of the best dishes I had all week. The lamb tasted like it could have been a slight hair over done, but it was delicious still. 

Dawn got something different as night 1 as well and did the Beef Tenderloin Steak with Peppercorn Sauce. It didn't touch my lamb, but it was extremely good.

For a final dessert, I did the Sundae Chocolate Brownie. Although I wish they would have given me a larger brownie (or at least more), it was great ... I mean you can't really mess up a brownie, vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and nuts can you? 

The wifey got the Coconut Truffle Cake, and again, was not disappointed by the dessert.

Our final breakfast, we decided to do the same thing we did the first morning we were there. We ordered room service breakfast and had it out on our balcony looking out to our amazing view.

Once breakfast was finished, the bags were packed, and it was time to go home. 

In case you weren't able to catch it ... we both loved (almost) every single thing we put in our mouth (minus that horrible disgusting drink). It was a wonderful, and perfect honeymoon, and time away and alone with my wife. I couldn't ask for a better woman, and couldn't have asked for a better vacation together. 

We will be returning a Sandals resort, and maybe on down the line, we'll return to Negril as well.