Lorenz Island Kuisine

Lorenz is closed. Went there two days ago and another restaurant is currently doing construction there

This place is closed, walk by the other day and they are doing construction and one of the larger signs were taken down.

This is the worst place ever. I will be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau as well. They definitely are delivering leftovers… there is NO MEAT on the food. Just bones and sauce. They totally messed up our order, they have refused to take
certificates for dine-​in orders because «they are losing money.» Yet they are still selling certificates through Unilocal,through Groupon, and through
!! The service is incredibly poor — we placed a phone order for pick-​up and they said 12:15. We got there at 12:30 and they said they needed 2 or 3 more hours. Tried again with delivery two days later and they sent us completely wrong food. Nothing was right. The driver and the manager sitting along in the car started arguing with each other on our porch. Now, it is taking over an hour trying to get a refund. We are trying to call them, have called several times. Now they have a woman pick-​up and tell us «this is not a restaurant,» even though we are calling the same number. They are refusing to provide a refund even though they delivered a box of plaintains instead of fried chicken. NEVER EAT HERE THIS RESTAURANT NEEDS TO BE PUT OUT OF BUSINESS.

Lived in the area for almost 10 years and never tried it til I bought a Groupon for 3 X $ 10 vouchers for $ 15. First time I ordered ox tail and food was disgusting. I thought maybe they gave me leftovers since I mentioned the voucher over the phone.
Couple months later, while on the go, I decided to give it another try since I already had the vouchers (only this time not to mention it over the phone). To my surprise, the guy over the phone said they couldn’t start it til I got there «because people order and don’t pick up».
When I got there and he made my food, I pulled out the Groupon voucher on my phone to pay and his exact words were «as of couple weeks ago the owner isn’t accepting these anymore because he’s losing money by only getting 30% from Groupon and can’t continue to stay in business this way».
I proceeded to explain I had already bought those months before and they should still honor them when he responded I have to «take it up with Groupon for a refund…»
Needless to say, I just walked out and didn’t take the food as I was not about to take a gamble on a place that I had bad food experience before and can’t even honor their deals/​voucher

Seriously bad. We got delivery from eat24. They were quick, but what they brought us was not good. Jerk chicken was ok, as was mac n cheese, but we ordered a fried chicken dinner and um… where was the chicken??? we got like 4 pieces of all bone chicken about the size of a baby’s fist. hardly any meat on them. disgusting.

I ordered takeout from eat24. And it honestly was good. Would I order from them again. Yes. But the only thing was delivery was a few min shy of a full hour, I’m not sure if that’s because I went thru a 3^rd party site or that’s generally how long it takes. I read the reviews before I ordered and decided to order to 1. Form my own opinion and 2. To write a review as well. The delivery person was very pleasant. I didn’t deal with the shop seeing that I ordered online soooo yeah it was good my family enjoyed the meal so I guess that’s all that matters huh?!

Honestly, I have no problem with the food. The curry chicken could be better but it is not bad. My issue is with the service. If I order a regular plate, or a plate with extra meat, I always get the same portion of meat. Why am I paying two dollars extra for the same portion? Also, for my most recent delivery they sent the driver with no change, so the driver had to give me the 4 dollars in his wallet because I refused to walk away with nothing, mind you my change was supposed to be about 9 bucks. If they don’t have something I wanted, they just send anything else they please without contacting me first. They don’t run their business in a professional way at all.

We had heard many great things from people who live in the area (we live down the street but had never tried it) — however out of the 2 times we have «tried» to eat there and our recent experience– we have been disappointed.
Customer Service:
The first two times we tried to eat there about 6pm in the evening they have been out of Fried Chicken as well as two other 2 other meat dishes we wanted to order. No mac & cheese, no desserts– all of which are listed on the menu.
Hungry and still curious enough we do a take out order (over $ 35 worth) online, only to receive a phone call to say they still don’t have some of our favorite ideal Jamaican dishes as well as one of our sides– and when asked what we would like instead, after taking about 10 seconds and asking them to give us just a moment (menu right in front of us) to look over the menu again they hang up on us. We were not going to call them back– but they called again 5 minutes later repeating the bad news. We order new items more quickly…
My husband waited for 5 minutes in the restaurant before the waitress acknowledged his presence when he went to pick up the food. She was merely at the counter putting together a meal directly in front of him without acknowledgement… for 5 minutes. My husband still proceeded to finally ask for assistance– to which she responded to him irritated, with no sign of desire for interaction. (And my husband = friendliest guy around).
Food:
Jerk Chicken– Extremely hot! Flavor good… but we had to run to grab a glass of milk (and we do spicy food) — Too hot (for us anyway) to really enjoy the flavor
Beef Patties– Good a little spicy but in a good way.
Curry Chicken– Actually very good, there earns the one star.
But even though the curry chicken WAS tasty… we agreed that there is no forseeable reason to return to the restaurant.

