Norma's at the Marina

Description:

• Established in 2005, this is a branch of an upscale, Jamaica-wide restaurant chain made famous by a Jamaica-born, Florida-trained matriarch (Norma Shirley), who has been the subject of more publicity in the culinary press than any equivalent entrepreneur in Jamaica. The restaurant sprawls between two oversized gazebos that mark both ends of a brick-floored beachside terrace inside the fenced-in compound of the Port Antonio marina. Your meal might be served outdoors, on the above-mentioned terrace, or one floor above ground level, within a high-ceilinged, mahogany-trimmed dining room that's open to the breezes on two sides. Menu items are elegant and flavorful, representing the best of modern and creative Jamaican cuisine, and include crab back salad, elegant slices of smoked marlin, a "reggae salad" studded with sautéed shrimp, several different versions of grilled fish, teriyaki-flavored rib-eye steak, wood-smoked pork riblets with a tamarind-flavored honey sauce, pan-seared butterfish filets, and grilled lobster with lime-flavored herb butter.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010