Anonymous Sailor · Sailed December 2025
I was not that impressed with this food tour as I have done multiple food tours around the world and this one was a bit on the expensive side for what you received and also the description slightly differed from the experience. The star rating I gave it is based on the price of the tour for what you received for your money: A quick overview of what you received: - A small portion of cooked fish with a side of festival (local side dish) - A Jamaican beef patty - A decent portion of jerk chicken - A couple pieces of fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe) in a baggy Most food tours also discuss the local areas you are walking around. The guides on this tour did not talk to the group except for direction on when to cross a street, or which way we were walking. They were also really focused on taking photos of everyone on the tour for advertising purposes. Also, the tour never went to a "local bar" and instead ended at a building where half of it was selling Jamaican souveniers and the other half was a liquor store. The tour: We started gathering at the port and were bused to downtown Ocho Rios. The bus was clean and the ride was smooth. We exited the bus at a "food truck" (stop 1) which was serving a very small portion of fish with some festival (a local bread like side dish). I put food truck in quotes because basically it was a modified pickup truck and a family selling fish and festival out the back of it. The food tasted good, but the portion size was extremely small. I was a bit surprised by this stop with regards to what was provided. After this we walked through the streets of Ocho Rios to the second stop, where we had Jamaican Beef Patties. I did turn around and take a look back and the food truck was packed up and driving away almost immediately after we left so I felt like that was someone the tour asked to meet us there as opposed to going to an actual daily food stop of the locals. The Food Tour continued with a walk to a place called Juici Patties (stop 2) for a Jamaican Beef Patty. The beef patty was very tasty and everyone received their own full size beef patty, which was about the size of your hand. It was very tasty. I was surprised to find it not very spicy especially since in the states, if you get a "Jamaican Beef Patty", it usually h as a kick. This was toned back and seemed to focus more on the deep flavor of the beef. It was very tasty and delicious and I would definitely go back to this place and enjoy it on my own time! After this stop, we walked through the streets of Ocho Rios and stopped at a local vendor selling fruit (stop 3). We each had a small bag of watermelon and cantaloupe. This was another odd stop in my opinion. It was not like we were having anything culturally unique, it was just watermelon and cantaloupe? While the fruit was fresh and sweet, it seemed like an odd interjection in the tour. At this point, I ran into a small market and picked up a Sorrel Red Stripe for myself as we had not had anything to drink on the tour at all, also something I found odd. We were not even told or offered that we could purchase drinks at any of the stops, unlike many of the other food tours I have been on. After the fruit stand, we continued to walk through the steets of Ocho Rios. Just a heads up that there are no sidewalks really in Ocho Rios, you just kind of meander through the parked cars and stuff. We arrived at the fourth stop, a stand selling jerk chicken (stop 4). Unlike the "food truck", this seemed like a person who sets up shop here daily selling their chicken. There were other locals there buying and eating it. It was very good jerk chicken and the portion size here was what I would expect on a food tour stop. He was also selling beer from a cooler and water at 3x the cost I paid for the beer in the market! When someone tried to negotiate a better price, the vendor refused and stuck with his price. After the last food stop(stop 4), we continued walking to the final place where the bus was to pick us up. On the way we passed a "I (heart) Ocho Rios" sign which we were all able to get photos in front of. The tour guides did offer to take our photos which was nice. After the photo stop, we continued to a store where half of the store was Ocho Rios/Jamaica souveniers and the other half was alcohol sales. I did purchase a bottle of Royal Jamaican 18y Rum here and the price was about $30USD less than if I purchased it online, so their prices on the alcohol side were very good. On the souvenier side though, we felt you were better off buying these down by the port. They seemed a bit on the high end and there was no negotiations going on, all prices final. Conclusion: Overall, I felt the price of the tour was a bit high for the experience we received. The guides were friendly enough if you asked them questions, but they were not really personable with the guests and offering history/information about Jamaica that you'd expect from a walking food tour of the city. Finally, the write up said something about ending at a local bar and we didn't see any bars at all during this tour. It took until the third stop for me to even find a place to purchase a beer (I tried at stop 2 but there were no bars/vendors/markets nearby). While the food tasted delicious (5 stars on taste), the overall tour and value bring this rating down to a 3 star review.