This place is legit! I grew up not too far from Little Jamaica in Toronto (Eglinton and Oakwood),…read moreso have had my fair share of Jerk Chicken (oh man, I miss the days of Toonie Tuesdays where I could get jerk chicken with rice and peas for $2, but I digress). The jerk chicken at Island Grill is amazing! The chicken was tender fall off the bone, and nice and spicy and full of flavour. The chicken thigh was cut up, but no bone fragments, which I appreciated. The jerk chicken meal was $13.50 and came with rice and beans, 2 pieces of plantain and the best coleslaw ever! The coleslaw was vinegar-based and slightly sweet. I much prefer this type of coleslaw to the creamy mayo-based ones. The cabbage was crunchy and really tasty. The rice and beans were excellent, soft and fluffy, not mushy at all. The plantains were soft and sweet. Island Grill usually has space for dine-in, but that section was closed off and they are only doing takeout at this time (Covid Pandemic still on-going). Service was quick and efficient. They sell hot sauces, plantain chips, and a few other items. They also had coconut cake and other desserts. Street parking only.

This place is hands down the best Jamaican place I've had since my trip to Jamaica like 3-4 years…read moreago!! So authentic and flavourful!! We came here by fluke walking down bank street and feeling hungry.. we saw the sign and as we came in , the scent of epic Caribbean spices just hits you right away. Service: Very friendly girl at the counter was super sweet and explained the menu perfectly and we ordered within 10-15 minutes our food was ready! It's a hole in the wall but don't be fooled the food is To die for. Food: FRESH PACKED WITH FLAVOUR!!! We got oxtails & Jerk Chicken. It was literally fall off the bone! The oxtail was my favourite part because it's such a rare dish prepared Jamaican style and it was super tender definitely worth every penny. The plantain was super delicious usually its hard to get it cooked right but this place definitely did! Veggie Fritters were amazing , rice was soft and delicious love how they drizzle the ox tail sauce on the rice and the beans were pretty good. The patties were alright but not the greatest..I would skipp the patties next time & go for everything else again instead ahaha Overall: Food /Quality Price , Service and ambiance was amazing super impressed and you definitely need to try this place out if you're in the area and craving an authentic homemade meal!!! Cheers

I've only eaten here a few times, but it had been awhile and I was in the mood for Caribbean, so…read morethought I'd order from here. I don't get to have Caribbean food very often, so I got both of my cravings - the curried goat roti and oxtail meals. The curried goat roti was buss up shut. I actually like buss up shut (not wrapped) better because curry goat is always bone-in, so I find it less messy this way since you don't have to open it up. Flavour was great, not too greasy, more meat on the bones than I've had at other places. I just wish there was more of it! There were some large onion slices that I had to cut into smaller pieces, but that didn't bother me. I liked the hearty fried plantains, but could've done without the salad that wasn't as fresh as I would've liked. The roti was perfect, made with chickpeas (flour?), soft and moist, flaky, and still warm. The oxtail was marinated then braised, and came with fried plantains, steamed vegetables, Congo peas (pigeon peas, which are actually beans), and rice. The gravy was good - salty, but very tasty with the peas and rice. Like the curried goat, it also had large onions slices and more meat than I expected. There was more meat than the curried goat dish, but I still wish there was more. The veggies were nice and firm and just had a bit of butter. My husband had the bbq ribs and a side of jerk chicken (chose the white meat only option). The ribs came with fried plantains, peas and rice, and salad. He really enjoyed the ribs but also wished there were more. The jerk chicken wasn't very spicy or had much jerk flavour and had the same barbecue sauce on it, which did help the dryness. Maybe the dark meat would be better next time. We also had the fire wings with tamarind dip. There were four wings in one order - two drumsticks and two flats. They were breaded and crispy and came with the both the fire sauce and tamarind sauce on the side. We thought there would be more and would come tossed in the sauce, but I'm glad they were plain so that they weren't soggy. The fire sauce seemed to be the same barbecue sauce used for the ribs and ribs, which we didn't find very spicy. Tasty but not the spicy "fire" we thought they would be. That was okay, though, because the husband doesn't like it too spicy, anyway! The tamarind sauce was spicier with chunks of tamarind, a bit more watery than saucey, but not too sweet and good flavour. We ordered a side of fries to munch on, but they never came, and we received a refund. Our order came with a free can of coconut water. It a 500ml can of sweetened coconut water with coconut pieces from the Grace brand. All in all, the food was delicious, we just wished they had more meat in the dishes for the price, as we could've easily eaten so much more of it. Sorry, some of the photos are blurry - the husband was too hungry!

