ottawa foodies

I went here yesterday and had one of the best curried goat dishes ever. The goat was tender, the gravy was thick and savoury, a great mouth feel, with just enough heat ( I like hot) to make me sit up and notice. A beautiful dish! The rice and peas rocked and the slaw was tasty. I could not stop raving bout this curry.

I come here for lunch every once in a while. I'll have to try the curried goat again as it's been a while, but I remember it being delicious. That being said, I've had the oxtail here a couple times and I always forget that it's just ok. I like the rice and beans and the veggies are normally pretty good with a small amount of kick to them.

I'm not normally rushing to get back but I like to drop by for a change of pace from some of the other nearby food options.

I had take-out from CZ yesterday for lunch. I probably eat there every few months.

While it's not the best island food I've had, it can certainly fulfill a craving.

I had the half portion of jerk pork. The rice and beans were good, particularly with the gravy. The veggies (cabbage) was fine. The one plantain (more fried banana than plantain) is always appreciated since they don't always have them. In the past I would order the jerk chicken, oxtail, or vegetable roti so yesterday was my first time getting the pork. The jerk pork was quite yummy and mildly spiced although I had three huge hunks of nothing but fat which was disappointing since that was a waste.

I also had a beef patty. It was fine.

All in all, it fulfilled my craving although I would have loved a bit more portion-wise. Total was $12.

Today I got oxtail with rice and peas from this place and it was not fresh at all. None of it. i've had this dish from another place before and it was quiet good. This was around lunch time. Not impressed.

Got a jerk chicken roti here today for lunch. Delicious. Very spicy. Love this place. Worth checking out for authentic island-inspired food.

Went to Caribbean Sizzler for lunch today. Had the vegetarian roti with plantain ($4.50) and a fried dumpling ($0.75) on the side.

The roti was okay, it came with coleslaw. The veggie filling was greens, carrots, potatoes, and cauliflower. It was okay, a bit watery for my taste. The plantain was pretty good. The dumpling was a bit doughy in the centre and maybe would have been better if I'd salted it.

It was alright, and certainly full of veggie, but I would have been happy if there had been a veggie curry option instead.

I used to go to Caribbean Flavours when I first moved to Ottawa five years ago, but I've since been converted by the Sizzler. Put it this way--I find that the food at Flavours tastes like it's been made to order, which given the wait time, it no doubt has. But try those long-simmered, meat-falling-off-the-bone stews and curries they serve up at Sizzler, and you'll see that "fresh tasting" is all relative. I want my oxtail braised the day before, relaxing in its tasty gravy all night, and served hot and tender the next day. Sizzler's oxtail is fantastic; so is their curry goat. Also some of the best chicken roti I've had--though I do have a soft spot for Mugena's, culinary highlight of the Blues festival.

Basically, the oxtail and the goat (with rice and peas, of course) are so good here that I'm afraid I haven't tried much else, except the callalloo greens, served as a side dish. One time they were amazingly good, all spicy and vinegary; the next time they tasted like they'd been cooked with nothing but salt and onions. Still, worth trying, if only to feel a more virtuous after all that meat. The place is nothing to look at--about as much atmosphere as the fast-food wrap joint or whatever it was that used to be in its spot--but plonk one of those velevety stews on a styrofoam plate for me and I'm happy. Check out the Express review and the comments--the Jamaican comment-writer apologizing to his/her mom says it better than I can!

Dark, full salt soy. That is the key to a good jerk marinade.

The dark colour may be do in part from the use of soy sauce in the marinade.

I've had a number of jerk dishes that were dark do to soy sauce. Island Jerk at 1800 Bank St., now closed, comes to mind.


Here is more info on Jerk. they mention the use of soy sauce.

www.seriouseats.com

Although it looked scorched, dry and just plain burnt this Jerk chicken was moist and really flavourful. Nice level of heat in the rub but you can ask for more jerk sauce to turn it up. Rice and beans were nice and the plantain was good as well. $8.5 + $5 for the obligatory Red Stripe.