I’ve given this place a solid 4 which could of been a two due questionable service when we first entered but that all changed when the humble man from behind the counter took over which I’m guessing is the owner, the other waitress didn’t seem to care too much and repeating your order 5 times to someone having a blank stare on their face does not make you feel awkward or anything! Service with a smile people!
On to the food which was delicious… the beef patty is very good and I’ve had several different kinds in my travels and this by far is one of the best tasting for sure! My significant other had the jerk chicken which I sampled from her plate and boy was it spiced well and certainly jerky, she liked it (!!!) but complained that it was a bit boney which wouldn’t of been a problem for me as I like sucking on bones lol. I love salt fish and thats what I ordered for my meal, it tasted very good though the poritions could of been a tad bigger. though I can’t say they are small they certainly could be stepped up a little on the meat side thats for sure! Sadly we didn’t have a chance to try desert as we had to catch a movie.
All in all this place has a great atmosphere and I will return once again to enjoy the fine cuisine it has to offer!
Cheers!
P.S: The water here tastes a bit odd, we couldn’t really figure out why but it might of been from the tin it was poured from. No biggie.

The Best Thing to Happen to Dorchester since my man, Marky Mark Wahlberg was born!
I knew little of Jamaician culture besides Bob Marley and Cool Runnings, but this restaurant makes me want to book a flight straight to Kingston on Jet Blue! Simple and delicious mon. Only bad thing is they kind of blast that reggae too loud.
Insider tip: Jerk Chicken is tastier than it sounds.
Bonus Insider tip: The Roti Chicken is also excellent, but does have bones in it.

Man, that was some good fried chicken. We ordered delivery from this place last night and I’m pretty happy we did. The delivery time took awhile (they state as much on their foodler page), but I knew to expect that and the food was still hot and tasty when it got here, so who cares?
I love that you can order a single piece of fried chicken. It appears that all they offer on that is drumsticks, but they were so good, I didn’t care. Plus, dark meat will always triumph over white meat when it comes to chicken.
The mixed vegetable medley is slow cooked cabbage and carrots which was just this side of mushy, but still good. The plantains are pretty good, but I could’ve used a sprinkling of kosher salt on them. I heard the mac and cheese was awesome, but didn’t try it myself; I can say that for $ 4, the portion seemed small to me. The beef patties were good, although prices seem a bit high for the patties with coco bread and cheese — there are lots places around here where I can get that for almost half of the price this place charges.

This place is so horribly managed, I’m surprised it still exists. They were offering Groupon-​type deals through a company called WOW! What Savings (no longer in existence — now I know why). They were offering $ 25 gift certificates for $ 2.50, and with the reviews on Unilocal!,the fact that they delivered, and the fact that the certificates didn’t expire, I figured it was a no-​brainer and proceeded to order 25 gift certificates. Seemed logical to me.
Well, about three weeks after purchasing, Lorenz decided they didn’t want to deliver to all of Dorchester anymore. Sometimes they would if they felt like it, but they generally refused (even though I’m only about two miles away, if that). Of course, to find out if they felt like delivering here on any given day, you had to call up and talk to one of the lovely Lorenz employees, most of which appear to not have a 3^rd grade education, making it very difficult to place an order in a succinct period of time without shouting and repeating yourself multiple times.
Fed up, I went to WOW! for a refund. The owner apparently went out of business and basically said «good luck.» Super. Now I’ve got 20+/- gift certificates to a place to doesn’t deliver (and I don’t have a car). During the most recent attempt at ordering (with delivery), I eventually got routed to the owner who had no idea what my gift certificates were all about (even though I had used two or three in the past), and suggested I go back to WOW! (for what purpose I’ll never know). Even better — now the gift certificates are completely useless. I hung up the phone and decided that I was done with Lorenz for good.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, the food isn’t even that good. It’s decent, but nothing to write home about. There’s more bone than meat on the oxtails, the saltfish is terrible, and the jerk/​BBQ chicken is just average. Not worth the hassle, certainly.

