Jamrocks Jamaican Grill: 5917 Manatee Ave W, Bradenton FL, 34209 (941)896-9979.
Take a culinary adventure to Jamaica with amazing food in a chill setting at Jamrocks Bradenton.
I must have driven by the place a hundred times and never paid it any mind so when my friend said lets check out Jamrocks in Bradenton was definitely skeptical. It's not as if there is a huge underground following of Jamaican food in Bradenton so I was a little leary about what to expect.
When You Walk In
It's a pretty mellow vibe as you are greeted by jamaican music just loud enough to be heard but where you can enjoy your meal and not have to talk over it. It was a sunday evening so there were only a few other people in the restaurant and we were promptly greeted by our waitress who was all smiles and quite polite.
You often walk in to a place like this and expect to get some skewed, americanized version of what some guy thinks is authentic Jamaican cuisine but when the waitress handed us the menu we could see that, at least on paper, the place was authentic. I mean, where else in Bradenton do you get curry goat and ox tail?
Heavy Accents = Great Food?
The waitress recommended the jerk chicken nachos (Which I have to admit might have been the best nachos I ever ate in my life) so we took her up on them and asked some questions about other menu items. She told us to hang on a second while she asked the chef. She does a 180 and asks this guy at the bar (Later we found out his was Chef David, part owner) if they had what we requested and when none of us could understand his answer over his heavy Jamaican accent I was sure we were in for some serious cusine.
I ordered the entre sampler which came with all three of their signature dishes, ox tail, curry goat and jerk chicken. The rest of our party ordered a variety of dishes including a pork chop with a pineapple chutney, a Montego bay snapper dish which was seasoned with lime and cilantro and covered in carribean salsa and another full entre of ox tail. The meals came with a choice of two sides but most of us went with the fried plantains and rice although I heard the steamed cabage was supposedly delicious.
A Flavor Explosion
The nachos were a great indicator of what was to come. The melted cheese sauce with jerk chicken fed the 4 of us well and did nothing but leave us anticipating the arrival of our dinner choices.
When the food finally came there was a silence that overtook us as we all dove right in. Rodney, the other chef/part owner sat there watching us as if looking for a thumbs up or something but I think we were all too busy shoveling this delicious cusine in oour mouths to even notice.
When I finally looked over and saw that he was looking at us I gave him a nod as if to confirm what he already knew. That we loved the food. The meat was so juicy it was falling off the bone and after adding a little bit of their home made hot sauce had a flavor that you have to experience to believe. I never knew it but it turns out ox tail, at least this preparation, is delicious.
Thanks for Desert
None of us really wanted it but when Rodney called for them to bring us a piece of the bread pudding, compliments of the chef, who were we to refuse? It was served hot with a home made whipped cream that left me wondering why I claimed to not like bread pudding in the first place. I dont think the desert lasted more than a minute or two on the table before we were scraping at the remnants with our fork as if we were digin for more under the surface of the plate.
More Than Just a Restaurant
Turns out Jamrocks is more than just a restaurant. They have live music on friday nights and apparently there is quite an atmosphere when the lights go down. After Dinner we spent some time talking with Rodney and Chef David and turns out they are some interesting guys. Not that I undertood half of what they said over their accents but I told them I was a local small business owner and I would get them a little bit of online exposure.
So here it is, my first attempt at a restaurant review. Feel free to tear it apart or tell me what you thought below in the comments section.
In the meantime check out Jamrocks and see for yourself how your mouth can travel to Jamaica while siting right here in Bradenton.
