Carribean in Chicago?

One genre that we don't seem to have written about much yet is Caribbean, apart from Cuban that is. I tried Flower's Pot, I think on Zim's recommendation or somebody's, a year or two ago. The oxtail I had was quite tasty, what's not to like about slow-cooked beefy richness, but I remember feeling like I had paid a lot for not much meat (and surely oxtail is one of those cuts that ought to come pretty damn cheap-- I can imagine a plate piled with them at somewhere like Lao Sze Chuan for about four bucks). In any case, that's the extent of my barely-scratching-the-surface, but I know people like Rene G have turned up places on the south side and so on. Caribbean, anyone?

Belizean Flower's Pot
7328 N. Clark, Chicago
(773) 761-4388

Mike G wrote:One genre that we don't seem to have written about much yet is Caribbean, apart from Cuban that is. I tried Flower's Pot, I think on Zim's recommendation or somebody's, a year or two ago. The oxtail I had was quite tasty, what's not to like about slow-cooked beefy richness, but I remember feeling like I had paid a lot for not much meat (and surely oxtail is one of those cuts that ought to come pretty damn cheap-- I can imagine a plate piled with them at somewhere like Lao Sze Chuan for about four bucks). In any case, that's the extent of my barely-scratching-the-surface, but I know people like Rene G have turned up places on the south side and so on. Caribbean, anyone?

Belizean Flower's Pot
7328 N. Clark, Chicago
(773) 761-4388

I cannot speak to your central question right now, but I would offer this:

Oxtails are suprisingly expensive [ed. is that because there is one tail per ox, and who raises oxen these days anyways...?]

Oxtails are not so much expensive on a per pound basis but on a per meat per pound basis as there is always so much wasted stuff on each segment. In other words its not jut how much per pound, but how many pounds you need. Said as someone who is always trying to get his wife to make oxtails.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:Oxtails are not so much expensive on a per pound basis but on a per meat per pound basis as there is always so much wasted stuff on each segment. In other words its not jut how much per pound, but how many pounds you need.

I have fond memories of going to La Rosita (108th/B'way,NYC) for dinner almost every Monday for the braised oxtail special "Rabo," for 5 bucks (in the mid-90s) you got several large pieces of braised oxtail w/tomatoes and garlic served with rice and beans. Even more than the meat, the flavor of the bone marrow permeated the sauce, and it was really, really good. At least back then in New York the cabbie joints were all-night Cuban places sprinkled around the West side, including a few Chinese-Cuban.

I think a big difference is in the immigrant population. Here, the hispanics are mostly Mexican, with some Central and South Americans. In New York and New Jersey they are mostly Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Colombian. Mexican food is pretty bad in New York, and Carribbean places here seem equally scarce.

Well, there's quite a large Colombian community here, and the second largest urban population of Puerto Ricans in the country. But oxtails don't show up on their menus as much as at, especially, Cuban places and Jamaican places: two large Carribean countries where people eat beef.

(I was really surprised to see in a 2000 census report that we are third in South American immigration after LA and NY, but in front of Miami. Most of this presumably comes from Colombia and Ecuador.)

There is a smaller proportion of Carribean Spanish-speakers here. Re Cuban, as generations assimilate, there are fewer and fewer Cuban restaurants actually run by Cubans in Florida, NY/NJ, LA and Chicago (the places, in that order, with the most Cubans in the US).

But back to the oxtails. I think you would like the Ambassador on Ashland, just north of Addison. Celia Cruz used to eat there. Probably the single best dish at the Ambassador is the rabo encendido. They are pretty good at Manny's, too.

Jazmyn's in Evanston has oxtail as a daily special Wednesdays



Jazmyn's
1164 Dodge
Evanston,Il.
847.570.4811

California Ave. becomes Dodge Ave. North of Howard St.

here's some stuff cribbed from various CH posts I've made in the past. However, I can't find the post where I recommended Flower's Pot oxtail. Though I did, I remember menioning the caveat that it wasn't a lot of meat - the pricing however is pretty standard for the caribbean places up here that i've tried 9/10 bucks for a dinner which comes with rice, and side dish.

Jeff, I remember your recommendation of ambassador in the past when i asked about oxtail on CH, it had slipped my mind, but I do inted to try them out, waddya think of La unica's?