Lorenz Island Kuisine takes reservations if you are interested in eating in at one of their five or so tables. They also have a couple of high stools at the counter. If you are taking out, they have a separate menu for that, with slightly differing prices. The online menu seems to be the eat in version.
There’s a large faced clock to stare at while you wait for your order. It helped me to realize that I had to wait three slow minutes while my order, all packed and ready to go, cooled while the staff confirmed the validity of my voucher.
By the time I got my bounty home, nothing was hot, but some items retained their heat better than others. The goat curry ($ 9/​$ 11) with rice and beans and cabbage was warm enough even though the meat and the cabbage was served off the hot station. The goat was tender and tasty. There was a kick in this dish, but I don’t know if it was from the curry sauce or from the fluffy rice & beans…
I liked the slim tasty Beef Patty $ 1.60 with its tender, flaky crust and nicely seasoned beef, even though the meat filling was nearly a paste. The Mac & Cheese $ 4 was good too even though I think I got the last serving before the next batch was ready to serve. The plantain $ 4 was nice and sweet, as was the sweet potato fries $ 4.50. The fries exhibited the natural sweetness of the root, but was the softer sort of fry even though I saw them being freshly taken out of the fryer. The channa $ 4 was the biggest disappointment due to its too cool temperature, the dryness of the dish, and perhaps the solid nature of the chickpeas.
I had also ordered the intriguing sounding spice bun and Jamaican cheese $ 3.50, which I retrieved from the chilled dessert case. It resembled a dark breaded sandwich. Turns out, it was a fat sliced fruit cake of sorts baked into a loaf, with a fat slice of savory cheese stuck in the middle (not centered, and perhaps only filling ½ the sandwich). It was interesting… definitely nothing I was expecting.
PS, I spotted a few signs in their windows, among them: free Wi-​Fi, 10% discount for Snap cards.
*** ⁸⁄₂₀₁₁ visit ***
This time we ate in. The Johnny Cake $ 2 arrived as a single hockey puck on a plate. It was rather dense and tough. I didn’t notice any sweetness from the advertised «dash of sugar.» The beef
Jamaican Patty could be ordered by the piece — we got 2 for $ 4, freshly made, and hot both temperature-​wise and spiciness-​wise. The pastry was nice and flaky and crisp on the outside.
We shared two entrees.
Brown Stew Chicken $ 9 — chicken stewed in a mild brown stew sauce with bell peppers, onions, potatoes, carrots and Jamaican spices
Oxtails $ 11 — delicacy beef simmered slowly to perfection. The tender meat falls right off the bone
Each arrived on a plate with beans and rice, and cabbage. The sides weren’t particularly warm. The meats were warmer, but seemed to have been cooked in the same sauce. The chicken was tender enough, and the oxtails chewy yet not dry. Both were decent.
PS — 10% senior discount is another sign on their window. And I think you need to ask for a password if you want to use their wi-​fi.

This will be about the curried goat.
Lorenz serves great curried goat.
You don’t want to listen to me brag, but I’ve eaten an unusually large amount of curried goat for a white boy from Danvers.
Last summer, for example, I enjoyed this really gamey, oily homemade curried goat at a wedding. It was powerfully gamey. You know that slightly crooked feeling you get in your stomach from gamey food, but you keep on eating?
Elsewhere, back in my longtime neighborhood in Brooklyn, I often stopped for goat at this local Jamaican takeout shop. Their goat was not gamey at all. But it’s hard to describe the mushy texture. The goat would sit so long cooking in the curry that the meat became mushy and fibrous, and the whole glop had one uniform flavor throughout.
(Honestly, I enjoy oily gamey glop.)
(Lorenz is not oily gamey glop.)
LORENZ IS THE GOOD STUFF. Their curry has rich flavor. Spicy hot? I’d say a tiny little bit of heat, maybe, but that’s not the point. The point is the broad, lush curry flavor, so well balanced that you can’t very well isolate the individual flavors. Has a slight thickness, not runny like soup but not too gooey either.
THE MEAT IS SPECTACULAR. It’s recognizably goat, not glop, but not gamey at all. Do they braise it then refrigerate it before adding it to the stew? Is a pressure cooker involved? I’m curious how they get all the fat and tendon to render down to a delicious semi– liquid state without ruining the meat texture. Whatever the procedure, it keeps the meat together just right without sucking out all the stewy-​goo goodness.
THE BONES. I wrote recently about the odd Chinese cleaver technique for chopping up a roast duck, leaving unpredictable bones in every bits; a mystery. A similar problem (if I may call it a problem) occurs in curry goat. I didn’t mind it here. The meat slides off the bone easily. The bits of bone were large enough that you could find them and pick them out pretty easily.
Honestly, I found myself sucking goat bone and loving it.
THE RICE AND BEANS. Not overcooked, which is a frequent problem in spanish and Island restaurants. Here, fresh and fluffy.
JOHNNY CAKES — Fried bread, pretty much. I didn’t find it especially interesting. It’s mostly crust. I might opt for dumplings next time, or callaloo.
When I order rice & beans and curried goat at a restaurant, I think, this sounds fairly special — but I wonder how long until the novelty wears off? Will I enjoy the third bite as much as the first? Will I have to fight my way through the second half of the plate? Will I get that uneasy gamey-​meat stomach sensation?
Not the case here. I wiped my plate clean. It was a flavor I could eat all day.
$ 12 total.
Cute décor. Very kind staff. Casual service. I’ll go back again.

