IN its past life, Jamaican Cuisine was in Waikiki. I loved the food, but complained about the location because parking was difficult. I can't help but feel a sense of deja vu now that the restaurant has been reincarnated as Jamaican Cuisine Bar & Grill in Restaurant Row. New location casts a chill
on fiery foodThe Row is more accessible, but I think the restaurant would be better off in cozier quarters. The 92-seat space vacated by Manzo's Trattoria left a big void to fill and with Jamaican fare not exactly a household cuisine here, empty seats outnumber filled ones.
There's nothing scarier to potential customers than empty chairs, which leads to speculation that the food is bad. But I would venture that the problem here is purely psychological. The rustic, homespun fare seems to lose some of its fun and fire in the stiff, excessive setting. This should not be the case, but it happens. For instance, a hot dog is great in a ballpark or Costco's parking lot -- but on a plate at Michel's? The pairing is too incongruous to comprehend.
IF you can shut out the environment, there is much on the menu to try, starting with jerk. After reggae, jerk is Jamaica's next chief export. Although I've seen it offered on local menus, none have had the authenticity of Jamaican Cuisine's. Here, Jerk Chicken ($12) is marinated in a peppery blend of garlic, allspice, cloves, thyme, Scotch Bonnet peppers and other ingredients, then blackened on the grill.There is Jerk Pork ($12.50) too, and if the accompanying sauce isn't spicy enough, you're welcome to turn up the heat with hot sauce in bottles at every table.
A favorite dish of mine is the Escoveitch Fish (market price), most often snapper or onaga that has been fried to achieve a crispy skin, then sauteed with vinegar, onions and peppers. It's tasty without any of the stinging sharpness associated with vinegar.
Peppers are everywhere, beginning with a Fish Soup that made my tongue slightly numb. In the soup were bits of shredded fish, carrots and chunks of plantain and occasionally the culprit bits of red chile would float by. Even a salad dressing was spicy,
Curry dishes of shrimp ($12.50), chicken ($10.50) and lobster ($12.50) are also offered, but I would stay away from the Jamaican favorite, Goat Curry ($12.50). The curry spices sink uselessly into the pool of oil rendered from the cooked goat.
Entrees arrive with soup of the day or tossed salad, plenty of coconut-milk flavored rice with red beans, vegetables steamed just right, and Festival, a sweetened cornbread.
Jamaican Cuisine Bar & Grill
Where: Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana
Next best thing to free
Elsewhere at Restaurant Row, Ocean Club has replaced Studebaker's with a new concept in decor (can you guess what that might be?), music (welcome to the '90s) and food (you pay).That's right, Studebaker's freebie pau hana buffet is gone. Let that be a lesson to those who got greedy and ate without dropping any cash for drinks. But at Ocean Club, the Ultimate Cocktail Hour, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., also offers the near ultimate deal -- pupu at half price or less.
You can get two Grilled Ahi Tacos in flour tortillas for $2.95 instead of $6.95, and a mound of ogo and onions tangled with Ahi Poke for $1.95 instead of $4.95. Wraps are filled with Kalua Pig or Chicken for $2.45 instead of $5.95. At these prices, anyone can afford to be a big shot.
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