Restaurants

  • Jerk City

    Budget choice
  • This small café is the perfect antidote to the fury and fast pace of nearby Oxford Street. If you’re not already a Caribbean convert, Jerk City’s welcome of smiling staff, soft reggae music and an uncomplicated menu will quickly win you over. The venue is a popular lunchtime hangout with the area’s media types, yet a steady flow of dreadlock-sporting customers gives some reassurance of authenticity. Food is ordered and paid for at the counter, then brought to your table, heaped high. Jamaica’s national dish, ackee and saltfish, is a popular choice, as is the jerk chicken. The portions are enormous, so no one minded us splitting a chicken roti, an East Indian-influenced dish of flour pancake wrapped around curried meat and vegetables. As with many meat dishes cooked Caribbean-style, the stewed chicken came richly seasoned: so much so that the peas and rice were a necessary respite. If you’re after something lighter, try a takeaway patty – a flaky pastry pocket filled with spiced beef, chicken or vegetables. It’s Jamaica’s most popular fast food, and best eaten straight out of the paper bag.

  • Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009

Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
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  1. Posted by Red Hair Gal on 16 Oct 2009 09:33

    After 'loitering' outside Jerk City and Savannah Jerk for about 10 minutes trying to decide which one we should go to - Jerk City came out tops! Mainly because my friends and I had read the online reviews and although a simple café look - it plugged the better food, healthy portions and jerk chicken just 'like your mamma made'. If you want to try Caribbean for the first time - THIS is NOT the place to go to. The service was shoddy - and not one that we had with a smile. The girl serving was so dour-faced that I was too scared to even ask for an extra set of cutlery and side plate for us ( there were three of us and she came out with two sets). The food arrived quite randomly - the jerk chicken wings were covered in barbeque sauce - not even a pinch of jerk seasoning in site. The fried fish starter was dry and chewy and covered in Encona pepper sauce - hmmmm, that's not how i make my fried fish. And then to our dismay the jerk chicken main arrived - very healthy portion can't argue about that - but , completely covered in barbeque sauce. Where is the authentic seasoning that jerk is famous for?!?. This was something that I wouldn't even buy as a microwave meal in tin foil - we were so disappointed. We then realised that an hour into our meal, we hadn't yet received the fried chicken and plantain that we'd ordered as starters. So my friend went up to ask. Nothing was mentioned about the plantain but the girl swiftly brought over three pieces of chicken from the cabinet on the takeaway counter. We looked at it - tentatively tried a bit and left it. It was cold and chewy and had more elasticity than an industrial rubber band.
    We soon left the cafe and went on to a coffee place for a comfy sofa and yummy desserts to wash away the taste of barbeque sauce and cold chicken.
    If you're a Caribbean food virgin, please don't go here as it will only paint a very poor picture of what real authentic Caribbean food is all about. and this was not it.

  2. Posted by RiceBucket on 01 May 2009 14:02

    The service was very slow. The front desk struggled to cope, no doubt due to its popularity and good reviews. This I find hard to see why.Tthe jerk chicken was bland & dry. It was smothered in bbq sauce. Rice&peas was also dry, probably the reason why they added gravy on top (and the bbq sauce). There are much better (and cheaper) in Thornton Heath.

  3. Posted by Henry Loh on 22 Apr 2009 12:22

    My first time to Jerk City was also my first taste of Caribbean food, so I can't say much regarding the authenticity. However, what I can say is that the food was delicious! The portions were quite large and the food was very hearty and full of taste. My only grumble was that they didn't have any roti skins or fried plantains left (which we wanted to try), though I guess that this is only a testament to how popular they are. Overall, a great find and I will be going back.

  4. Posted by Sharn on 17 Mar 2009 12:50

    This is a very sweet little place - very friendly, nice staff and great food. No pretentiousness and no nonsense, no frills, just food and service. I love it dearly.

  5. Posted by JayT on 09 Mar 2009 12:49

    This is the best place in London for jerk chicken......the staff are polite and laid-back, the music always right, and the food is always amazing. You're in the middle of town and you won't get better than this.

  6. Posted by Gabe on 08 Mar 2009 22:26

    A great little restaurant, we went there for a quick lunch and found great food at great value, with an accompanying authentic atmosphere. Definitely worth a visit (or two!).

  7. Posted by Dila on 13 Nov 2008 16:09

    I LOVE this place! Since I was introduced to it about two years ago, I love love love it. I know some people complain about the service here but I prefer a chilled out, hands off service where they don't bug you every two minutes so I'm happy with it. Plus, they're really warm nice people. The food is simply great. Best Caribbean food I've ever had in London and their prices are very reasonable - especially considering their location! Even for the big eaters out there, I wouldn't advise bigger than a normal medium portion because their portions are really generous
    all in all, I really love this place. Even if their drinks cabinet is sometimes on the empty side ;-P

  8. Posted by Bijay on 08 Aug 2008 10:54

    I took my two sons for their first sampling of Jamaican food yesterday and they fell in love with the food, the cream sodas and the atmosphere. The jerk chicken wings were a great appetizer - we each got one full wing to sample. The sauce was tangy and spicy but was thicker than I remember eating in Jamaica (over 15 years ago!). The chicken roti was filled with thick pieces of white meat and the roti was soft. The curried mutton with rice n' peas was delicious although it could have been spicier and with a little more salt. The mutton was tender as it should be and the rice was perfect. All dishes come with a small salad of shredded lettuce, cucumber and tomato which helped balance the spicy taste. I washed it down with a delicious ginger beer. For 22GBP it was a great deal and all of us walked out full, without being overstuffed. It had been years since I had Jamaican food and the wait was worth it.

  9. Posted by Sharon Harris (registered user) on 18 Mar 2008 15:48

    Arrived after lunch and had time to sit down and wait for my takeout order, soup. Restaurant seems a little dark and could do with brighter colour scheme. Service was the best ever and came after 5 mins. Thought i would check soup for meat (mutton) as last time there was not even a bone in sight. Got back to work and unwrapped ..... Chicken Soup! Ate it same way but will advise them of their mistake on my NEXT VISIT when i go to get my lunch again. The last time there was no meat at all!!!! Have learned to accept the service but make a point of expressing thoughts if i feel things are not right. See you soon.

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  • Details

  • 189 Wardour Street, Soho, W1F 8ZD
  • Area: Soho
  • Tel: 020 7287 2878
  • Category: Caribbean
  • Travel: Tottenham Court Road tube
  • Times: Meals served 10am-10.30pm Mon-Wed; 10am-11pm Thur-Sat; noon-8pm Sun
  • Price: Main courses £6-£8.50
  • Credit cards: MC, V
  • Map

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