Caribbean – Around the World in 196 Plates

Country 104 – Guyana (Caribu West Indian Cuisine)

Published on March 8, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3412 Weston Road, North York
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Caribu-West-Indian-Cuisine-331412717492992/

It’s not often that a dish really blows me away — but the pachownee at Caribu West Indian Cuisine did. It’s an entirely offal-based dish, consisting of tripe, stomach, liver, and heart, and it was perfectly cooked to an almost improbable extent.

The liver and the heart had a nice meaty bite, but weren’t tough at all; everything else was amazingly tender. Silky, even, which certainly isn’t a texture I’d normally associate with something like tripe. I don’t know how they did it, but man, it was good.

It was also quite tasty, with a rich, curry-infused meatiness and none of the overt funkiness you might associate with offal. It’s got a bit of a kick, which is amped up by the bottle of vinegary hot sauce they have on the table.

It comes with plain white rice and a bowl of dhal (creamy lentils) to make things a bit more interesting.

Ordering it was kinda funny. The waitress looked at me with bemused skepticism and asked if I knew what the dish was. “It’s a whole bunch of innards,” she explained. She smiled when I confirmed that I still wanted it, as if I had passed some sort of test.

I also tried the chow mein with pepper shrimp, which was tasty enough, with a nice balance of savoury, sweet, and heat, and some very well prepared shrimp. But the noodles were mushy and the veggies were undercooked; it definitely couldn’t hold a candle to the amazing pachownee.

Country 092 – Dominica (Chris Jerk)

Published on September 22, 2019September 22, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2570 Birchmount Road, Scarborough
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisJerkCB/

I just talked about Brunei, a tiny country with a population of 400,000 that looks positively huge compared to Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic), an island nation in the Caribbean with a population of 71,000. It measures at 750 km², which is about a tenth of the size of the GTA.

As for Chris Jerk as a representative of Dominica, I’m cheating on several levels. It obviously doesn’t serve Dominican food, because how could it? The country is way too small to inspire restaurants outside of its borders.

Chris Jerk serves Caribbean/Jamaican food… kinda. Their claim to fame is jerk chicken shawarma, which you can order in a wrap, on a plate, or in a poutine. No, it’s not particularly authentic.

I tried the wrap, which is served in a tortilla. So it’s part Jamaican, part Middle Eastern, part Mexican, and all delicious.

Seriously: it’s so damn good. The restaurant was absolutely packed when I visited close to noon on a weekday, and it’s very, very easy to see why.

The wrap comes stuffed with the usual assortment of veggies, along with BBQ mayo, garlic mayo, and hot sauce. Fried plantain is an optional upgrade for an additional fifty cents.

The shawarma itself is absolutely outstanding. The chicken is perfectly cooked and tender, and the crispy bits? Out of control. The amount of texture and flavour you get from the dark brown bits is ridiculous.

It’s basically just really great shawarma — but then it’s got those jerk spices, which makes it delightfully unique.

The sauces and the veggies compliment it perfectly, and the ratio of meat to other stuff is perfect. It’s a seriously meaty wrap, but with enough toppings to balance it out. Plus, the plaintain adds a nice creamy sweetness that contrasts nicely with the crispy, savoury meat.

I know a lot of people are sticklers for authenticity; Chris Jerk is Exhibit A on why they’re wrong. Deliciousness is all that matters, and the jerk chicken shawarma has that in spades.

Country 081 – Saint Kitts and Nevis (Michael’s West Indian Flavor)

Published on November 4, 2018November 4, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3067 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: None

I’ve eaten a lot of seriously tasty stuff since starting this blog, but the meal I just had at Michael’s West Indian Flavor might just be the tastiest. Certainly, it would be in the top five. It was amazing.

Michael’s is a tiny little take-out joint (they have a few stools, but most people get their food to go) with just a handful of things on the menu: oxtail, curried goat, and chicken (which you can get stewed, curried, or jerk). Everything comes with a generous serving of rice and peas, and a side of coleslaw.

I got the oxtail, and it was an absolute taste bonanza. The oxtail itself was fall-off-the-bone tender, and the curry sauce was meaty and spicy, with a wonderfully complex flavour that never gets old; it’s one of those meals where finishing it makes you profoundly sad. And the zingy coleslaw does a great job of cutting the richness of the sauce. It’s absolutely perfect.

It’s a great deal, too. I ordered the small, which is loaded with a very hefty amount of delicious food for an even ten bucks. I challenge you to find another meal in the city with a better price-to-deliciousness ratio. It’s impossible. It can’t be done.

Country 052 – Grenada (Shandra’s Roti Shop)

Published on February 26, 2017 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5030 Maingate Drive #19, Mississauga
Website: https://www.shandrasrotishop.ca/

Roti is another one of those foods that’s eaten in any number of countries; I could have picked from quite a few for Shandra’s Roti Shop. Curry chicken roti is a popular choice in Grenada, so that’s what I went with.

Shandra’s is a popular place. I came at around noon on a Thursday, and the restaurant was absolutely packed. A place this crowded is usually a pretty good sign that your lunch choice was solid.

I ordered the aforementioned curry chicken roti, which was crammed with large, tender pieces of chicken in a creamy, flavourful curry sauce. My only issue was the complete lack of spice; you kinda just assume a dish like this is going to singe your tastebuds and add a layer of sweat to your forehead, so the very thorough mildness of this curry was a bit of a disappointment.

The roti shell is actually two thin layers encasing a dry mix (consisting of ground yellow split peas and other spices, according to Wikipedia), which adds even more flavour and texture.

It was quite good. Though the lack of mouth-burning spice (or any spice at all) was a bummer, it’s still something I’d happily eat again.