You know a place is going to be good when you can’t spot the sign from the street right? Right. Well, Island Grill is a Jamaican spot that’s been open for a year now. I’ve been meaning to try this place out for awhile now but Dbone’s wife pushed me to give it a try when she saw the Journal’s recent review.
This is their “signage”, which you can only really spot when you’re walking to the front door.
Tuesday jerk chicken special. $9.99? Hell yeah.
The dining area is pretty bare but it’s clean, bright and the green wallpaper hints at sunny pastures. The TV was playing Ellen and I liked when they turned up the chill Jamaican music. Good vibez.
The menu only had three main items (along with two soups) to choose from. Talk about making life easy for the indecisive.
Make sure to order at the counter. They’ll bring the food out to you once it’s ready. The lady working was friendly and sweet even though she was the only one manning the front. She brought us waters and checked on us a to make sure we were good.
Couple beef patties remained in one of the display cases.
Beef patty ($3.50)
Dbone wanted to try out a patty so we gave it a try. This came out a couple minutes after our mains as they were being reheated. Just average in my books. There was a bit of heat to the beef mixture but the meat was lacking in flavour and the patty itself could have been flakier.
Jerk chicken ($9.99)
You need to go for their Tuesday jerk chicken special! $9.99 is a heck of a good deal. You get four pieces along with a solid portion of rice and peas. The jerk chicken was smoky, grilled, and well seasoned.
Coleslaw
A side of coleslaw is included with your meal. I found the sauce slathered on a little too much for my taste buds.
Goat curry and oxtail combo platter ($20.00)
We wanted to try out their other two meat offerings. I have no idea why they charge you $2.00 extra (well, besides making money off you) but c’est la vie if you want to sample both. The goat and oxtail were both excellent, but the oxtail was killer good. Succulent, perfectly cooked, the oxtail had a great bite to it that’s hard to describe. If you’ve ate good oxtail, you’ll know what I’m trying to get it.
More coleslaw, in case one wasn’t enough. One per entree.
Another solid addition to the west end area. If you’re craving some Jamaican home cooking, come here.
Island Grill
http://www.islandgrilledmonton.com/
15203 Stony Plain Road
Edmonton, AB
(780) 761-1260
CHERRY BOB-OMBS 