Great food, great service

The allure of the name emits an air of elegance as far as cafés go. Paired with exceptional food and even better music (most times it's live, featuring jazz, rock or reggae performers), the already well-outfitted image of Redbones Blues Café on Argyle Road is a restaurant that is, by far, ahead of the rest.

All aglow with candlelit tables, Redbones has a jazz and blues-themed Caribbean fusion cuisine. With elegant dining rooms, intimate terraces, enchanting private gardens and courtyard surprises, it is a hidden Kingston gem. The hideaway house has some of the island's best artistes featured on the walls inside the art gallery accompanied by pictures of jazz legends like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, among others. Special guest at the restaurant was comedian-turned-Restaurant Week ambassador, Oliver Samuels.

The big shock for Samuels was the space that was behind the wooden gates of the establishment. The service from the entrance to the table was one of the pluses for him. The only drawback, however, was that the background music was a bit too loud. "The music might have been a little too loud for my taste, but maybe that was because I was so close to the speakers."

The best part of the experience, of course, was the food. "I enjoyed the starter, which was shrimp with codfish stuffing, but I wish they said shrimp stuffed with 'rundung' because it had that nice coconut flavour that sen' me right back to country."

He added: "The entrée was lovely because it was nicely seasoned, and the vulgarity of the evening, the chocolate mousse cake, was very lovely."

Said Samuels: "The live music wasn't my taste, but I could sit and listen to it. The setting is kind of rustic and the manager, Enola, was a fabulous hostess. I noticed her making her rounds to ensure that all her customers were well taken care of and I was most impressed with that. She makes her customers feel special." Having visited the former location, he was more impressed with this one.

According to Samuels, eating out is a socialisation process whereby persons cement friendships through food, and that is something that he thinks is pretty important to our culture.

"Restaurant Week is a fantastic reality and it allows people who feel that prices are exorbitant to come out and experience the different dishes, giving them a gastronomic experience."

So can this comedian cook? "I'm a very 'countryfied' person and in my experience every country person can cook, so yes, I cook country style," he laughed.