On Wednesday night, we decided to introduce Julian and Shelley to Jamaican cuisine by taking them to Jerk City up in Soho. Their menu looked authentic enough, so I took the liberty of ordering some food for everyone to share -
- 2 pieces of coco bread
- A large jerk chicken
- A large oxtail curry
- Two beef patties, and two lamb patties
- Ting
Well, I was very disappointed to learn that they were out of patties! Unbelievable! They were also out of Ting, but since they weren’t serving rum I wasn’t too disappointed with that. Anyway, we continued with the order and ate the other things – the oxtail wasn’t as tender as it should have been, and the jerk seasoning on the chicken tasted more like BBQ – but the rice and peas was actually quite good (hear that Mom?).
Still on our hunt for patties, we tried the more formal restaurant next door – Mr Jerk. There was quite a line for a table here, so to shortcut things I asked one of the waitresses if they, too, were out of patties. She said, “No, we don’t serve patties, you’ll have to go next door”.
How can you call yourself a Jamaican restaurant and not serve patties?!
Boo. I heard that Jerk City was pretty good although I hadn’t eaten there. You’ll just have to wait for the Notting Hill Carnival. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding what you want there.
Is it wrong to crave the Patty we never got a chance to eat?