Call or email for assistance planning your trip: +1 (212) 203-0064 | reservations@moonjamaica.com
Ribbiz (11:30 a.m.–midnight daily, US$5.50–24), inside the gaming lounge of Acropolis, specializes in Jamaican dishes like oxtail, peppered shrimp, and fish and bammy. International food is also served, including rack of lamb, ribs, eight- and 16-ounce steaks, burgers, and club sandwiches.
The Tea House (12-5 p.m. daily, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings 8:00pm-12:00 midnight By Reservation Only) benefits from a natural setting on the manicured grounds of Hope Gardens. Dishes vary from soup, roti and pastry puffed dumplings to jerk chicken linguine, fish and lobster (US$3-30).
Food for Life (6 a.m.–10 p.m. Mon.–Sat.) is run by Ista Masters, who dishes up turned cornmeal, nut rundown, seafood, and Irish moss, honey moss, naseberry, and soursop juices.
Vihope ( , 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Thurs., 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Fri.) is a vegetarian restaurant serving a palatable rotating takeout menu with items like veggie chunks and pea soup as well as natural juices. The proprietor also operates the Healthy Diet eatery at the University of the West Indies Mona Student Union, where meat items are also served.
Downstairs at Sovereign Centre (106 Hope Road at Barbican Rd., tel. 876/978-3463), the food court has several options for a quick bite. A US$3.50 purchase at any of the participating shops gets you a half hour of wireless Internet access.
The Rodney Memorial, on the northern side of Spanish Town Square, was erected in homage to Admiral George Rodney, a British naval officer who prevented what was seen as imminent conquest by an invading French and Spanish naval fleet led by Admiral de Grasse in 1782.
Spanish Town Cathedral, or the Anglican Cathedral Church of St. James, stands on the site of the Roman Catholic Red Cross Spanish Chapel, originally built in 1525 and run by Franciscans. Cromwell’s Puritan soldiers destroyed the Spanish chapel along with another on the northern end of town known as White Cross, run by Dominicans.
Spanish Town Baptist Church, or Phillippo Baptist Church as it is better known (at the junction of Cumberland Rd. and Williams St.), is located a few blocks northwest of the square. The church was built in 1827 on an old artillery ground and later went on to play an active role in the abolition movement.
The Iron Bridge over the Rio Cobre on the eastern edge of Spanish Town was erected in 1801 and shipped in prefabricated segments from where it was cast in England by Walker of Rotherham. Today it is used as a pedestrian crossing and is in a poor state of preservation.
White Marl Taino Museum (call curator Tyrone "Arab" Barnett to schedule a visit) was being relocated as this book went to press. The museum was said to be sited on a former Taino settlement, the largest in Jamaica pre-discovery. The museum had to be moved due to sketchy security in the area.
