Gloria’s Restaurant – Port Royal

Gloria’s Restaurant – Port Royal

There are only about 3 or 4 restaurants in Port Royal that actually show up in a Jamaica guide book and two of them are called Gloria’s. So we picked this one, and we were dead hungry when we got there.

The night before we came to Port Royal I was out for dinner with some friends in Kingston and one Jamaican girl told me that if you’re going to dine in Port Royal…..don’t go there hungry! Meaning the service is known to be so slow it’s almost in reverse. I take comments like that with a grain of salt since almost all restaurants in Jamaica are slower than in North America. But this time, sadly, the girl was right and we should have packed a lunch to eat while waiting for our lunch!

The surroundings in Port Royal are awesome though, a different feel from anywhere I’ve been in Jamaica. It’s a real small, old-town-ish, quiet feeling. I didn’t even know why there would be a police station here but it was right by the restaurant. And since Port Royal is pretty much just a little piece of land off the island and surrounded by water you felt as though you’d left Jamaica to get here. I loved the town.

So we waited for our food and were practically emaciated by the time we got served. I’m not exaggerating when I say we probably waited about 1.5 hours from the time we ordered so I guess my friend was right. DON’T GO THERE HUNGRY!!! In the restaurant’s defense though, they did have one large table of about 25 people dining at the same time we were. But we still didn’t get an offer for drink refills the whole time we sat waiting.

Also in the restaurant’s defense the food was fabulous. I only had a veggie plate which isn’t worth mentioning because it’s kinda basic. But my son had the lobster which looked amazing (if I liked lobster) and a friend of mine had the fried chicken which is my weakness. We also ordered a couple plates of fried bammy which is another of my staple favorites in Jamaica.

The prices at Gloria’s restaurant were quite reasonable if I remember correctly. The lobster dish was about $1200 JMD. I don’t know if that’s a good price or not since I don’t eat lobster but I paid for this one because my son was eating it. And everything else on the menu seemed right on track with restaurant prices in Jamaica.

Overall the food was excellent and the atmosphere was decent, the service was lame. Next time I hit Port Royal I’ll look for a different place to eat because I like to try new things. Then we’ll see if the whole town is slow or just this restaurant.