Celebrate the flavors of the islands –with a twist — at Irie Jamaican Kitchen: Cleveland’s Best Caribbean Restaurants

Previous BROOKLYN, Ohio – If you are looking for reliable Jamaican fare, a simple Google search for “Jamaican eating places in Cleveland” will pull up a list of about 20 establishments.

You are going to discover the requisite jerk rooster, rice and plantains on every single of their menus – authentic fare identified on the island itself. But if you are searching for a flavor of Jamaica with a wonderful twist, you’ll want to check out out just one of the three destinations of Irie Jamaican Kitchen.

To rejoice Nationwide Caribbean-American Heritage Thirty day period, we asked our visitors exactly where to obtain the finest Caribbean food items in Northeast Ohio. Nominations rapidly filled our inbox, with Irie Jamaican Kitchen obtaining an overwhelming amount of nods.

“Irie” – according to the City Dictionary – is Rastafarian for “a state of peacefulness and harmony with one’s self or the planet.”

For Omar McKay – owner and government chef of Irie Jamaican Kitchen area – getting legitimate to one’s self is what drove him to generate Irie Jamaican Kitchen area and to put his personal spin on his property country’s delicacies.

McKay arrived to Cleveland as a teen, when his mom immigrated from Jackson City, Jamaica, for a position possibility.

McKay learned to cook dinner in his mother’s kitchen, fueling his desire to generate his own recipes and open up a cafe. When he needed to share the flavors of his heritage, he didn’t want to blend in.

Employing the abilities he developed at Tri-C’s Culinary Arts College, he fashioned a menu that was all his possess. And Larger Clevelanders have responded, in a large way.

McKay began in an aged White Castle site on 621 E 185th St. on the border involving Cleveland and Euclid. He has because additional places at 4162 Pearl Rd. in Old Brooklyn and 837 W. Market place St., Akron. The Akron restaurant options a patio and presents dwell new music on the weekends, wherever McKay states “people go for the Jamaican ambiance.” A fourth site is “coming soon” to Shaker Heights at Chagrin and Lee Streets.

What is unique on the menu?

The flavors of McKay’s food are legitimate to his heritage – significant on the meats, rice, cabbage, and plantains – as properly as the spices — that native Jamaicans eat day by day.

“There is not a large industry for native Caribbean people in Northeast Ohio,” McKay stated. “Most of the Caribbean individuals who reside right here, do this form of cooking at residence, so we don’t bring in a ton of islanders. We had to study to cater to the setting. We draw in men and women from all walks and nationalities in Cleveland, which is not anything you see in all Jamaican dining places in Ohio.”

In addition to total foods, Irie options homemade lemonades designed with tropical fruit blends and meat pies made with beef or hen and baked to perfection.

When most Caribbean eateries serve their meats bone-in, McKay serves his proteins off-the-bone. And while there are the regular sides, customers can also decide on to enhance their key dish with mac n’ cheese or salads.

Most Jamaican eating places produce entire plates to your desk. Irie Jamaican Kitchen stands apart because of its toppings bar, with clean veggies and housemade salsas.

“Just explain to us what you want, you select for oneself,” McKay explained. “I consider that tends to make us a tiny additional helpful, far more entertaining, creating us a small unique – just a little taste of the island.”

McKay utilizes all the common spices of the island, but his foodstuff is hefty on clean herbs, garlic and thyme. “I make fresh new food stuff, that I do not feel is heading to taste like anything else,” he explained, “but I go about matters a little in a different way, fusing the standard flavors of Jamaica with my have twist.”

McKay’s largest sellers are his jerk chicken and oxtail – each classic dishes. “That’s what folks know and come in for, but we are hoping they will appear back again to check out some thing just a minor different,” McKay said.

The jerk rooster carries the maximum degree of heat, although the oxtail is a deep savory dish – both with prosperous flavors. Looking for a thing with a kick, but not about-the-best, purchase the curry chicken.

Seafood is popular to the Caribbean diet regime. These trying to find a style of the sea with a kick need to have to approach a several further moments given that the speedy-informal cafe cooks its shrimp dishes to order to assure the best style and texture.

“People are not eating-in much anymore these times,” McKay stated, “so we are making guaranteed our places to eat are clean and pleasant and focused on offering the greatest regular flavors they are in search of for when they appear by way of the door – contemporary and flavorful is the hallmark of our foods.”