Printable View
...to get the car washed...if Rob ever brings it back!!
AND...maybe just maybe....we'll drop in to the Red Dragon while they're washing the car....WOOOHOOO!
Yummy...hot jerk pork & cold, cold beers...here I come!!
Rob told me recently his first visit to the Red Dragon was in 1985...mine was in 2004 (told ya I'm a newbie :))...anybody have some great old memories of RD or even more recently?
Looking for Red Dragon(thought it was a Chinese rest.) for the first time 2007 dressed in a gold bikini and gold high heel wedges a story for the ages!
Attachment 3849Attachment 3850Attachment 3856Attachment 3851Attachment 3852Attachment 3853Attachment 3849Attachment 3854
Attachment 3855
Thomas awoke late the next morning having slept much longer than he’d wanted to, this despite the incessant crowing of the cock in the yard next door. He hoisted his duffle bag over his shoulder and exited Cocky’s quietly, not wanting to wake him and run the risk of getting squeezed for additional charges.
He paused at the intersection of the laneway and the paved road. Given that the decision to turn left the day before hadn’t led to a particularly fruitful excursion, he opted to turn right.
After walking for ten minutes he heard a noise coming from ahead. He rounded a bend in the road and saw the source of the commotion. Ahead, situated at the ‘T’ intersection of the road, was a bar. Built of concrete, this bar was much larger and more substantial, than the bar in Green Island where he’d met 27. Raucous laughter erupted from within.
As he approached he saw the name of the establishment stencilled on the stucco wall below the open windows:
RED DRAGON BAR
The Finest Drinks in Red Ground
RAGABONES
PROPRIETOR
Silhouettes of highly stylized dragons were painted on the wall. Fearsome gouts of fire belched from their mouths.
A sign next to the door read:
JERK PORK
Etc.
This probably accounted for the half dozen or so mutts that were hanging around out front.
More laughter burst forth. It sounded like a party was in full swing, so Thomas went in.
To his surprise, the Red Dragon was packed – wall to wall. Not with locals, although there were a few, but with white folk.
Thomas scanned the crowd. These people here were not the ‘stay-in-the-hotel-compound-and-maybe-take-a-tour’ types. Rather, the term that sprung to mind was ‘ex-pats’. Most sported deep tans. A wide assortment of tattoos was on display, many of which were large, colourful and elaborate. The majority of the men had long hair, some wore pony tails, others bandannas. There was a lot of facial hair, most of it turning grey. All were dressed in well-worn clothing, the type that was practical for the tropics, rather than the just-bought-for-the-trip look that was the common tourist apparel.
But it was more their attitude that distinguished them; they were relaxed and looked natural in the environment, as if gathering at the Red Dragon for drinks early in the day was a routine event.
The walls inside the bar were festooned with colourful stickers and out-dated licence plates.
Thomas threaded through the crowd and wedged into a narrow opening at the bar. When he finally got the barman’s attention he ordered a beer. “And I would like an order of pork please,” he added.
The barman craned his neck, looking through an open portal, “Pork will be ready in about ten minutes,” he said.
Thomas sipped his Red Stripe and looked around. No one had paid him the least bit of attention. They were all completely occupied with drinking and communing with each other.
This is the ideal place to ask about Randy, he thought. He was surrounded with ex-pats, and those he’d met in MoBay seemed to know all the other ex-pats there. Randy had been in Negril for a couple of years, long enough to be considered a member of the local ex-pat community. Indeed, it was possible that Randy might be in The Red Dragon somewhere in the crush of patrons.
Attachment 3857
Bea : that was one load of two piece bikinis in the Red Dragon and bnewb: if I remember right you had the car washed next door to the Red Dragon, two birds with one stone or three , drinks food and car wash!
Attachment 3875Attachment 3876Attachment 3877 Looks like its not the frist time you have been there! Nov.2010
Not a Monday goes by that I don't think about being there.....sighAttachment 3898Attachment 3899Attachment 3900
The guys in our group make an excursion to the Red Dragon every time we're in Negril. They have to have the coldest beer in town and the pork is fantastic!
My favorite trip to the Red Dragon was when my wife took the daughters to Cancun and I took my 14yo son to Negril for spring break. We walked there from Coco La Palm one day. He enjoyed the perspective of hanging out in red ground and talking "politricks" with a couple of elderly regulars :)
Five weeks from today, I'll be joining the Monday get together at the Dragon. Can't wait!
I havent made it to the dragon yet....maybe soon!.>>>> ::::: nice photos!!
Haven't been to the Red Dragon yet - thought about it last July but didn't make it there. Question for all of you - is the pork spicy - like hot spicy?? Don't know if I could handle the spice! I'm a lightweight! Like my jerk chicken without the sauce - I know - crazy!!!! I'm all about flavor but without the heat......
Feb 2012 for sure......tried this year but it didn't happen and can't even blame the sand gravity!!!!
Cands...it is definitely spicy!!!
Now that looks like a place I could spend a coupla afternoons in ;) How do I find it?
The pics say it all......hey, I think I even recognize a few people...lol.
Its walking distance from the traffic circle in town, in redground any taxi driver should be able to take you.
Are Monday's special at the Red Dragon?
I am planning to check it out next trip but until Feb I'll have to enjoy Negril through the board.
Steve
Ahhhh The Red Dragon....I took a newbie friend of mine, a very fine chef, there to try the jerk a while ago. He was absolutely blown away by the place. So rustic and so cool. We ordered two rum and tings. We were served two 1/2 pints of Appleton, two bottles of Ting, and a large bowl of ice along with a pair of tongs, and two glasses.
Then the jerk pork came. Presented on a bed of Aluminum foil, seasoned and twice smoked, pickled onions and Scotch Bonnets as a garnish, served with a wonderful sweet bread. Damien, my chef friend, made little jerk pork canopies and we scarfed them down with much exuberance.
An old man hobbled into the bar with an empty soda bottle and ordered some rum and three Craven A's to go. The bartender held a ruler next to the soda bottle and poured in three inches of white rum and handed over three cigarettes to his customer who then left with a satisfied smile and a bent hobble back into the Red Ground.
As we exited the place for a walk back to town, an old guy with massive dreads was passing by. He noticed Damien, who also sports a wonderful head of dreads, albeit more of the fashion statement kind, and extends his fist for a bump and simply says ... "r a s t a a a" . Damien responds with the utmost coolness as required by the situation. fistbump...Rastaaa.
Later as we pass the old Ras and head into town, Damien claims that day to be the Best Day Ever.
I Love that place.
Lucky Lucky YOU!!!
Well......did you get the car wash? Here it is Tuesday and I'm still thinking of how much I would have enjoyed a cold one at Red Ground yesterday!! Attachment 3937Attachment 3938
One Monday soon.....Attachment 3939
I think the first time I was at Ragabones was in '93 or '94.
Great place. Very spicy pork, but it's worth a few tears .....