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| - I celebrated my birthday here last weekend, and I couldn't have picked a better place to ring in the last year of my twenties!
As a young Canadian Jamaican, Chubby's is what I have always conceptualized when I wanted to eat Jamaican food out at a nice restaurant -- a cool, upscale spot, with good music, authentic food, and good vibes! :) It certainly delivers on all of those fronts.
Here are my thoughts (buckle up, this is a long one!):
RESERVATIONS:
You can book online, but if the time you want isn't available, just call; they may still be able to find you a table. Also, if you leave a message on their reservation answering machine, they will actually call you back (*gasps*).
FOOD:
The short answer -- very well made, authentic Jamaican food, with great presentation.
There were 6 of us, so we ordered a lot of food and tasted quite a bit of each others.
Here's a few of the dishes that we had and my thoughts:
Ackee and Salt Fish Bites:
This is ackee and salt fish served inside a fried dumpling. Two typical Jamaican breakfast dishes presented in such a fun way! It was a really nice touch. I would order again.
Jamaican Patty (turkey):
Great flavour, lots of meat inside, and nice flakey crust. If I remember correctly you get 4 and they are definitely worth trying.
Pepper Shrimp:
I would consider myself a pepper shrimp connoisseur, so I was excited to try this. Is this great tasting, large, fresh shrimp? Yes! Tasted like well flavoured garlic shrimp to me. Is this the best pepper shrimp I've had? Not quite -- it was missing the spice. Maybe to appeal to a wider audience, but I feel the disclaimer on how spicy it is is inherent in the name.
Jerk Chicken:
The modern bbq or "drum" is the more convenient and efficient way to cook jerk chicken, but nothing beats the taste of well marinated jerk chicken cooked over different kinds of wood. This is what Chubby does, and they do it well. Really great smokey, spicy flavour, the chicken is nice and moist, and it is not drenched in sauce (which jerk chicken shouldn't be).
Oxtail:
If you've never had it, try it. If you have, you will be happy with this rendition. It's not fatty, it's soft, there is lots of meat on the bones, and the flavour is there. Well balanced between savory and a little sweet.
Jerk Shrimp:
This was my main dish, and it was fantastic. Large shrimp, with that great smokey jerk flavour. It is served with coleslaw, which is also fresh and nice; you can tell it's made in-house. Great portion size for one person.
Rice and peas:
Good flavour. Solid side if you want rice with your meal. The rice is basmati rice, which is not traditional, but it was a nice twist. I personally love basmati rice, but for the purists out there -- no, this is not your Grandma's rice and peas. It's good though, and a great portion to share.
Hot Sauce:
I really wanted to like this, but this was the only thing that fell a little flat to me. They have two kinds of house made hot sauces: mango and scotch bonnet. Neither was spicy and the scotch bonnet had a very heavy vinegar taste. Probably just needs a little tweaking of the recipe. Not a deal breaker; I'll re-evaluate the next time I'm there.
DRINKS:
We all had the in-house rum punch. Taste was great and most importantly, it was strong! I would definitely order this again.
SERVICE:
It was great! No complaints. From the person who took my reservation, to the waiters, to the front desk, everyone was lovely! Definitely a great experience for celebrating my birthday.
ATMOSPHERE:
Beautiful, Caribbean, upscale vibes. They played great old school reggae in the background, the tables, chairs, the decorations, the candle lighting...everything was beautiful.
My profile picture is from my time at Chubby's. I think that best describes the warm and happy feeling you'll get from eating here :).
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I'm so glad that a place like Chubby's exists. I echo the sentiments of other Yelp reviewers that it is really nice to have an upscale restaurant where you can bring your friends and family for a nice Jamaican meal.
If you love good food and island vibes, check out Chubby's! :)
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