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| - I really wanted to love this place. It's not the usual sandwiches, or pasta/pizza, or "chinese", etc. Caribbean food is generally unique and flavorful, as is soul food. I found the results here sort of mixed.
They are only open two days per week. They emphasize catering. They didn't say so, but I suspect they keep the restaurant so people can have their food and keep them in mind for catering. I would prefer they put a bit more emphasis on the restaurant side, but it isn't my business. They weren't very efficient, and apparently surprised by how much business showed up today. They "ran out of food and had to get more". They were overwhelmed by having 10 or 12 people show up (there were three of us, a group of five, and one or two pairs of diners...they didn't really have enough tables or chairs even for this many). And we showed-up only about 30 minutes after opening.
The menu is small, but has enough variety. There's the chalkboard on the wall, and additional menus at the register. There are different items on each, so you need to look at them both. We ordered the soul food sampler, brown stew chicken, jerk chicken, and loaded fries. It took FOREVER to get our food. Again, they "ran out". But it finally came.
The jerk chicken was really good. Bold, spicy. Good. Also the brown stew chicken was good, but not as bold as I expected from Jamaican cuisine. It seems like simple comfort food to me, but a Jamaican I know says it's actually a Sunday dinner dish. I liked it, but wasn't bowled-over by the flavor. The rice and beans were nice. Nothing to get excited about, but it was a nice flavor. The hushpuppies (another side dish) were cooked perfectly. Truly perfect. They really are just fried balls of bread with cornmeal in it, so one doesn't really expect a lot of flavor from them. But they were fine.
The soul food sampler was a choice of three meats and two sides. I did not try them, but my daughter says her fried chicken and shrimp and catfish were all good. Not spectacular, but good. She liked the "greens" side dish. And the corn bread was really good (I did try that).
Lastly was the loaded french fries. Those were really good. They had a jerk pork, and some green onions, and a mango habanero salsa, and I think some cheese. Really good.
So the verdict? Well, I can't give them five stars just because of the management of the restaurant. It doesn't seem to be their emphasis, and it shows. They were nice about it, but the wait was much too long and their ability to handle just 10 people (divided into multiple groups) was surprisingly poor. The jerk chicken was 5-star food. The soul food seemed mostly not to have a lot of seasoning. It was fried to perfection, and tasted fine. But none of the bold flavors expected. Probably 3.5 stars for that. My brown stew chicken was good. I liked it. Again, no bold flavors one expects from the Caribbean, but it was good. Probably another 3.5 stars. And the loaded fries were easily 4-star food. Maybe 4.5 stars.
Not sure if we'll come back. I think I would like to try them again. My wife was a bit more disappointed that some of the flavors were "nothing special". Though she did agree the jerk chicken was really good. The food overall is probably a hesitant 4-stars, but how the restaurant is run is important also. I have to deduct for that. If I could go to 3.5 stars I would, but Yelp doesn't work that way.
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