My rating might be a little biased because I've lived in Jamaica, but I found the food a bit too dry.
Although we waited 20min, the festivals were room temperature (didn't taste fresh) & the jerk chicken was over cooked/slightly burnt. The fish balls were fresh, but didn't have much taste, more like fried dough. The patty was pretty good. I wanted hot sauce, they charged me 1$ - i had already paid for the food..
Overall it wasn't awful, but it didn't taste like authentic Jamaican food, more like commercialized Jamaican food.
I've been wanting to try this place for a while, & after seeing ALK's reviews, I decided to visit the Laval location. Unfortunately, the owners were not there today (Saturday, May 16th, afternoon)
I ordered the large jerk chicken plate with a mango drink, a water bottle, & a patty.
At first, the cashier seemed okay & greeted me, but I noticed she never greeted my girlfriend. After we sat down, we realized she forgot to give us the water bottle we paid for. I brought the receipt back to the cashier & politely said,'Sorry, we didn't get the water bottle we paid for. Could we please have it?'
She then looked at me as if I had offended her & responded with,'Ohhh OKhayyyyy… do you want the water bottle now?' in a very sarcastic & attitude-filled tone. Honestly, if a customer politely asks for something they already paid for, there's no need for attitude or making it awkward. She could have simply handed over the bottle & moved on. I replied,'Yes please, my girlfriend would like the water bottle,' & she finally gave it to us.
While waiting for the rest of the order, I noticed another customer also seemed to be having an issue with her order, although that's unrelated to my experience.
When our order was ready, she called us up but didn't offer us any utensils or even napkins. Meanwhile, I noticed she offered utensils to another customer. At that point, my girlfriend & I just left the restaurant.
In my opinion, the cashier lacked customer service skills & came across as bossy & rude. If a customer pays for something & politely asks for it, there's no reason to respond with attitude. A little more professionalism & customer service training would go a long way because one bad experience can affect future business.
I may still give the original West Island location a try, but I don't think we'll be returning to the Laval location because we genuinely didn't feel welcomed. On top of that, I had ordered a macaroni salad, but it wasn't included & wasn't even on the receipt, so I didn't bother bringing it up.
Now for the actual food review:
Overall rating: 7/10
The chicken was good - nicely charred, tender, & enjoyable. However, I felt it could have used a bit more seasoning or spice.
I tried the sauce as well, but personally, I didn't enjoy it.
The rice was very bland & lacked flavor. I've had Jamaican food many times before, & I usually expect more seasoning or flavor in the rice. Maybe that's just their style.
The plantains were average, & the patty wasn't very good. It was flaky & fell apart while eating it, & the taste felt pretty generic. The coleslaw/salad also wasn't really to my liking.
The mini donut was a nice touch though.
Overall, I stand by my 7/10 rating. If the customer service had been better & the rice had more flavor, I probably would have rated it higher. (Also please note that this place is more of a takeout spot as they do not have any washrooms here, so you might have to use a toilet at the resto or another place next door if you need to use the washroom)
Like I said, I may still give the West Island location a chance.