San's which is mentioned below, is unfortunately no longer in business

Caribbean American Baking Co.
1539 West Howard
(773) 761-0700

Caribbean-American sells Jerk Chicken (and pork though none was avaialble last night) $6.00 per pound. It's juicy, moist, nicely spice rubbed and hacked to order. It doesn't have much smoke flavor however. the sauce which is the color/consistency of a watery urad dal (sorry my heritage coming out) is flavorful but not one of the real good ones around town - the flavors that come out most are the fruity, sweet tones of scotch bonnet rather than the heat - i would have liked it if it had ccoked down a little more. it comes with a couple slices of the dough bread that you get everywhere (which after all most likely originate from this bakery)

For dessert options We tried a couple of things, brownies for the kids, corn cake (moist buttry really good) and also some banana cake and sweet coconut bread. The banana cake was good but not anything that would beat something brought into the office by a co-worker, the coconut bread was little dry to my taste. Everything is however amazingly cheap. I've previously really really liked their coconut cookies


Spice Garden Cafe
2055 Howard St.
773-262-7096


Going in, I new it porbably wasn't the best place to order jerk chicken as it didn't have the overpowering heavy smell that the best jerk places do, but since I've been on a little kick recently we ordered a jerk chicken as well as on order of oxtail to give it a try.

The jerk was definitely more baked than anything else in a barbecue heavy sauce chunky with onions and stuff, ok, but not really what I want from jerk chicken.

The oxtail was better, (both kids said they liked it better than rancho luna's but not as much as San's or Flower's Pot) I thought it still a little tough and not gelatinous, long cooked enough, but with good flavors.

No ting to be had, but they did have some nice imported and packaged in kingston, frozen in white plastic bottles coconut water, much fresher tasting than some of the canned stuff you find.

Overall I'd say you're better off in the area going to au Rendez vous or Flower's pot for the wetter dishes or Caribbean-American Bakery or Linette's for Jerk.


79th st - Tropic Island, B& B caribbean, Island Delites & Mr. Vigorous roots tonic

The other night a buddy of mine came into town from LA, and we decide to go down to 79th for some jerk chicken tasting, unfortunately time was somewhat limited so we weren't able to get to RST's much praise JR jerk hut on 79th & ashland but we did manage a couple places. At each we had a jerk chicken dinner with rice& peas and cabbage

First off was the sitdown tropic island, as has been said before this is great chicken and even better jerk sauce. My buddies who are haitian-american claimed the sauce was similar to one one of their aunt's made in haiti (Very high praise) cabbage was sweet but still firm

Next was B& B carribean traditions, slighlty further east, also sit down - very nice place, nice atmosphere, good tunes, moist and flavorful chicken, larger serving size than the 1/2 chicken dinner at T.I but the sauce was quite a letdown after tropic island, smoother, sweeter, less flavorful, like having bottled after homemade, in fact we went back to the car and snuck in some of the takeout containers of TI sauce to dip our chicken into.

Whereas we had washed down our tropic island with ting grapefruit soda, at B&B we spied one lone bottle of "mr. Vigorous Roost Tonic" - with a name like that who could resist - when we asked the proprietor if he had enough for all 3 of us - he said "No, that's good, we can't keep any around. The bottle, distibuted by Eve's Importing featured a large jamaican version of Mr. Clean showing off a Mr. Universe Style Bicep. among the ingredients: Chaney root, Sarsparilla, briar root, "Strong back", "4-man strength" --it was kinda good, very carbonated but with a flavor I can't describe - how do you describe something whose main ingredient is Chaney root? Cabbage was longer cooked here and rice mushier

We didn't get to Island Delite but both my buddies had been there previously and described it as similar in quality to B&B and not on par with tropic island

79th in general seems to be quite a worthwile earting zone, beside the places mentioned - Old world pizza has reopened quite close-by, there's Captain's Hard-Time dining and Izola's which both looked pretty interesting and slightly classier, orbit subs etc.

Tropic Island Jerk Chicken Restaurant
419 E 79th St
773-224-7766

also at 1922 E 79th St

B & B Caribbean Traditions
716 E 79th St
(773) 873-1261

Island Delites
2347 E. 75th
(773) 978-3200


I've never eaten at Rootsman corner, but Linnette's is pretty good. There are also some other carribean options in the area (se below), I liked Flower's Pot and Au Rendez Vous very much. At all these places, only 1/3 to 1/2 of the menu may actually be avaialble on any given day, and at Au Rendezvous they run out of the specials early. There's also Carribean-American Bakery, which has jerk and Homestyle Cookin in Evansaton (Which I posted about recently which does Island food on the weekends, but I haven't tried them on the weekend yet)

Au Rendez Vous (Haitian)
337 Howard Street
Evanston
(847) 475-2053
http://www.evanstonillinois.net/aurendez-vous.htm

Last night I finally got around to trying som stuff from Au Rendezvous on Howard St. This place has been praised a few times by RST and Monica Eng noted it in the cabbie story recently.

