Hmm, where shall I begin with this one? Well how about upon walking in the door we were greeted by absolutely no one, although there were absolutely zero patrons in the restaurant. There was a sullen-looking girl behind the counter, and a man who turned out to be the cook sitting at a table eating and watching television. We quickly perused the menu on the wall and decided to go with two basics: a jerk chicken sandwich and curry chicken. We also each ordered one of their "specialty" lemonades.
The girl indicated to the cook that he needed to get off his bum and actually do some work, and then we sat down for quite a long wait for our (to-go) meal. At this point I was in a state of mild shock after paying the bill, which was just under $30. You read correctly: jerk sandwich, curry chicken, two lemonades...supposedly cozy lil homestyle Jamaican joint=thirty smackers. Then my companion noticed a poster on the door advertising a current special, which was $5.95 for curry chicken, rice and peas. Precisely what he had ordered, for which I had been charged $8.95. He approached the girl at the counter about this discrepancy, and she sleepily noted that we didn't mention we wanted "the special." Alllllll-righty then. Oh and those two precious lemonades? $2.50 and $3.50 (small and medium respectively). But let's not obsess over hard-earned nickels and dimes here, maybe the food would be super tasty??
It wasn't. My jerk chicken was the oddest texture I've ever encountered, basically minced up indistinguishable bits of meat. It was reasonably spicy, but like another yelper noted, much more mall food court "bourbon chicken"-ishy spicy than Jamaica spicy. The coco bread on which it was served was decent, but a poor choice for such a sandwich. You are left holding a big soft pile of mystery mush. My companion described his curry as bland and the rice and peas were likewise bland and overcooked. However the worst part of the meal by far were the fried plantains, which were cut far too thick, underdone, and yet so greasy that OIL LITERALLY OOZED AND BUBBLED OUT OF EVERY ONE!! pardon the caps but in all my years of dining in the diviest of dives, i have never ever EVER encountered anything so greasy.
So, to sum...unauthentic, uninspired food at best, unwelcoming staff, prices far exceeding anything offered. Please avoid this place. You will sadly do much better with the Panda Express across the way. 1.5 stars is my true rating, for the general cleanliness of the restaurant and the coco bread.
Hubby and I were doing some shopping in the area and thought we'd stop in. Of course I yelped it real quick, to see what people were saying. Â Overall, pretty good reviews, so why not? Â I had the oxtails with rice and peas and cabbage, and he had beef patties. Â Even though the beef patties were "mild", they were spicy to him. Â The oxtails did not disappoint. Â Very tasty! Â The sauce is what did it. Â The meat was not as tender as I expected, but I would definitely get it again.
Review Source:I have gone to this restaurant 2x, and found the service to be very poor each time. No acknowledgement from employees upon entering the restaurant. It appeared that I was an interruption to their day. I'm used to eating at a Jamican restaurant, where the employees are friendly. I enjoy Jamaican food, however I will never step foot into this restaurant due to the lack of customer service.
Review Source:very good island food! Â Not great or fantastic or blow-your-socks-off but very good. Â Â I've been to Jamaica. Â My college roommate was from Kingston. Â Is this just like the jerk chicken we bought off the side of the road wrapped in butcher paper and tin foil - no. Â I didn't feel like I wanted to rip my tongue out! Â Here, the first bit of jerk chicken with rice and peas left me wanting more but it wasn't until the last bite that my mouth was on fire. Â Watch out! Â This stuff creeps up on you. Â The bf and I were a bit unsure after reading some of the fellow reviews but we both ate everything and both said we'd be back!
clean place. Â nice selection. Â friendly people. Â good food. Â what more is there?
A little hidden spot in Brandywine Md. You really cant see this location from the main highway (MD RT 5). If you find it, what you get is Fast delicious Jamaican food.
The service is so so. If the food wasn't so damn good I would not come back, but hopefully they get the point that service and quality of food is what brings people back.
The jerk chicken is really good. I had an Irish moss drink, for the first time here. Who would have thought that a white seaweed drink could be so refreshing. Not I! So good.
Every time i have been here it has not been crowded at all.
Hey Mon! Stopped by here on an early Friday night. We were checking out the new shopping center in Brandywine and stumbled upon this place. I looked at the menu and saw oxtails, jerk chicken and croaker. I just couldn't pass it up.
Ordering our food took a bit long. There was one lady at the counter and in between her other 10 jobs and helping out in a flower shop, she finally took our order. For those that don't know, that's a reference to the "Hey Mon!" skit from "In living color". Look it up on IMDB.
The place is clean, has plenty of tables and has reggae music playing. That alone is two snaps up. The food came out faster than it took the lady to take our order. Â I had the oxtail entree with rice n peas and cabbage. Let me tell ya, it was best oxtail I ever tasted!
I was picking up the oxtails with my hands and smacking my lips and licking my fingers. It was probably a nasty site. The rice n peas were burning my mouth but it was so good. I ate every piece of food on my plate.....and then decided to lick the plate. Â I washed it down with coconut water. Â The only thing missing was the Hash-brownies, but I settled for Guinness ice cream. Definitely going back.
I originally went to this shopping center to use up a Bonefish gift card. Unfortunately, or FORTUNATELY, Bonefish was really crowded with a long wait time.
Since the hubs and I needed food, stat, we remembered that there were several other eateries in the center on the way back to our car. Then we saw Irie Cafe. After looking at the menu for a few seconds, we knew we had to try it.
I figured I had to try out the jerk chicken and rice and peas. The chicken was juicy, had great spices/flavors, and the rice and peas exceeded my expectations. I really like that they didn't hold back on the heat for the jerk chicken. I've found that, any other time I've had it, it's been too mild for me. On a side note, the hubs could NOT stop raving and MMM MMM-ing about his oxtail entree. No, he didn't offer me any. Hmmph!
I loved the abundance of choices there. I've had the traditional dish of ackee and salt fish, straight from my friend's Jamaican mom - and now I wish I sampled that at Irie Cafe for comparison. No fears though. I'm coming back and will update my review when I do. Â
Be forewarned. The place looks like a bare-bones take out place, but there are quite a few booths. You definitely don't go there for the atmosphere. Also, the service is not super-pleasant, nor is it fine-tuned, but since the food is so good, and I was actually able to order coconut water (YUM), I didn't even care, and neither will you.
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