I've had the luxury and the pleasure to have eaten the BEST Jamaican food prepared. So I'm a bit biased. Haling from Flatbush NY, where everybody and their mama is a chef. Oh and I've had the opportunity to eat at an actually Jamaican restaurant in Jamaica. I'm more than biased.\n\nI was hungry. My hunny was hungry. We were hot and tired of fast food. So we decided to trek via the steel horse to this quaint restaurant.\nDecorum: \nDecorum: paint job was nice. Yellow and green walls. Pictures of Jamaican food. Local art. Jamaican paintings. Nice candles. Small tables, Nice environment for couples. Tables outside. No one was outside because it was hot ass 99 degree hell. \n Bob Marley, is what I sang along to while I waited patiently for my food. We held our breathe. This is Phoenix after all. There are no Jamaicans here. So I thought.\nService: When entering the restaurant everyone behind the counter said HI! I felt like I was at Blockbuster. They were as happy to see us as I was hungry to eat my food. The lone waiter looked like a hippy, not Jamaican. And i knew he wasn't Jamaican, because he had a New Jersey accent. And he was err um not Black.\nTHE FOOD: I ordered they brown stew chicken, with rice and peas and huge heep of cabbage. Never had it prepared that way. Never want to eat a huge slimy hard to cut heap of cabbage again. Try shredding it, please. One red and one green pepper slice. And to my dismay two puny slices of plantains. Yes I was disappointed. For that is the best part of a Jamaican dish. I eyed my dates plate for his and he had his arms guarding his plate like a prisoner in jail. So no, not enough plantains. The rice and peas tasted like Indian rice. It looked like Indian rice. In fact it was Indian bismati rice. The chef told me himself. Jamaicans dont eat bismati rice. Its too expensive. They eat white rice with beans. I was confused, but i was hungry and i did eat it. \nNo ginger beer available. But the carrot juice was not so bad. And the three dollar glass of ice tea was OK because my boyfriend ordered it, but then he drank my drink. Because it was bleh.\n\nLiquor was available, but read below why we didn't indulge.\n \nThe prices: Pretty steep for a Jamaican restaurant. But I was hungry, and not paying. Two meals and two drinks came to a whooping $29. My boyfriend gave a measly three dollar tip. Mostly because he was a decent waiter and times are hard. And because there were more staff there than customers. And they were watching our every move. \n\n\nSynopsis: Surprisingly, I ate everything on my plate. My hunny ate everything on his plate. And then tried to eat my food, because he paid for it. (wink) So it wasn't that bad. The Chef dropped by to ask me how my dining experience was. I frankly asked about the rice...was it basmati rice? He said yes. He explained in a nerdy hipster narrative that he knew the butcher who the killed the animals and the farmer who grew the veggies. His lifestyle and how he was injecting ether to the restaurant scene in Phoenix. That is why I am giving the guy a break. So instead of giving him a 2. I will give him a 3. You know what, ill change it to 4 because I'm pmsing. And like I said, I am biased. Support the guy. Its quaint, nicely located in downtown Phoenix. And he came all the way from to Jamaica to hells kitchen to feed you wholesome, well prepared Jamaican food. \n\n\n\n\n.
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