We called for pick-up around 3:30 or so and already the day's special was running low so we tried a few things of the regular menu:

Griot (Fried Pork)
Poulet (Stewing Chicken)

the poulet was served with a large portion of rice and beans kinda cuban congri style and the griot came with some plantains verte (fried kinda crunchy green plantain discs) and little containers of a picklies (habanero slaw -folks who like the slaw that comes with pupusa will like this)a flavored mayonaise type thing (red pepper?) and a a great dipping pour over sauce for the the little chunks of flavorful fatty pork - Eng described these like "Puerto Rican carne frita but without chewiness" which is about right.

the poulet was pretty flavorful and had a nice sauce (I wish there was a little more of it) though the meat was a little stringy.

Folks are very nice, (they get a kick if you speak french to them) even if when you first walk in it may seem intimidating or that you're the center of attention. A decent option in the area but unless you really want specifically haitian I'm not sure I'd travela cross the city for it.

I'll have to go back early one of these days before the specials run out.

....May, I think, for repeated health code violations. It stayed shuttered for months, that big green LICENCE REVOKED sign on the door, and then one day, it was gone. (was able to monitor it pretty closely, as I live a block and a half away). The space is advertising that a BBQ joint, Bob's, will be opening soon. Hope it's good - if it is, I may just move in.

Bulletins as events warrant.

Mike G wrote:One genre that we don't seem to have written about much yet is Caribbean, apart from Cuban that is. I tried Flower's Pot,

Mike,

I've been going on and off to Flower's Pot since April 2000, when Monica Eng wrote about them in the Trib, and the one thing I can say with absolute certainty about the restaurant is they are inconsistent. When they are on their game the ox-tails are brimming with goodness, flavor rich, delectable meat, when they are having an off day you get shards of shattered bone, scraps of meat and an oil slick that would put Captain Hazelwood to shame.

Lest I sound too negative, when Flower's Pot is on their game they can hit a few out of the park, whole red snapper, stew chicken, good sides and delicious fish empanadas, which they refer to as panades, served with a side of a habanero laced mix that is simply wonderful.

I typically found service slow, but friendly. We happened to be there one night when the owner was having a birthday party for a niece, which was fun. The b-day cake was delicious.

Enjoy,
Gary

Flower's Pot
7328 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL
773-761-4388

JeffB wrote:But back to the oxtails. I think you would like the Ambassador on Ashland, just north of Addison. Celia Cruz used to eat there. Probably the single best dish at the Ambassador is the rabo encendido. They are pretty good at Manny's, too.

Jeff,

I haven't been to Ambassador for a few years, sounds like time for another visit. Oxtail, hummmmmmm.

Speaking of Manny's I love their oxtail Evil Ronnie style, with kasha mit bowties on the side, instead of potato. I also think, though am not 100% sure, Thursday is the only day Manny's serves oxtail.

Enjoy,
Gary

Manny's
1141 S Jefferson
Chicago, IL
312-939-2855

But back to the oxtails. I think you would like the Ambassador on Ashland, just north of Addison. Celia Cruz used to eat there. Probably the single best dish at the Ambassador is the rabo encendido. They are pretty good at Manny's, too.

My husband would very much agree with you on this. I like them as well, but am more fond of the ropa vieja, which is also quite good there.

According to a local website, Caribbean American Bakery has been shut down due to building collapse. The owner apparently plans to re-open when the building is repaired, thank goodness he got out in time!

I apologize for my fuzzy memory, but I can't even remember the name of the place, but I do remember driving by it once.

There is a jerk chicken type restaurant in Maywood, right next to the entrance to the courthouse. Anybody know anything about it?

Since ths thread talks about Caribbean, I guess I should link to the thread about D's Irie Cafe, which has the best and, as far as I have found, only genuine jerk chicken being served in Chicagoland.

For Belizean I can highly recommend Tickie's. It's right off the Howard el stop. Spartan decor, great prices, good food. Soild tamales and beans and rice as well as more Caribbean items like dukunno and conch fritters.

