When Jamaican couple Taneshe Bennett Coley and her husband, Shemoi Coley, decided to open a restaurant last year in Pawleys Island they settled on a fusion of their homeland’s distinct Caribbean cuisines—things like jerk chicken—along with a mostly Asian-influenced menu. Andomiro features ‘JamAsian,’ a concept and phrase they coined, that has deeper roots than just the obvious fusion of two cultures’ native foods.

“There’s a large population of Asian people living in Jamaica,” says Taneshe, through a melodic Jamaican accent and beautiful smile. “They sound like me but are very Asian and originally brought their culture’s foods, which many [traditional] Jamaicans know and love, and have integrated into their traditional Sunday meals.”

Chinese migration into Jamaica began two centuries ago when laborers first arrived for agricultural work, then again around 1900 and steadily since 1980. The Chinese, along with other Asian peoples, transformed and melded their cooking styles and tastes with ancient Caribbean/West African indigenous staples to create new flavors and preferences. Traditional Jamaican ‘rice and peas,’ for example, which Americans would call rice and beans, is both Chinese and Jamaican. It’s a side served with Andomiro’s Jamaican Jerk Chicken Dinner, but this eclectic eatery offers diversity that goes far beyond rice and peas and jerk-seasoned food.

Here you’ll also find KFC, that’s Korean fried chicken, with a soy or spicy glaze. There are salads, vegan dishes, fried rice options, wraps, Ramen, hand-rolled temaki, a brunch menu (11 a.m.-4 p.m.) with croffles—a hybrid of croissants and waffles filled with your choice of something sweet or savory. There are also plenty of specialty drinks, a full bar, desserts, and a kids’ menu.

The restaurant and bar (open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day) satisfies lunch, dinner and late-night patrons with starters, small plates, wraps, full dinners, and in ternational treats such as bibimbap, a beef bowl with fresh vegetables, thinly sliced beef, an egg, and more flavor per mouthful than should be allowed. The Jamaican Jerk Chicken Dinner fills the plate with sweet, crusty Jerk chicken expressing all the flavors of the Island, along with fresh steamed vegetables and the aforementioned JamAsian rice and peas.

“We wanted to provide fresh food every single day, and started with mostly Asian dishes, but people kept asking for Jamaican food, too,” says Taneshe. That’s when the couple had their “eureka!” moment and the JamAsian concept was born.

This is the couple’s first restaurant, and they are new to the area and new to this kind of business.

“All the paperwork, the licensing, the long hours, the hard work…” she says, her broad smile not diminished, “but it’s a commitment that makes a difference. If you treat it like a job, then it becomes tedious, but if you put yourself into anything with passion, with heart, and you’re working toward something, it feels like time passes easily. And really, it’s been amazing. The love and support we’ve gotten from this community has been wonderful.”

The building itself has deep community roots. It’s a long, slender railroad-car-of-a-restaurant, full of color and flavor. Countless styles of packaged Raman noodles in their bright wrappers adorn the wall at the end of a sit-down bar the length of the restaurant. There are plenty of booths and outside porch dining when the weather cooperates. If it’s reminiscent of a breakfast place, that’s because it was formerly the iconic Sam’s Corner, which has been featured on television, movies and in novels. 

As for JamAsian cuisine, you’d be hard-pressed to find it anywhere else, and hard-pressed to find any better fusion of flavor. Andomiro has discovered a rare element in their concept, true diversity, without offering ‘too much,’ and losing the sense of place and cultural representation.

As word spreads, Andomiro is writing a new chapter in the ever-growing Grand Strand food scene.  

“We are navigating a new market with its own set of challenges,” says Taneshe, “but we’re growing and excited for the future.” 

Andomiro 
12036 Ocean Highway, Pawleys Island
Open 7 days 11 a.m- 2 a.m.
(843) 314-3001