"J" is for Jamaica

When I think of the Caribbean I always conjure up thoughts of fun, frivolity, being laid back and not worrying about anything in particular. So when it came to the letter "J" in our alphabet-eats saga, there were no second thoughts....and the Jamaican Kitchen in Fitzroy North was our destination. Even miserable weather wouldn't deter us, but when we got to the door at 6:00 and found it to be locked, I started to wonder if we'd made the right choice. However, the sight of someone strolling to the door in a very slow, Viv Richards type of gait was none-the-less encouraging, and when he opened the door and announced "Welcome to the Jamaican Kitchen" I just knew we would be in for a fun night.

Mr Cool then showed us to our table and magically produced two very home-made but brief menus that immediately caused us to raise our hands in the hope that Viv would translate some of the five entrees, five main courses and three desserts on offer. However, it didn't take us too long to realise that Viv was in fact not only the waiter, but also the cook, owner, barman and obviously the dishwasher and cleaner as well. Thankfully we were the only customers (or is that a bad thing?), so he was soon over to us explaining what plantain, soulful salad, finger lickin chicken, sassie's jerk chicken, simeon's special goat curry and vegie stew were all about. But he allayed all our fears and as a result we ordered the plantain (sort of like banana), finger lickin chicken, the jerk chicken and believe it or not....the goat!

Red Stripe beer was ordered to wash down the goat (just kidding...ha ha), and all the food arrived with little touches of Jamaica throughout. Nice. Viv even came over to check out how we were going, and after telling us his life story he said "I don't like this job......I luuvvvvvv it!" Rounding off the night of course is Mrs X's choice of sweets, with tonight's delicacy being coconut ice-cream. Once this was finished, we asked for the bill, and a few moments later our Calypso friend sauntered over to us, casually leant over our table and whispered in a very muffled tone "That will be $75". No bill. Nothing. And with no credit card facility, cash was the main man. Interesting.

And by this stage, the place had come alive with numerous customers arriving, which of course had both Mrs X and myself wondering how poor old Viv was going to cope, but I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem. He was Caribbean!

Scores:

Ambience (Mr X - 8 / Mrs X - 6)

Accessability (Mr X - 9 / Mrs X - 7)

Value (Mr X - 4 / Mrs X - 5)

Service (Mr X - 8 / Mrs X - 8)

Food (Mr X - 6 - Mrs X - 6)

TOTAL - 67