Restaurant
The Pelican Grill
Gloucester Avenue, Montego Bay
A family run Jamaican restaurant on Gloucester Avenue that has been feeding Montego Bay since the 1960s.
Why go
It is a sit down Jamaican kitchen on the Hip Strip rather than a bar with food, which is a rarer thing on that street than it sounds.
It has been family owned and run since the 1960s. Very little on Gloucester Avenue has been there that long, and that continuity is the reason to choose it over whatever opened last season.
Where it fits
It is on Gloucester Avenue, so it needs no plan. If you are walking the strip it is on the way, and it works for breakfast as readily as for dinner.
This is the counterweight to Scotchies: one is a jerk pit on the main road out of town, the other is a table and a view in the middle of everything.
Good to know
Family run since the 1960s
The Pelican has been owned and operated by the same family for more than half a century, which is unusual anywhere and particularly on a tourist strip.
It faces the sea
It sits on the waterfront side of Gloucester Avenue, looking out over the park and the water.
It is a restaurant, not a night out
Comfortable and unfussy rather than loud. If you want the evening to get louder, the rest of the strip is outside the door.
Our take
Our view: the useful thing about the Pelican is that it is reliable in a place that changes fast. When you want Jamaican food sitting down, on the strip, without researching anything, this is the answer and has been for a long time.
More around Montego Bay
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Montego Bay A city on the water with the island's main airport in it. It can be a practical base for a first trip, especially when you want beaches, city access and the airport close together.Planning a Jamaica trip?
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