This is a Lil secret in Ottawa! The food is delicious. Lots of vegan options. I had the Buss Up…read moreShut Roti with vegetables. Everyone at the table enjoyed their food. The service was local style. Great conversation, very knowledgeable about the menu and food options. Very willing to make changes to the menu to accommodate your preferences. The place is very clean and welcoming. A must do when you are in Ottawa. A taste of the island in the middle of cold Canada. Thank you to the Lil Negril staff. Complements to the chef.

We decided to give this place a try while in the area visiting family. We always try to support…read morelocal small businesses particularly carribean-owned businesses. The restaurant is located in a strip mall area nestled between a few other restaurants. While it does not look fancy from the outside or inside. It definitely makes up for everything once the food arrives. The woman who took our order was so nice and very helpful for those who may be indecisive about what you want. We came here for lunch and tried the lunch special. There is seating available for a few customers but you could also do take out. We had the griot and fried chicken special with rice and beans, plantain, pikliz and drink. The food was so tasty and flavorful. We had just the perfect amount of food to leave filled and satisfied. Both dishes had just the perfect amount of spices. The griot was cooked to perfection. The pikliz was just spicy enough but not too hot. Wish we lived in the area to frequent it more often. If you are looking fir authentic carribean and haitian food, this is the place for you. Definitely will recommend to family and friends in the area.

I travel 40% or more and I often end up in dinner meetings at ery expensive places. It is nice to…read morebe able to eat a place that is simply, down home. From the outside, the neighborhood, nor the block, looks high-end. But I have learned never to judge a book by its cover. In this case, the storefront. Does it need an update, yes, but the food is spectacular. I ordered the oxtail and it was phenomenal. The beef was tender and the rice and peas, were just right. The plantain was huge, flattened into thin patties, lightly fried, but sweet. The macaroni salad was delicious. You will enjoy it. A must visit. Bon Apetit.

Food: 5 | Service: 5 | Atmosphere: 5…read more Wait time: No wait Parking space: Plenty of parking Parking options: Free parking lot Quality: Top notch fresh ingredients and cooked to perfection-Jamaican to the core. Portion: Plentiful Authenticity: Jamaican to the core! Menu Options: Extensive-so much to choose from. Venue/Ambience: Welcoming customer-care, quality service delivery and operations, excellent menu/wall displays for ordering, decors interior/exterior tidy, clean and paint colors and art made for a nice ambience. Kudos to the chef(s) and customer care team for their diligence and hard work. BRAVO!

Friendly service, super tasty food (I had the goat roti with hot sauce), good prices, and excellent…read morereggae mashups while you're waiting for a pickup or eating in. It was the perfect place to pickup a quick tasty lunch while we were heading out of town. Good job Ocho Rios. See you next time.... !

First time trying the food at this restaurant and I am not disappointed. The jerk chicken was…read moredelicious and the beef and chicken patties were amazing! I highly recommend!

I checked out this new Jamaican restaurant in Blackburn Hamlet and it was good…read more I got the large jerk chicken platter ($17.99). It came with a drumstick and a thigh. I was expecting more meat for a large, since the large jerk chicken at my favourite place in the Bayshore area is 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs and costs a little bit less. However, I guess this is Blackburn Hamlet and not Bayshore. At any rate, the chicken was nicely spiced and fall off the bone tender. I loved the rice and beans, it had a distinct coconut milk taste that I enjoyed. I got 3 very thin slices of plantain, like razor thin, lol. They were good, but so small in amount, haha. I did get a big dumpling, which is essentially fried dough. It was slightly sweet and not too dense. A bit oily for my tastes, but it was good. I enjoyed the salad which was lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and olives. The vegetables were all fresh. The takeout box was plastic, which I like over styrofoam (although cardboard is still my favourite). Service was courteous and it didn't take too long for my food. I got takeout but there are seats to eat in. The restaurant is in a converted house. I think it's the only Caribbean restaurant in Blackburn Hamlet. There's a small amount of free parking on-site.