Let me start by saying I rarely ever venture out to Dorchester but I may have to start exploring the area more often. Lorenz Island Kuisine served up some delectable Jamaican food at great prices!
I had the Jerk Chicken w rice & peas and cabbage– Ckn was moist, spicy, perfectly seasoned and delicious! The bf had the Curry Goat which he really liked. We also had the Channa (delicious), Sweet Fried Plantain (good), Mac & Cheese (was cold), Johnny Cakes (yummy), and Red Velvet Cake (good).
Our server was very friendly and the food took a while to come out but we weren’t in a rush. This would be a great take-​out place if I lived in the area. Overall a good experience and I would go back if I’m in the area.

FINALLY! A Caribbean place that doesn’t make me sad inside! Not only is there an extreme shortage of palatable Caribbean food, they all use the term «authentic» pretty loosely. Lorenz at Island Kuisine knows what he’s doing. My mother’s side of the family is from the island of Trinidad and let me tell you, I know good curry when I taste it… so I was really hoping I wouldnt have another let down on this particular rainy night in Dorchester.
First off, let me tell you about the aesthetics of this place. Relaxed, homey and incredibly and sweetly inviting. The owners are there taking orders and serving up the food. We decided to sit at the little bar top on the stools and order. We chatted long after our meal was finished with the owners and joked around about our shared love for our crazy mixed heritage (he’s from Jamaica with an Irish grandmother as well as British roots). They invited us back on Wednesdays to see the live reggae bands they have playing, and we WILL be back.
I grabbed a groupon for 25 dollars worth of food and drink for 10 dollars on BUYWITHME, and headed in last night. I was dying to have some roti, but when I arrived I found out they were out of the skins to make them. Sad face. Not to worry though, I pretty much eat everything on their menu and love it. With high hopes I ordered the chicken curry with beans and rice, plantains and mac and cheese. My fiancé ordered the jerk chicken, with the same sides minus the plantains (silly man). The food was absolutely delicious. The chicken was moist, flavorful and awesome. The plantains were perfectly cooked little morsels of amazing. The jerk sauce was kicky, but not kick you in the face kicky. Just enough kick.
The best part? The pricepoint at this place. We spent $ 1.65 cents after our 25 dollar groupon and we were both full AND the proud owners of a beautiful piece of red velvet cake to take home with us from a local bakery. We actually decided to get two more small orders of curry chicken for our lunches today… And I cannot wait to eat it!
It was awesome to find a new spot, and it’s no doubt in my mind we will become fast regulars. The place is no more than 10 minutes from our place and would be well worth twice the trip. For those reviewers who commented on the lack of service or the «intimidating neighborhood». It’s Dorchester… not the Boogey Down Bronx. relax a little. Go to this place to have a great meal and enjoy some good people… It’s an experience you wont regret. See you soon Lorenz! I miss you already…

I have to thank Groupon for allowing me to find this place not too far from my house. They service up some great dishes from the islands from goat curry to oxtail stew. Love their johnny cakes, plantains and island sodas. Great seasoning to all their dishes and the rice and peas are very good.
The service is always with a smile and their recommendations are always spot on. Plus they deliver too.
Be sure to get there early because some of their dishes do sell out.

So far the best jerk chicken I’ve had — super spicy but succulent. I missed out on the plantains since they were out of them when I went (around 6:30…I guess they’re more of a lunch joint), but my jerk chicken made the meal more than worth it.
Next time I’m getting the ital stew or the curry, though. I never realized how easy it is to avoid vegetables in Jamaican cuisine.
I really liked the décor of the place, including the pillows on the booths. It makes it feel really laid back, like a Jamaican restaurant should be.

The guy working here was a total mensch, he was extremely friendly and helpful, explaining all the unfamiliar food items to the white queers in front of him. We asked about the Ital curry and he sold us on it. He is clearly passionate about the food. When we got home and tried it, we understood why. Ital is basically mixed vegetables, but in a delicious curry sauce. It was lovely! It wasn’t spicy, just flavorful. We also got the barbecued chicken, which was tender and covered in a sweet bbq sauce. The thing about Caribbean food, in my limited experience, is that the chicken is always dark meat. Which is not my fave. But this stuff still tasted great! I didn’t really eat the side of cabbagey stuff that came with the meals, but I did eat some chana, which was a little dry (the nature of garbanzos?) but flavored well enough to keep me eating it.
I dug the Jamaican sodas too. I got a grapefruit one that actually tasted like grapefruit! The prices here are beyond reasonable. You can grab a beef patty and soda for less than five bucks. Our feast with two combo entrees, multiple sides and sodas came to $ 30 and gave us leftovers for more than another huge meal.
My sole complaint is that it took forever for our food to get packaged up. We hung out for like a half hour, due to a miscommunication. Once it was cleared up, our time was wasted and food was cold. I should probably trim another star off because of it, but they really do serve up great food in a super friendly way, and I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.