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| so tropical |
Jamaican Jerk Hut might be the most famous restaurant we've been to so far - it's been featured in a Hollywood movie AND on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Despite such publicity, it remains a humble restaurant bent on serving authentic food. The interior is painted to resemble an isolated beach - I definitely wished I were sunbathing on the shores with nothing but palm trees and blue ocean, but that might be partly because it was chillier than it had been all week, meaning sitting outside wasn't an option. One of the biggest perks of the restaurant is their outdoor space, which is very large and consists of several bright pastel (that's probably a bit of any oxymoron but I can't come up with a better description) picnic tables. In the summer, there is live music on Fridays and Saturdays and I even saw a bunch of live music there during
Blocktoberfest. I seem to remember reading/hearing that the lot where their live music/outdoor space is has been bought, and they are relocating the outdoor area to an adjacent lot, but I can't seem to find evidence for that anywhere.
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| that's a lot of food |
Another BYOB, another 6-pack from Tangier (as of writing this, I only have 9 beers left! woot!). We started the meal with coconut shrimp, but I'm not a huge shrimp fan so I didn't try any - you can ask Sandya about that one. I did eat a lot of the lettuce on the plate though, and that was good, but I was also very hungry. For my meal, I went with the brown stew chicken dish. I suppose being at a Jamaican Jerk Hut I should have probably ordered the jerk chicken, but if you read this blog on a semi-regular basis (Hi Kate??) you should know by now that I don't really do the whole spice thing. Also, anything with gravy in the description is usually a sign of something delicious - and that assumption was spot on. Most of the platter dishes come with rice, cabbage, an assortment of vegetables and a fried plantain. Mine, of course, was also slathered in brown gravy and whatever that gravy was made of was pure heaven. Thick, salty and flavorful (LOLZ), it really made the dish in my opinion. The chicken itself was moist to begin with though, and it tore apart really easily, which in my mind means it was cooked to perfection. The rice and cabbage were equally good - cooked to just the right level of softness and were good vehicles for extra gravy/flavor. I only wish my dish had come with some corn on the cob, but I got to try my neighbor's and it made me happy. One of our party was adventurous and had the oxtail dish - it sounded like it was pretty good but I didn't get a chance to taste it. I also didn't end up eating my plantains (blasphemous, I know) but I imagine they were pretty spot on.
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it wasn't until the end of our meal that
I realized drawing on the table was
an option. |
Jamaican Jerk Hut is a staple of Philly and featured in the media for a reason - it is tasty, affordable food with a home-cooked vibe served by friendly staff. It's got great outdoor space, and helps maintain a sense of community within the neighborhood. My only complaint is how quickly I needed to find a bathroom, although I guess that's to be expected when you order gravy...
Jamaican Jerk Hut
1436 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 545-8644
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