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| - Over Caribana weekend I checked out several highly rated Carribean restaurants, but Simone's was the only one I'd never been to before, which is odd because it's closest to my home.
I was raised on real home cooked Jamaican food made by my mom and aunties and uncles, and to tell the truth, I've always been at least a little disappointed by every Caribbean restaurant I've tried. Figured that was inevitable because that food for me has become idealized through the lens of fond family memories. Plus I've been a pretty fussy little eater my whole life, and I can remember the looks of disgust from my island relatives as they watched 6-year-old me carefully dissect my dinner plate, trimming anything even remotely nasty (fat, gristle, anything I didn't recognize or like the texture of) and putting it on a separate little plate. I spent time one summer travelling through Maine with migrant Jamaican pickers, and eating their hot pot at night, which I thought was delicious, after I fastidiously removed every bit of unrecognizable organ meat in it.
And no freaking way would i ever touch any goat meat. I understand they are delicious, but once you've spent an afternoon watching a goat eat a rusty can while somehow urinating on it's own stomach....no. Just no.
I'm saying I'm a spoiled brat who can get weirded out when food gets too real.
However.
From the moment I looked at Simone's menu and saw Cream of Wheat on the menu I knew I was somewhere special. My mom used to make me that fine ground white porridge most mornings, with a little salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sweetened condensed milk. I've never seen it on a menu before. The bowl they served me at Simone's was perfect, better than I remember it. Not lumpy ( which is tricky with this porridge) and with a perfect balance of flavors that surpassed my memories of it. I also had the saltfish and ackee served with rice and peas (actually they are kidney beans not peas, but nobody says rice and beans for some reason) and for the very first time I was compelled to sit and appreciate every delicate forkful of that rice because it also was perfect. Neither sticky nor mushy nor dry, every grain so nicely flavored you just need to savor it. By this point I was losing my mind, and I was seriously thinking of booking a flight to Jamaica. I hadn't even had the main course. Do I need to say the saltfish and ackee were fantastic?
I tried my friend's chicken roti and it was, like everything else at Simone's, the best example of that traditional dish that I have ever put in my mouth. Nothing nasty, only nice nice.
I can also highly recommend the banana fritters. But listen, it's quite an extensive menu for an island food joint, and I'm committed to eating all of it now.
Simply outstanding.
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