| rev:text
| - WARNING: This is a ridiculously long review. Chef Wong, you had me at "O.G. Fried Chicken"!
Have been dying to give Patois a go since it opened and it exceeded my expectations by 10 folds. It's eclectic, energetic, a perfect blend of the Jamaican-Chinese cultures and above all, insanely good food.
Went with a party of 7 (reservations highly recommended as it's a smaller resto with about 50ish seats) and were seated at a round table beside the bar that had a cool lazy susan powered by skateboard wheels (my engineer husband quickly got distracted by how it worked). We settled on 2x the "Whole Shebang" with an upgrade to a full serving of jerk & fried chicken.
Our drink orders arrived pretty quickly and everyone ordered something different. I had the Jerk Lemonade which had a bit of a bite but was nicely balanced against the tartness of the lemonade.
The first item to arrive was the Ackee & Saltfish which was served alongside plantain chips and a yummy salsa. It was a bit on the saltier side but went well with our drinks.
If you're familiar with Chinese steamed fish with ginger & scallions, you'd recognize the kitschy blue & white plate that the Jamaican Patty Double Down, Kimchi Potstickers, Jamaican Coleslaw, and the Pineapple Bun Burgers came on. We fought over who got the last potsticker and everything else on that gigantic plate. The potstickers and double down were my personal favourite.
Next, came the Seaweed Waldorf salad and the dirty fried rice. The salad was slightly bitter but balanced by the sweetness of grapes and the crunch of walnut. I'm not a salad fan but even I went back for seconds. The carb-a-holic in me did a back flip for the fried rice: it's a smallish portion of fried rice with both Chinese (lap-cheung) and Jamaican flare (spice + Cajun trinity) to round it out.
And finally, what all 7 of us were waiting for: O.G. fried chicken, O.G. fried cauliflower, and the jerk chicken. Despite having gone through a culinary marathon, I selfishly scarfed down my share AND my husband's share of the most deliciously juicy and crunchy fried chicken. It was just that good (possibly better than Bar Isabel IMHO). I'm a huge fan of spice and the habernero sauce was just perfect for me but others at my table weren't necessarily up for the challenge so beware. The jerk chicken was super tender and juicy and lived up to its moniker as "Best Overall Jerk Chicken" at the Jerk Jam Down Competition this summer. The sweet sriracha & thai basil sauce elevated the already yummy fried cauliflower to a whole new level.
It was at this time that Chef Craig Wong paid a visit and modestly accepted all forms of flattery from the 7 of us. He gave us the low down on some of the noteworthy decor including: the inflatable rings on the ceiling and a quick story about the Jamaican Tourist Board girl.
To make a long story short, you have to eat here. No ifs, ands, or buts.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)