#41 Caribbean Delight - Sam's synopsis

Caribbean Delight had until recently remained elusive to us - we tried to dine here at least twice, both times being foiled one way (unexpected closure) or another (airport delay). However, we did finally make it and it did not disappoint.

Caribbean Delight and Jamaican Jerk Hut are only a few blocks away from each other on the same street, which seems like a high local concentration for such a distinct type of food. I tried to do a quick search to see if this area is a neighborhood for Jamaican/Jamaican-Americans, but I couldn't find that detailed of information - I did learn that Philadelphia has the second-largest Jamaican-American population in the country, although this is an uncited fact on Wikipedia so you'll have to await further confirmation to find out if that's actually true.

I, of course, immediately
started singing "Barracuda"
by Heart in my head when
I saw this painting.

The inside of Caribbean Delight is painted with beautiful, colorful murals of Jamaican culture and history. It made for a very cheery experience, and I imagine coming in here on a cold, blustery day to eat a heaping amount of jerk chicken or chicken with brown gravy is a good way to beat the winter blues. I especially liked the bathrooms - "he's a shark" and "she's a barracuda," with respective paintings for each.

Since I had recently had the same dish - chicken with brown gravy - at Jamaican Jerk Hut, I thought it would be a great idea to order it here and compare. Overall, I would say the dishes are pretty evenly matched - you have the option of getting a small or large portion at Caribbean Delight (the small is already way too big - I don't even want to know what the large looks like) which is an added bonus. I think the gravy at Jamaican Jerk Hut was slightly more flavorful, but the meal at Caribbean Delight was still delicious. It comes with two sides of your choosing (another added benefit) - I got brown rice with beans and mac 'n cheese. The mac 'n cheese was in a nice casserole form - a nice mush of cheese and noodles (what more can you ask for?). The rice was a good vehicle to sop up the gravy and the chicken was very tender - my only complaint is that there were a lot of smaller bones/bone shards that made it a little annoying to eat at time. This was a small price to pay for a great meal - I had plenty leftover for lunch, and the leftovers held up. There were also plantains, which were what you typically expect for plantains. I can only sort of enjoy them, because they remind me too much of bananas (for obvious reasons). I ate too many damn bananas as a kid and now I really don't like them anymore, so that's a personal vendetta and nothing against the plantains served here.

Did I mention I love gravy?

If you want tasty Jamaican food, I would recommend either Jamaican Jerk Hut or Caribbean Delight - I suppose this could be turned into an East vs. West Broad battle, but both have their merits and both have tasty food that will leave you full and satisfied.

Caribbean Delight

1124 South Street

Philadelphia, PA

(215) 829-1030