Montego's Caribbean Cafe & Bar

After receiving yet another glowing recommendation and guest review by a friend, I couldn't resist going to Montego's.  It's a lot like your neighborhood sports bar with a Carribean vibe.  

Two people recommended I try the nachos at Montego's.  Since nothing else really interested me, I figured why not.  I am not quite sure of the name but I think I got the Bad like your Yazz nachos.  It's about $11 and absolutely huge!  The chips are topped with beans, queso, jalapenos, pineapple, chicken and maybe even pork.  It's served with a chimichurri-like sauce and a cilantro sour cream. I love that the toppings are in layers instead of just on top.  I hate it when I eat the top layer of nachos and the only thing left are chips.  Not here.  The chicken is so juicy.  The beans give it a bit of heft and richness too.  When you get a piece of pineapple, the sweetness wakes up your taste buds.  I didn't get eat much of the green sauce because I was digging the cilantro sour cream with the nachos.  If only I was more of a beer person, this would have been great with a cold brew.

Poetic Pig Plate $11

My brother ordered the Poetic Pig plate.  It's 3/4 pound of pulled pork served with two muffins and two sides.  T chose potato salad and sweet potato mash.  He was very vocal about the size of those muffins.  He was thinking it was your regular size muffins and instead, these are more your mini muffins.  T likes to eat his pulled pork with something else and not on its own.  He ended up snagging a bunch of my chips to eat with the pork.   I thought the pulled pork had a great flavor.  I liked it more without the sauce on top.  The sauce is like a vinegar bbq sauce and I am more of a sweet bbq sauce girl.  The potato salad and sweet potato mash were good.  I didn't taste much else in the potato salad than potatoes and mayo/sour cream.  The sweet potato mash had a cinnamon sugar taste to it. My brother liked it so much I will making that for Thanksgiving instead of a souffle this year.

Keep reading for the guest blog that my friend, Liz, wrote for me.   She and her husband went for dinner during a weeknight. I do have a bit more about the service and restaurant at the end. 

Family plate 

We got the family plate - 3/4 pound of hickory smoked pork and half a jerk chicken. The two sides we chose were the coconut rum rice and the black river beans with lime cilantro sour cream. The pork was really good, it came with some kind of sauce on top. The chicken was good, too. The coconut rum rice had walnuts in it, giving it an unexpected crunch. The chef, however, told us they were going to be switching to toasted almonds soon. The black river beans were seasoned well and very good.

The menu may seem a little limited, but it seems they're trying several things out. The chef told us they were going to introduce what could be called a loaded baked potato - it will have meat on it. I can't remember if he said there would be a choice of pork or chicken.

The night we went, they were offering fish tacos, which were not on the menu. I've also seen on their Facebook page that they offer grilled shrimp sometimes.  If you order a soda or tea, your drink comes in a souvenier cup. They have good drink specials, and will update them daily on their Facebook page.  

Ahh, I love guest bloggers!  One thing I did notice about Montego's is it's very small. There's about six tables in the dining area, your typical bar seating and another bar area lining the wall.  I guess that would make it simple for people on a lunch break but for families it could be a tight squeeze.  There's also a decent outdoor seating area at Montego's as well.  I think about 4 or 5 tables outside under huge umbrellas.  It would be great to sit out there on a cool day.  If you're into sports, no worries. Montego's got you covered.  There are two big screen T.Vs and game day specials.  

Service seems a little spotty.  On my visit, one waiter seems to be on his game while the other not so much.  He went to get me a refill on my drink and forgot about it completely.  It wasn't horrible service, just spotty.  I look forward to trying some of the specials out.

Montego's is located in front of Providence Hospital on Airport Boulevard.  It's in the building next to Army Aviation Federal Credit Union.

IN OTHER NEWS...

• I started this blog on January 2011 and now I am closing in on 100 unique restaurant reviews.  That's just crazy!
• Hopjacks now have a "filling station" on Cervantes Street in Pensacola.  I heard the commercial on the radio and have plans to check it out.  This would make 3 locations in Pensacola alone.  
• Fly Creek Cafe in Fairhope is shutting down for good on Oct. 31, 2012.