Jamaican Cusine
Hartford has over thirty Jamaican restaurants, reflecting its large Jamaican population. There are at least 15 Jamaican take out restaurants on Albany Avenue alone. The food is always precooked and ready to be served into a Styrofoam container, and then placed in a brown bag with plastic utensils for takeout. Most restaurants offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many of the places are closed on Sunday.
Breakfast
Ackee and saltfish is the Jamaican national dish. Akee is a yellow fruit that looks like scrambled eggs. It is sautéed with saltfish (cod), onions and peppers. Breakfasts traditionally come with boiled green banana, yam, and dumpling. This dish will cost $10.
If you want a cheaper alternative, order okra and saltfish or cabbage and saltfish, which will cost you $6 for a small size. The meal, thanks to the boiled green banana, yam and dumpling is very filling and will keep you full for hours.
You can go in and simply order banana, yam and dumpling and it will run you $1.50.
If they have breadfruit, you can order a slice for $1.50. It is from a fruit that looks like pineapple, but has a distinct bready flavor and texture. It comes fried and is an excellent accompaniment to akee and saltfish.
Plantain is a traditional accompaniment to many Jamaican meals. The plantain is a thicker member of the banana family. It is allowed to riped to the point of the skin turning black, then it is fried. It is very soft and sweet. A side of plantain costs $1. It goes as well with lunch and dinner as it does with breakfast.
Lunch and Dinner
Typical menu items in most Jamaican restaurants include jerk chicken, jerk pork, curry chicken, curry goat, stew chicken, stew pork, and ox tails.
Jerk is just a name for Jamaican seasoning that is dry-rubbed or marinated usually on chicken or pork. Each cook’s jerk mixture will be different, but will likely include allspice (pimento) and Scotch Bonnet Pepper. Other ingredients may include garlic, thyme, cloves, scallions, cinnamon and nutmeg. Every restaurant’s jerk is different, which is one of the things I love about Jamaican restaurants. Everyone has their own homemade style.
Always order with rice and peas, which is the Jamaican rice cooked in coconut milk with kidney beans (called peas). Like the banana, dumpling and yam with breakfast, the rice and peas is very filling and a small order will last you most of the day. You can order white rice instead.
If you don’t want rice and peas and are being carb conscious, you can order chicken or pork by the quarter or half pound
I usually order jerk chicken, rice and peas, with stew chicken gravy. A small is usually $6 and with the rice and peas is filling enough for me.
Those who don’t like spice, should order stew chicken or stew pork, which are simmered meats that are cooked till the meat is very tender and delicious.
To fully sample the array of Jamaican dishes, you need to try oxtails and curry goat.
Ox tails are actually cattle tails. The meat comes on the bone and needs to be slow cooked until it is tender and will comes easily off the bone. It is often served with butter beans over rice and peas. If you order ox tails, be sure to say yes if they ask you if you want gravy. Ox tail, tastes like pot roast, and if slow-cooked right, the meat comes right off the bones. The gravy is so good; most places will not allow you to get it only you actually order the ox tail. Always ask for extra gravy – it is that good.
Curry goat is good, but the yellow curry powder will stain your uniform, so be careful. The meat is cooked with the bone. I also find goat meat tends to stick between my teeth.
Jamaican curry is flavorful and not too spicy.
Snacks
Beef, chicken or vegetable patties are a traditional dish, the filling in a lightly pastry that is often eaten alone or in the middle of a piece of sliced coconut bread. Patties are $1.75 each and 0.95 cents for the coco bread.
A coco-bite is a hot dog with cheese cooked into a piece of coco bread. It will cost you $3.10.
Gizzada, coconut drops and carrot cake are also treats that can be found at Jamaican bakeries.
Drinks
I like coconut water. There are two types, water with and pure coconut water, which is more expensive. You can also get Ting, which is a grapefruit soda. I sometimes order Soursop juice, which comes from the Soursop fruit. Most Jamaican restaurants serve pineapple, grapefruit and coconut sodas as well.
