Taste of Jamaica Cafe and Lounge

This was my first time at this restaurant and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The food was great. The atmosphere was laid back and my food was served as if I was sitting at home in my living room with my family. I should have taken a picture but I ate it so fast by the time I thought about it it was too late I will definitely be back.

I really love Jamaican food and will never come back to this restaurant. I walk in and am go sit at a dirty booth (just water rings from cold drinks) no big deal. No one come to take my order. I walk to the counter and the waitress tells me that orders are taken at the tables. So we walk back to the booth and the waitress tells me not to sit in that booth because it’s dirty and to sit somewhere else (she never cleaned the booth). I ordered a ginger ale, chicken curry and a beef patty. She brought me a ginger ale in a can and a straw. No glass, no ice. 10 minutes later a lady comes out of the kitchen and places my plate in front of me. Not a word said and didn’t get my beef patty. For being Jamaican food and curry of all things, it was very bland. No one ever came back to see how I was doing or if I need or wanted anything else. The waitress was at the counter with her headphones on the whole time. There was a lady at the counter on the phone conducting personal business very loudly the whole time I was in there. I got up, walked to the counter to pay and my waitress asked me what I had ordered. Mind you there was only 1 other person in the restaurant while I was there. Never asked how the food was or if I was satisfied. Total was $ 11. I gave her my card and she tells me the machine is down. Cash only. So I give her a $ 20 bill and as she is doing that, the lady on the phone pulls it from her hand, sticks it in her bra and walks out of the restaurant. I’m given my chance with no words spoken and I just walk out. I’ll never go back there.

Taste of Jamaica Café and Lounge is a great place up on North Beltline Boulevard.
SERVICE:More quality then quantity. The quantity was good too, but quality matters to me the most. The service was quick, but well made!
PLACE: Not real crowded, due to it being the LAST PLACE you would expect to find Jamaican food. There are only 2 Jamaican restaurants on Unilocal Columbia. Mamajs is the other one, and I’ve never been there.
FOOD:Wonderful! The jerk chicken was the spiciest, but my favorite due to being delicious!
SETTING: There is a pool table, but someone else was playing, so we let him have the pool table to himself.
ALL IN ALL: This place is tremendous! I am going here again!

This place looks pretty sketch from the outside. Nothing like getting stared at the entire time you walk to the front door. I guess they don’t see our types around there much, I don’t know. Everybody was totally freakin’ out about it, but I told them to suck it up and give it a chance, I’ve been to worse places. Anyway, we walked by the locals and made our way inside. What looked like a rough bar on the outside, was an ok looking place on the inside. It sill needs some more plants and stuff, but we were there for the food, not the ambiance.
The food here warrants a solid 3.5, service was friendly as well. They only had like 4 things to choose from, which is much less than what’s on the menu. I had the curry chicken, peas and rice, and cabbage. To me, the curry chicken didn’t have that bite that I love about curry. It was good, but def could have been a little better. I tried a piece of the oxtail, which was decent. One of the others said the Jerk there, was better than what they had in Jamaica, so I guess it was good. I tried to get Sorrel, but it was all gone. I never had it before, so I wanted to try it. After all was said and done, everyone was happy we went, even though they were cussing me as we walked in. See, some of the best places to eat, don’t look like much on the outside. It’s what’s inside that counts.

Speaking strictly about the food.yikes. Out of EVERYTHING that was on the menu, some 20 something items, or close to it, they only had 3 choices available…3? jerk chicken, oxtails, and curry goat. I wanted curry chicken, BUT not available. I ordered jerk chicken and got it super quick. unusually quick. I bite into the meat and it is red through and through. Totally undercooked and tough as leather… All the great things I had heard about the food, I was expecting that meat to fall off the bone… BUT Alas. it was tough as hell and RED RED RED. not good. The rice/​beans was all right. nothing extraordinary, and so was the Mac/​Cheese. The atmosphere was great. Nice and small, friendly folks, good vibe. I would definitely go back to see a show or just relax. But the food DEFINITELY needs some work.

My brother and I came here wanting to try something different and ethnic. This place was recommended by a Jamaican aquaintence of my brothers. I don’t know why were surprised this restaurant looked like a hole in a wall considering it’s located on Beltine. This review is based on how we percieved the food as newbies.
The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t memorable either. If you’ve had curry before, don’t expect the curry meats here to be any different. Curry on any meat tastes like the same curry flavored meat. I had the jerk chicken. Definitely what I didn’t expect, but it wasn’t bad either. It reminded me of BBQ that’s been chilling on the charcoal grill for a long time. Both the curry and the jerk chicken were tough. I guess that’s how it’s done in this Jamaican restaurant. The sides were pretty much like any side dish you can find at a soul food restaurant and it tasted no different. They didn’t have a few of them available when we came.
My brother had the sweet tea thinking it was going to be southern sweet tea. I have no idea what they mix in it, but it will be the most interesting tea you’ve tasted. The flavor was like fruit punch… but with tea! We would love the recipe. They offer other drinks native to Jamacia.
Bottom line: Worth a try if your curious, but don’t be surprised if you don’t leave amazed. Try one of their non-​alcoholic drinks!