I'm starting off 2023 with a 5 star review!…read more This place is legit! I grew up in Little Jamaica in Toronto (Eglinton Ave West and Oakwood Ave) and this place reminds me of all those jerk chicken joints along Eglinton back in the day. And the taste of the food brings me back there too. If you can't handle spice, you might want to steer clear of the Jerk Chicken, but if you like a fiery kick, I definitely recommend it. So I got 2 large Jerk Chicken meals ($17 each) and a large Oxtail meal ($18) for my husband and I and my parents. I have a huge appetite and I can't finish a large, but half a large is not quite enough. So I feel that 3 large meals for 4-5 adults is about right. They have small and medium meals, but a large is a better deal ;) The Jerk Chicken is spicy, but a good kind of lip tingles spicy, not like burn your mouth and make you cry spicy. It's also very flavourful and fall off the bone tender. They only have drumsticks and thighs here, no breast meat. The Oxtail was also good. Less spicy than the jerk chicken but I wouldn't say mild. It was tender and tasty. The rice was delicious, you can taste the coconut milk. I would have liked more beans, but that's just me liking beans. A tad oilier than my preference, but still very enjoyable. I'm not usually a fan of coleslaw, but this one was alright. Not too creamy and it had a good crunch. It helped to cut the heat a bit. The owner is super friendly. He greeted me with "Sistah!" which made me feel very welcomed, and he had a really good positive energy to him. Service was fairly quick too. It's strictly a takeout joint, no place to eat in. They only accept debit or cash, no credit. I found this out when I went to pay with a credit card and he said only debit or cash, and cash is always preferred. I was going to pay with debit, as I don't always have cash, but then I realized that that day I actually had enough cash to cover the meals and told him such and he seemed very pleased. He said "remember your cash when you visit the Rasta man" which made me chuckle. That guy is awesome. The prices are inclusive of tax, so it's nice round numbers when paying cash. The only room for improvement in my opinion is the takeout boxes. They are styrofoam, which is never my preference. Would love it if their takeout boxes were cardboard, but there's no denying the food is da bomb! It's on a residential street. Other than its neighbour that's a barber shop, the rest of the street is houses. There's a tiny parking lot in front, otherwise it's street parking.

I usually avoid Caribbean food outside of the Caribbean and this place reminds me why. Maybe it's…read morethe time that I got there or maybe it was a lazy day but this is not what I know as Jamaican food. The rice was strange and lacked substance and the chicken had an off putting taste as if it's been defrosting in that dirty kitchen at room temp for days. This is me politely describing the flavor. Never again, especially this far away from the islands

Food wise, it's cheap and large portion. But there's little variety. Everything is big bread with…read moredifferent variations of toppings. For mine, it was soggy where the toppings were placed because of the olive oil. Service was close to non-existent. They forgot my Coke until I reminded them. It also took time for the food to be ready or to get the bill. I only saw one star, so I assume he's the wait staff, the chef and the cashier.

Pre-pandemic, I had an appointment down the road and I decided to walk the 15 minutes to get some…read moreEthiopian food. I used to live in the area and visited their old location on Gladstone ages ago, so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to try their new(er) location, also on Gladstone. I've only had Ethiopian food a few times in the past, including at Blue Nile, but I was in the mood to try a dish I never had before. The restaurant had just opened for lunch so it was empty. I was grateful to have the full attention of the server, who I realized later was also the cook - the one and only staff member there! He was patient with me as I took a look around and debated over what to get on the menu before asking him for a suggestion. He asked if I ever had tibbs before, a staple in Ethiopian cuisine, and I hadn't, so that's what I ordered. I definitely read the menu, but I didn't pay attention at all to what he was making. I just said yes and got excited lol. It was about $12 at the time, before taxes and tip, though the price didn't matter at all because I was hungry and drooling at the sights and smells of him making the food. He made it with such care, packed it for takeout with such care, and rang it up with such care. He was very kind and courteous. Top-notch service. It was about 20 minutes or so before I was able to sit down to eat it and it was still piping hot. I had no idea what to expect. Whatever it was, it was fully wrapped in a huge piece of injera. When I unfolded the injera, there was a giant portion of sliced beef, onions, and peppers in a tomato-based sauce. I looked at the menu online and saw you could get juicy or dry, so I assumed I got juicy. My coworkers kept asking what I got, saying it looked and smelled amazing. A couple of them even tried some. It was delicious! The beef was tender and the sauce was very flavourful. The injera was light and spongey, not too sour. The meal was super filling, too. The injera soaked up some of the extra juices and it was all great to eat it with your hands. I would, however, separate the beef from the injera if saving leftovers, as the injera at the bottom would be super soggy. I would definitely eat here again. Maybe in person next time! I was tempted to buy some of the snacks, spices, and other pantry items by the cash, but I get carried away with that stuff and I knew I wouldn't be able to carry it back with me. But I totally regretted not getting anything. Definitely next time, too!

The food is OK at the greatest, it's very bland, but the most important thing I find is their…read morecustomer service, their customer service is awful, the lady that works there with a short hair I believe is the wife of the owner, he's is nice but the lady is so rude

I ordered for takeout during COVID-19, so they are definitely open! It wasn't too busy inside but…read morethere was a good steady stream of people picking up their orders. The owner is super upbeat and friendly. Excellent service. We ordered a Jerk Chicken Poutine and Oxtail / Curry Goat Combo. Both were delicious! The poutine has big chunks of chicken and a good amount of heat. It was delicious, though on the soggy side cause of the amount of gravy but I didn't mind it at all. We had to wait a few minutes since they make the fries fresh each time. The Oxtail and Curry Goat combo was so good - I don't know which one I liked more! The peas and rice were flavourful. The salad wasn't anything special but it was fresh - no wilted lettuce or anything like that.