Tickie’s Belizean Restaurant
7605 N. Paulina
Chicago, IL

Mhays wrote:According to a local website, Caribbean American Bakery has been shut down due to building collapse. The owner apparently plans to re-open when the building is repaired, thank goodness he got out in time!

Jeez, I leave the neighborhood for a day and something like this happens!

They had scaffolding up for about a week before, trying to save things. I had no idea it was at risk of collapsing. I'm happy to hear no one was hurt, and hope they can get back in business without too much disruption.

Mhays wrote:According to a local website, Caribbean American Bakery has been shut down due to building collapse. The owner apparently plans to re-open when the building is repaired, thank goodness he got out in time!

Huge bummer. CAB has the best beef patties in the city. I buy them buy the dozen, frozen. And I'm running low on supply. Please keep us posted on the opening.

I regret to pass on the news that Tropic Island, on 79th near Stony, has closed. I consider this a real tragedy as this little shop put out my favorite jerk chicken (by far) in Chicago. It was the juiciest, the spiciest, the smokiest. Oftentimes its neighborhood would be enveloped in a thick cloud of fragrant chicken smoke. No more.

1922 E 79th Street, October 2008


Two branches of Tropic Island remain: one in Chatham a couple miles west on 79th and a newer one in Calumet City. I haven't tried the Chatham one for several years because I always preferred the original. I sampled the jerk chicken in Cal City and was somewhat disappointed. Nothing terrible but not up to the standard set by the South Shore original.

Tropic Island (closed)
1922 E 79th St
Chicago

Tropic Island
419 E 79th St
Chicago
773-224-7766

Tropic Island
570 Torrence Av
Calumet City IL
708-730-0033

hey rene,

too bad it closed before you could take bourdain there - I've been to the chatham branch. though a different experience, I thought the food just as good

zim wrote:hey rene,

too bad it closed before you could take bourdain there - I've been to the chatham branch. though a different experience, I thought the food just as good

It *is* a real pity it has closed.. because Ive never been, always ended up going to the one down the street instead (didnt realize it wasnt as good

This Tropic Island used to be my favourite Jerk Chicken in the city, back in the day. But I havent actually been for a while now, because I found one that was IMHO even better... Uncle Joe's, on 82nd and Cottage Grove (they too have 3 or 4 locations, but Ive never tried any other than 82nd street). As of now, this is probably still my favourite Jerk Chicken... its between Uncle Joe's and D's Irie Kitchen, both are just about as good as each other IMHO (but the last couple of times D's has been a touch dry, probably because it has far fewer customers). In fact, I was once at D's Irie, and they were closed.. so I asked the owner of D's to recommend another spot for me for the day (hoping to make a new find), and he recommended... Uncle Joe's

D's does have very good Jerk-Fish, though, and is making an attempt at Jerk-Rib-Tips (though the ones I had werent all that great). But for good authentic spicy Jerk Chicken, I still cant conclusively say theyre superior to Uncle Joe's.

c8w

The Tropic Island on 79th has moved a couple of blocks east (the city took over their block to expand the library on 79th and King). Their new address is 553 E. 79th. The new place is much larger and has tables for eating in.

These comments come from the discussion of the Evanston Lunch Group's lunch on February 19, 2010 at Sweet Nick's Haitian Restaurant (741 Howard Street, Evanston) http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27501:

I was very impressed with Sweet Nick's. Sometimes when one visits a small or exotic restaurant one hopes for interesting or unusual food, but what really impressed me was how subtle the spicing was for their sauce (a sauce that was fairly similar for the conch stew, the fried turkey, and the goat stew. It must have contained some mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. In addition, the meat, which can be sketchy at small restaurants, was tender and delicious. The conch was particularly tender. The only real failure was the dried out plantain fritters, but this might have been a result of them not being prepared to order. We also had a bowl of cornmeal starch which was very worth ordering, a very aromatic mushroom rice, and a red beans-and-rice plate, which several of us (although not me) thought was the best of the group.

The Haitian cake was moist, but basically a pound cake. The chicken (meat) pie had a lot of flavor. Of course, a lot of the menu was unavailable and without us the restaurant would have been virtually empty with the exception of a few take-out orders. But I cannot think of a "Caribbean" restaurant on the Howard Street row that I have enjoyed more. I will certainly return. Many dishes on the menu were not available.

Should you drive, park on the north side of Howard, using the cheaper Evanston meters. Use your savings (or more) to contribute to the restaurant's attempt to help their countrymen (there is a plastic container on the counter).

