Yeah man!
The innovative team of Brian Chung and Chris Cargill, formerly of Jamrock fame, have knocked heads together to come up with another affordable and tasty meal package.
November 23 has been scheduled as the official start-up date for the new jerk delivery service which has a designated delivery route covering corporate and St Andrew areas from Orange Grove to Cross Roads in Kingston.
The delivery time guaranteed by the operators is 45 minutes for its motorcycle team which delivers seven days per week from 11:00 am to midnight.
It is an idea whose time has come as the jerk concept, which had historic beginnings with the original Maroons, is getting not only local but international acceptance.
The company, located at Blaise Industrial Park, Constant Spring Road, has designed a menu consisting of authentic jerk chicken, sausage, pork and wings.
A combination of sauces — hot pepper, honey blend and home blend come alongside the meals, which are served by the pound.
Side orders including rice and peas, cole slaw and hard dough roll are available as well as sweet tooth choices of bread pudding, coconut macaroon and sweet potato pudding.
The new product was sampled by some members of the Jamaica Observer editorial team.
With lunch hour traffic, they are not going to make it up to Fagan Avenue in 45 minutes.
Turns out they made it in less than 45 minutes.
A very pleasant Kevin Smith delivered the attractive packages of food to executive assistant, Christine Griffiths.
The reviews for the chicken and pork combos were good.
“Excellent,” said associate editor, Vernon Davidson.
He particularly enjoyed the home blend sauce and of course his Red Stripe Light, we are on the job after all. Davidson, a spice connoisseur, would have preferred a hotter sauce, even though he understands that operators must be careful with pepper since they are cooking for a variety of people.
He recommends a special fire sauce for those who like it hot.
Supplements co-ordinator, Michelle Barrett agreed. She thought the pork is well-done but like Davidson would like the sauce to be more spicy.
Business reporter and constant ‘snacker’, Shauna Brandon enjoyed her meal and thought the flavour was good but would have liked the sauce to have a stronger jerk taste.
“The meat was good, I like both and I usually only like jerk pork,” she told the Foodpage.
The “quick, friendly service” was impressive for Griffiths, a model of efficiency who pays keen attention to these little details.
“The rice and peas tastes like home-cooked rice and peas and they actually came on time,” she said.
Contributing editor, Novia McDonald-Whyte, whose opinion on food is usually well-heeded and sometimes feared, gave the service and its innovators two thumbs up.
“It is nicely packaged,” she mused aloud in her trademark British accent.
A stickler for hygiene she noted, “the bread is actually done in plastic so I know that people’s hands haven’t touched it.”
“The chicken has a lovely smoke flavour and the pieces are nicely chopped,” she concluded.
McDonald-Whyte commended the Chung/Cargill team on their new initiative.
“Once again we fully understand the importance of foods — this could be launched in New York.”
For this writer, it was a very nice Jamaican lunch, except that some festivals would have been nice and a natural juice added to the beverage selection for those of us constantly watching our waistline.