I just had a geat food experience a coupe of weeks ago. I was on
Yelp looking for a new place to eat. I had read a bunch of reviews about a Jamaican place that was run by one woman from the island. She makes traditional Jamaican foods and also has a wide vegan menu for those that want. The reviews I read were glowing so we decided to try.
We were the only ones in the restaurant on a Sunday afternoon for lunch and it was a good thing because the place was tiny. We walked in and instantly felt like we were back in Jamaica. Reggae music was playing and the walls were covered in photos, paintings and other art straight from Jamaica.
The owner is the only person who works there. She is chef and hostess and she does both extremely well. My wife and I went to Jamaica for our honeymoon and were struck by how friendly and helpful everyone on the island was. That has carried over to this restaurant.
Looking at the menu was fun in itself. Everything on it was a Jamaican specialty and everything was made with love. You could tell that this restaurant exists because Venice (the owner) loves to cook and share her food with others.
My son is notoriously fussy in restaurants, but Venice was so nice to both my kids giving them toys when she was he was fussing and playing with them and getting honest joy out of them exploring her restaurant.
The food was amazing. We shared a jerk chicken plate and a chicken and beef patty plate. Both came with fried plantains and one came with amazing coconut rice and the other with a delicious salad loaded with Jamaican fruits and heirloom yellow tomatoes. There was also a cabbage salad and some other goodies. Venice also gave the kids a bottle of Ting (Jamaican version of 7UP) and even though we do not usually let our kids have soda we made an exception this time and let them have a treat.
I was grinning ear to ear the whole time we were there. It really felt like we were on vacation. Actually, what it felt like was that we were at a good friends house for lunch. My wife commented later that she loved seeing would happy I was there.
For those in the MA-Worcester area, you can read my review of the One Love cafe
here.