Lunch with a nice tip was $13.00.

Continuing on with my campaign to up LTH's street cred here's a spot for y'all yo. I rode by a dope looking place called "The Bay" on MLK just off 79th street. From the looks of it I'm guessing it might of been an old BBQ shack. Rene G?


Chatham Neighborhood

From outside it also looked like it might of been a bar and restaurant but what caught my eye was the chimney and there was indeed the smell of smoke coming from it. No alcohol but if anyone wants to up their street cred they have a "juice bar" in back which is BYOB on certain weekend dancehall party nights. For all those who have no knowledge of the streets, that's "Bring Your Own Bottle" as in a 5th, not beer and wine. The chef was in back producing some wonderful smells and he had the Caribbean accent going on as yelled up orders to the front. The menu labels itself as "Upscale Caribbean Carry outs".


Made to Order Grilled Jerk Wings and Jerk Rib Tips

We were tempted by the jerk shrimp stir fry and also the jerk pork fried rice but went with an order of jerk wings, order of jerk rib tips and a 1/2 jerk chicken dinner. The nice lady working the front told us it would be 30 minutes on the wings because they're grilled to order. They were worth the wait. Perfectly prepared. I would of liked them a lil' hotter but otherwise great as is. The Tips weren't as good but still tasty. I should of got the sauce on the side. The jerk chicken dinner was top notch. What it lacked in spice it made up for in the flavor of the paste combined with the perfect amount of smoke. Legit place.


1/2 Jerk Chicken Dinner w/ Rice & Peas (below) sides of Jerk Beans and Mac & Cheese

The Bay Restaurant
7915 S King Dr
Chicago, IL 60619
(773) 783-8542

FYI if you go up and down 79th you'll see quite a few Caribbean places including a handful of jerk chicken shacks. There's a fun place I like to stop in when open called the West Indies Bakery.

The jerk chicken looks very similar to what the defunct D's Irie cafe used to make. I was just reading that old thread and wondering where I could get that style of jerk. Thanks for posting. The next time I get down that way I will stop there. Do they make Jerk Catfish also?

I ate at The Bay a couple years ago but never wrote about it. Comparing pictures, it looks like they might have a new cook. That would be a good thing, as everything I tasted (except the rice) was excessively sweet. The sweetness seemed particularly inappropriate for the cabbage and beans.



Cabbage, beef ribs, jerk chicken, rice and beans


Beans, rice, jerk chicken, catfish, broccoli salad


The Bay
7915 S King Dr
Chicago
773-783-8542

Rene G wrote:everything I tasted (except the rice) was excessively sweet. The sweetness seemed particularly inappropriate for the cabbage and beans.

I had a similar feeling about the food at Heaven on Seven;
the Collard Greens in particular were disturbingly sweet
(and the "Jambalaya" was just a piss-poor pilaf).

Posting here as this thread had the only reference to my new favorite jerk presentation: jerk fried rice. I was wondering if anyone else enjoys this highly satisfying dish, and if so, where they get it.

I stumbled across jerk fried rice quite by accident--I work at a school with relatively few food options nearby except for visits from an elotero and occasionally, a Jamaican food truck (not the fancy kind, just the sort with hot food storage on the back end). I caught a whiff of someone eating a smoky-scented dish one day and asked what it was, and lo, I was hooked.

I found out the truck came from Reggae Island on 51st and Halsted, kitty-corner from its competition Jamaica Island. Neither place is fancy, but Reggae Island is somehow less clean and tastier. Not for the faint of heart in either case, though. I finally stopped in yesterday to get my fix: jerk tacos, jerk fried rice, and jerk rib tips. All were pretty good--not fresh off the grill, but still smoky and delicious, with a nice, punchy jerk sauce that doesn't burn your tongue off.

The tacos are perfectly enjoyable, though I think this fusion food would benefit from better tortillas and less crappy lettuce-and-tomato filler. The jerk tips, too, were fairly tasty renditions of the style.

But the jerk fried rice, made with chicken pulled from the bone, is my favorite thing. It's basically a rice-and-beans/jambalaya hybrid with jerk providing the smoke element instead of sausage. No vegetables or egg as in the Chinese style--just rice, beans, and jerk chicken, fried together into simple, addictive food bliss.

Anyone else have any experiences with this subset of the jerk world? Perhaps I am alone in this, but I do find this stuff irresistible.