Ya, mon, another day, another Jamaican restaurant.
Instead of my usual jerk chicken I tried the brown stew chicken lunch special. This is essentially fall-off-the bone chicken in a (surprise) brown gravy. This was served over a bed of beans and rice. A piece of plaintain and some cabbage was included. This is the first time I've had brown stew chicken and it was very good. The side of cabbage was a little bland but balances the flavors of the chicken.
There are no tables but there are some stools and a countertop facing the window. They do not take credit cards.
I could have sworn I had already yelped the praises of Ya Mon! Â But as I perused through the reviews I saw a bunch of negatives and something about parmesan cheese and Zatarains?!?! Â This does NOT sound like Ya Mon. Â Allow me to set it straight! Â And I have been going there faithfully for about the last two years getting jerk chicken and jerk catfish dinners. Â And it is always phe-nom-e-nal!! Â Huge portions of meat, rice and beans. Â The dinners are easily enough for 2. Â But even if the portions were smaller (pls don't make them smaller) I would still gladly patronize this place. Â I don't know, maybe they have had off days with other people, but never with me. Â On to the food...
The meat is always grilled to juicy perfection with some amazing blend of herbs and spices. Â I'm not a cook or chef so I can't really explain the flavors. Â But, it doesn't taste like even the best "American" grilled chicken I've ever had. Â And I know some awesome grillers (SO to my Dad and bro)! Â I've had jerk chicken from other places and the recipes vary somewhat - so maybe some reviewers have their own recipe expectations? Â But to me, their version, which is full of flavor, texture and color is the best! Â It reminds me of a couple of other great places - Uncle Joes and Kingston Jerk - but I like Ya Mon best. Â Ya Mon's seems to up them on freshness and juiciness just a tad. Â The rice and peas taste like they have been stewing for at least a day - so flavorful. Â The stewed cabbage is perfect, just slightly past crunchy, not salty - perfect. Â And never a dry, bland or mushy plaintain have I had from them!
The service is always appreciative, professional and with a smile. Â Order your food ahead if you don't like waiting at least 20 minutes on a weekend evening. Â And, yes, they sometimes run out of stuff. Â But, there is a good reason for that! Â They make GREAT FOOD!
The service here is great. Sadly, the food doesn't mirror the service. We ordered 2 jerk dinners. I'm not sure what happened to the jerk part, but what we got was simple grilled chicken (as you can clearly see from the pictures), that I could have easily gotten my dad to do. Â The flavor of the chicken was really good though. The thing that got these guys added to my black list is they think Americans are too stupid to not know the difference between jamaican rice and peas and ZATARINS red beans and rice! Unforgivable! There was also parmesean cheese sprinkled on my cabbage but why? Who told you people that- that was good?I can make Zatarins and grilled chicken in the comfort of my own home. I really don't understand these reviews at all.
Review Source:I tried Ya Mon for the first time the other day upon many good verbal reviews. The food was pretty good. I had the jerk chicken which was very juicy and tender. It feel right off of the bones. The side jerk sauce they gave was pretty spicy, but nothing like what I was "warned" about, it was definatley tolerable for myself at least in large amounts. I also had the plantains which were very good. Prices were decent and the staff was friendly. I would go back again and try some of the more exotic Jamacian entrees they serve.
Review Source:Absolute best jerk chicken anywhere. Â
I drive right past Kingston Jerk Chicken on may to Ya Mon, because nothing comes close to this place! Â All their ingredients are fresh, including the allspice berries and thyme! Â
The same 2 people are always working, and they always greet me with a smile and serve up orders as quickly as they come out. Â The seasoning is perfect, the chicken is very juicy, the skin is crispy, and it comes with a side of very hot jerk sauce. Â The cabbage is seasoned with thyme and allspice as well some other seasonings I can't quite figure out, but it's delicious!
The lunch special is a steal at $7 for 3 pieces of white meat, rice & beans, a plantain, cabbage and bread. Â I'm never able to finish it.
The pricing is plain as day on the menu, including for the side items. Â
One time I went and they were out of white meat. Â How do they run out of white meat? Â Because proper jerk chicken is marinated for about a day, and if they run out, they run out. Â I'd prefer that to them slapping some seasoning on a chicken, cooking it, and passing it off as the authentic dish! Â It would be like going to a bbq place that cooked a brisket in the oven and slathered on some sauce to save time! Â Heresy!
A friend of mine had a taste for Jamaican cuisine so we decided to try Ya Mon.
First - when we walked in, people looked disgusted. Â I soon learned why when I looked behind the counter to see no less than nine orders stacked in Styrofoam containers on the counter behind the only cashier. Â She had absolutely no sense of urgency in dispensing the orders as she announced to an ordering patron that they were out of white meat. Â
That dashed my wish for Brown Stew Chicken as well as a "plan B" order of Jerk since I don't like dark meat. Â I decided to get some beef or veggie patties and rice and peas. Â
The woman informed me that she didn't have any patties and that they don't sell sides by themselves. Â My expression prompted her to ask the men in the kitchen if they would allow me to buy a large side order of rice & peas. Â
The man glared through the door at me for an instant and said something indistinguishable. Â She told me, "No, sorry." I laughed in her face and left. Â
While I enjoy many Jamaican dishes, I decided to eat "mainstream" and order chicken, a STAPLE menu purchase, to see if I liked their food. Â But to refuse to sell me a side item, considering they didn't have TWO main menu items that I'd wanted, was just unbelievable. If a hamburger place ran out of burgers, would they refuse the chance to sell you some fries, SOMETHING? That's utterly ridiculous. I'll NEVER patronize that place again.
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