Though the main culinary event in Port Antonio will always be its famed jerk joints, the Bushbar at Geejam hotel is perfect when you need a change of pace. There's nothing "island" about the minimalist decor—low-slung rattan couches, sleek deck furniture, and a mellow chocolate-and-red color scheme. Besides a small sushi menu, Bushbar serves a rather arbitrary assortment of Continental and Jamaican dishes like ackee and saltfish with plantains, grilled snapper, and Greek salads. But the setting is unparalleled: High on a densely forested hill, underneath 400-year-old fig trees, the restaurant looks out onto the ocean and beyond. There's usually a wait for dinner (reservations are required if you are not staying at the hotel), but at least you can pass the time shooting pool at a billiards table with the best view in the Caribbean.

Open daily 10 am to 10 pm.

Cosmo's is what you wish for when you're planning a lazy, barefoot, practically naked day on the beach—a place where you can sit beneath the palms to eat conch chowder and fresh snapper, without having to cover up or even dry yourself off. The beer is icy, but order your drinks long before your throat is parched; the service operates on "island time."

Open daily 11 am to 10 pm.

Jamaica's unique gift to the culinary world is "jerk," a spicy seasoning-and-cooking technique that's used for chicken, pork, and fish. The cooking process is simple (over a pimento-wood fire in a pit or oil drum) and very slow (up to four hours), and the secret is the marinade. Every pit master has his or her own secret blend of spices, but the basis of all jerk cooking is the Scotch bonnet, which is among the hottest of peppers. Jerk dishes are usually served with roasted breadfruit and cornmeal fritters known as "festival."

Jerk stands first cropped up on the eastern coast, at Boston Bay Beach, a spot frequented mostly by Jamaicans until jerk was discovered by tourists. Now you'll find jerk stands all over the island. Whatever the location, the sign of an authentic jerk stand is pimento smoke filtering into the air, a thatched roof, and locals loafing around playing dominoes and drinking Red Stripe beer.

Some of the most popular jerk stands are the Pork Pit on Gloucester Avenue in MoBay; Scotchie's (which many consider the best on the island) just east of MoBay, near the Holiday Inn and Half Moon resorts; and the Village Jerk Centre on DaCosta Drive in Ocho Rios (876-974-2549).

This outdoor spot shaded by an immense poinciana tree on the hip strip of Gloucester Avenue is a refreshing alternative to MoBay's pricey tourist traps. Dishes such as smoked marlin and curried goat are authentically prepared, as is the boonoonoonoos platter, a smorgasbord of plantains, pineapple, jerk chicken, and fish. Tables 12 to 16, in a rotunda that juts out from the main patio, are closest to the busy road but have the best ocean views.

Open daily 7:30 am to 11 pm.

Norma Shirley is probably the most famous chef in the West Indies, having come up with her own version of fusion. Whatever you call it—Nuevo Caribbean, Carib-Asian, Latino-Indian—it's fresh and good and fun. The menu at her namesake restaurant, co-designed by her and chef David Tingling (who does the actual cooking), includes appetizers like coconut shrimp and smoked marlin, and entrées like spicy grilled salmon with tamarind preserves. The restaurant, part of a boutique hotel, is gorgeously sited on a shaded beachside terrace; it's especially romantic at sunset.

Open daily 7:30 am to 10 pm.

Part of the charming Mocking Bird Hill Hotel, Mille Fleurs lives up to its name; the restaurant overlooks masses of colorful blossoms as well as soursop, neem, and ackee trees. It's the perfect setting for sampling Jamaican specialties like plantain stuffed with callaloo, and pawpaw stuffed with minced beef. It's most popular as a lunch stop, but guests staying around Port Antonio also drop in for dinner.

Open daily 8 to 10 am, noon to 2 pm, and 7 to 9 pm.

Suspended on a stone terrace over Pristine Cove, this thatch-roofed restaurant (part of the Rockhouse Hotel ) plays a reggae soundtrack that seems synchronized with the slapping waves below. Here, chef Kevin Broderick serves up a terrific menu of what he calls New Jamaican cuisine—updated versions of local dishes like coconut toast, salt fish with ackee (Jamaica's national dish; ackee is a local fruit something like a lychee), and jerk chicken in Scotch bonnet sauce. Other choices include lobster enchiladas, crab turnovers, and blackened mahimahi with mango chutney. To accompany, there are the requisite Negril sunset tropical cocktails and a pretty good wine list.

Open daily 7 to 11 pm.

The driveway to this elegant, dinner-only restaurant at the Half Moon resort takes you past a grand clubhouse to a dramatically lighted, 200-year-old waterwheel. Here, on a terrace where wicker lamps are strung among the almond trees, diners tuck into sophisticated takes on typical Jamaican dishes: lobster and coconut bisque; sugarcane-skewered and roasted Cornish hens; tamarind-steamed bass fillet. Reservations are required.

Open Thursdays through Mondays 6:30 to 10 pm.

It's run by a family from Parma, so the cooking—and the warm welcome—are authentically Italian. The menu changes frequently, but this is the place to go when you're in the mood for homemade ziti, pasta alla aragosta (with lobster), gnocchi, or carpaccio. The setting is charming: It's in Harmony Hall, a landmark great house with so much gingerbread trim it's like something out of a fairy tale.

Open Tuesdays through Sundays 12:30 to 2:30 pm and 7 to 10:30 pm.