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Restaurants
Jahm Ske
My favorite Jamaican restaurant is Jahm Ske’s (pronounced Jam-skis) on Albany Avenue in the McDonald’s Plaza. 1291 Albany Avenue. Monday-SAT 6AM-12AM, Sunday 8 AM – 11PM (860) 246-7778
Jahm Ske’s jerk is not too spicy. Those who don’t like spice at all should order stew chicken, which just stewed slow cooked chicken, very tasty.
If you are looking for something extreme, try the Goat's Head Soup available on Fridays. Goat's Head Soup is made from goat brains with some vegtebles and maybe some dumpling thrown in. It is considered an aphrodesiac.
Jahm Ske doesn’t serve pork products.
Jerk Pit Cafe
The Jerk Pit Cafe out on Main Street (near Tower) has the best jerk pork I have had outside of Jamaica. I order a half pound for $7. I get the jerk sauce on the side, and sometimes they give you a couple pieces of bread to go with it. The meat is slow-cooked, peppery, and moist. I dip it the pork in the jerk sauce, but only if I have something to drink. A can of coconut water is the best accompaniment. I haven't tried the chicken yet, but if it is anything as good as the pork, it may rival Jahm Skee's for my favorite chicken. They offer the full array of Jamaican takeout dishes.
This place is open seven days a week and open late.
Jerk Pit Cafe
2940 Main Street
(860) 527-2214
Mon-Wed 11 am-12 mid.
Thursday 11 am-2 am
Fri & Sat 11 am - 5 am
Sun 2 pm - 2 am
Mr. Snapper’s Restaurant
Mr. Snapper’s Restaurant on Albany Avenue sells small porridge for $2.50 and fried dumpling for 60 cents. This small meal will keep you full until lunch time. The porridge is smooth, tasteful and has a hint of cinnamon. They have different flavors of porridge on different days, but it always seems to be plantain when I go in there. The fried dumpling is thick, soft and filling. Dumplings are basically flour, milk and butter mixed together and deep fried in oil.
1450 Albany Avenue, Hartford
Phone (860) 241-0619
Seashore
Seashore is on Garden Street just off Albany Avenue. It has excellent seafood soup and conk soup – great to have in the winter. It comes in a Styrofoam cup. Careful of inhaling little flakes of scotch bonnet pepper which give the soup a strong kick.
They have some excellent fish dishes (Jamaican’s love whole fried fish), but fish in general should be avoided when working on the ambulance as unless eaten quickly and disposed of, it can significantly stink up the ambulance.
Scott's
Scott’s Bakery 1344 Albany Avenue Open Monday through Saturday 8 M to 7:30 PM. Sunday 8-5.
Scott’s on Albany Avenue is a bakery that does not offer the full array of foods that other restaurants do. What Scott’s does offer are beef patties, coco-bites, and an arry of Jamaican baked goods such as duck bread and carrot cake.
Scott’s also has a restaurant at 3381 Main Street that offers traditional takeout such as curry goat, ox tails and jerk chicken, as well as another storefront on Blue Hill’s Avenue close to Mt Sinai, they have another small restaurant where you can get patties, regular meals and they have jerk chicken wings for $3.00 that are particularly good.
Golden Krust
Located at Albany and Woodland, the Golden Crust also has great patties. I personally prefer the patties at Golden Crust, which comes in a lighter pastry than Scott's. A beef or chicken patty costs $1.80. You can get coco bread for 90 cents.
Vegetarian
Lion's Den Vegetarian Restaurant
3347 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06120
(860) 241-0220
Mon-Thursday 7 am to 11 PM, Friday and Saturday 7 am until very late.
The Lion's Den is a vegetarian Jamaican Restaurant run by Rastafarians. No meat products, but they do serve fish. They used to be on Woodland Street, by relocated to North Main after the old place burned down. Try the Ital Stew or the Rasta Pasta. Have a soy patty. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also make great fruit and vegetable smoothies.
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