We have been streaming a lot of reggae music the morning before, so when it came time to choose something to eat for dinner, Jamaican was top of mind.
According to insider Door Dash intel, Riddim & Spice sees a lot of pick ups for deliveries. So not having much experience with the cuisine ourselves, we decided to follow trend; but picking up for take out instead.
Walking in to the restaurant you can tell that the pandemic has taken its toll, and the restaurant is still trying to recover their dine in business. There are a few table pushed towards either ends of the restaurant, clearing a path from the door to the back counter and kitchen. A straight walk cross their checkerboard floor. With decorative wicker along the walls and some traditional art work hung, you can imagine the fulsome setting that once was.
Nonetheless we were here to order and go, and considering how fast the food came out after we paid, I believe much of it was premade for the day. Given the heated display of Jamaican Patties on the counter we decided to order one beef and one chicken, skipping the vegetarian option. Sadly due to their extended time under the heat lamp, they were both on the drier side.
They were salted enough and had a flavour, they just lacked depth of the flavour. A dipping sauce would have helped tremendously here. The shredded chicken came in a mild, salty curry mix so could have used a curry dip. And the beef was like a Sheppards pie so ketchup or a tomato based marinara would have gone well with it. Although having said that, it wouldn’t be Jamaican cuisine anymore.
You don’t often see Ox tail on many menus so we were excited to order that. A stew of beef ox tail and coloured peppers served over rice. A good option if you like struggling to pull scarce meat and cartilage from bone, like we do. There was also some sort of rice cake in the mix, adding to the softened chewiness of the dish. As a whole, there was plenty of beefy flavour in the stew, just not enough gravy to coat the meat and drown the rice. And certainly not enough sauce or gravy to warrant the roti and bread offered on the menu as sides, that we did take them up on. This was also the case for the other stew based entree we ordered below.
Each entree also came with a side salad. A scoop of barely dressed greens served in their own individual boxes, that we didn’t even touch. This seems like a waste of containers. And I was in disbelief as I pulled each out of the paper bag, one by one.
We ended up having their roti with our jerk chicken. A Chickpea flour wrap that was hard, and left your mouth dry without any sauce. It did not have a nice texture on its own, and needed sour cream. It was just okay as the carb to our chicken leg. Jerk chicken with Jamaican all spice and pepper. Based on the look of it, we thought the chicken was going to be baked juicy. It was not. Well seasoned on the surface layer, needed salt overall. Dry due to a reheating, I suspect.
The other bread option offered was coco bread. We were able to try one, as it came sitting on top of our order of Ackee & salt fish. The bread is like a doughy bun, not much to distinguish it.
Sautéed traditional Jamaica ackee and salted fish. “Ackee” is a fruit of the Sapindaceae family, as are the lychee and the longan. It is native to tropical West Africa. (As taken from Wikipedia). It is pictured here as the yellow bits that resemble scrambled egg. Together with the salty fish it offered a nice base and a different texture to chew through over rice. As a whole the dish was not like anything else I have tasted, therefore hard to describe or compare to anything else. It had sour and tangy spicy notes, that left you with a heat that hits the back of your throat.
The Curry goat with goal meat, spices, and coloured peppers ate like a typical Chinese- style, dull spiced curry with plenty of chilli. Not very memorable.
To summarize, the food was decent and inexpensive. It reminded us of a lot of different dishes and tastes that we knew of, from else where. Therefore we could not fully appreciate this as is was.
Riddim & Spice
1945 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5N 4A8
(604) 215-9252
