Ackee, callaloo and Blue Mountain coffee: breakfast on the veranda
A guide to the Jamaican breakfast our cook makes every morning, from the national dish to the perfect cup.
Mornings at Llantrissant start slowly. The sea is flat and glassy before the breeze picks up, the windows are open, and the smell of coffee drifts out to the veranda, where the long table is already set. Breakfast here isn’t a buffet or a set menu. It’s cooked to order by our restaurant-trained cook, from a list of Jamaican classics and familiar favourites you choose before you arrive.
If you’ve never had a Jamaican breakfast, here’s what to expect, and what to ask for.
Ackee and saltfish, the national dish
Ackee is Jamaica’s national fruit, and ackee and saltfish is its national dish. The fruit grows in bright red pods that split open when it’s ripe, revealing soft, creamy yellow flesh. Cooked, it looks a lot like scrambled eggs and tastes mild and buttery.
It’s sautéed with salted cod (soaked first to draw out the salt), onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers and a little Scotch bonnet for warmth. Ask for it with fried plantain and a slice of hard dough bread, and you have the breakfast most Jamaicans would call perfect.
Callaloo: the green that goes with everything
Callaloo is a leafy green, cooked down with onion, tomato and thyme until soft and savory. You’ll see it on our menu three ways at breakfast: sautéed with saltfish, on its own as a side, and our house favourite, poached eggs and callaloo on a bed of bammy, the round cassava flatbread that crisps beautifully in the pan.
Johnny cakes, dumplings and the breads
Every Jamaican breakfast needs something to mop up the plate. Fried Johnny cakes are golden outside and pillowy within. Boiled banana dumplings are firmer and gently sweet. Coco bread, soft and folded, and hard dough bread, dense and slightly sweet, are best toasted with butter.
On slower mornings, ask for cornmeal porridge: smooth, warm and spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon. It’s the breakfast many Jamaicans grew up on.
Something lighter
Not every morning calls for saltfish. The continental side of the menu covers fresh fruit and toast, pancakes, French toast, muffins, oatmeal and eggs any way you like them, from a simple omelette to eggs and bacon with fried plantain. The fruit changes with the season and whatever looks best at the market.
The coffee
Jamaica Blue Mountain is among the most prized coffees in the world, grown on the misty slopes of the Blue Mountains in the east of the island. We’re happy to have it ground fresh for you, or an everyday Jamaican blend if you’d rather. Tell the staff how you like it: drip, French press or a stovetop espresso pot. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, or whatever fruit is in season, comes alongside.
How to order
Before your stay, we’ll send you the villa menu. Pick a few favourites, tell us about any allergies or dietary needs, and the staff will shop accordingly, with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher and halal versions all easy to arrange. Once you’re here, just tell them what you’d like, and it will be on the table when you wander out.
Then all that’s left is the hardest decision of the day: another cup of coffee, or straight down to the beach?
Hungry?
See everything our cook makes
Breakfast, light fare, dinner and dessert, made to order and served on the veranda.
