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

Outdated BROOKLYN, Ohio – If you are hunting for genuine Jamaican fare, a uncomplicated Google search for “Jamaican eating places in Cleveland” will pull up a record of about 20 institutions.

You will find the requisite jerk chicken, rice and plantains on each of their menus – genuine fare found on the island itself. But if you are seeking for a flavor of Jamaica with a excellent twist, you will want to examine out 1 of the a few locations of Irie Jamaican Kitchen.

To rejoice Countrywide Caribbean-American Heritage Thirty day period, we requested our audience wherever to locate the greatest Caribbean food items in Northeast Ohio. Nominations immediately loaded our inbox, with Irie Jamaican Kitchen area acquiring an too much to handle number of nods.

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

For Omar McKay – operator and govt chef of Irie Jamaican Kitchen area – remaining genuine to one’s self is what drove him to develop Irie Jamaican Kitchen and to place his have spin on his property country’s cuisine.

McKay came to Cleveland as a teenager, when his mom immigrated from Jackson Town, Jamaica, for a task option.

McKay discovered to prepare dinner in his mother’s kitchen area, fueling his wish to develop his personal recipes and open a restaurant. While he preferred to share the flavors of his heritage, he didn’t want to blend in.

Applying the competencies he made at Tri-C’s Culinary Arts School, he fashioned a menu that was all his have. And Higher Clevelanders have responded, in a massive way.

McKay started out in an outdated White Castle site on 621 E 185th St. on the border amongst Cleveland and Euclid. He has given that included spots at 4162 Pearl Rd. in Previous Brooklyn and 837 W. Current market St., Akron. The Akron cafe capabilities a patio and offers are living tunes on the weekends, exactly where McKay says “people go for the Jamaican ambiance.” A fourth area is “coming soon” to Shaker Heights at Chagrin and Lee Roads.

What is distinctive on the menu?

The flavors of McKay’s food stuff are real to his heritage – major on the meats, rice, cabbage, and plantains – as very well as the spices — that indigenous Jamaicans consume day-to-day.

“There is not a massive market place for indigenous Caribbean individuals in Northeast Ohio,” McKay said. “Most of the Caribbean individuals who stay below, do this variety of cooking at dwelling, so we really do not bring in a great deal of islanders. We experienced to master to cater to the environment. We entice people today from all walks and nationalities in Cleveland, which is not a thing you see in all Jamaican dining establishments in Ohio.”

In addition to total meals, Irie attributes homemade lemonades created with tropical fruit blends and meat pies created with beef or rooster and baked to perfection.

Although most Caribbean eateries serve their meats bone-in, McKay serves his proteins off-the-bone. And whilst there are the classic sides, clients can also decide on to enhance their principal dish with mac n’ cheese or salads.

Most Jamaican restaurants provide complete plates to your table. Irie Jamaican Kitchen stands aside due to the fact of its toppings bar, with new veggies and housemade salsas.

“Just inform us what you want, you decide on for you,” McKay stated. “I think that can make us a minimal far more helpful, more entertaining, creating us a very little different – just a little flavor of the island.”

McKay works by using all the standard spices of the island, but his food items is heavy on refreshing herbs, garlic and thyme. “I make clean food, that I really don’t imagine is likely to style like anything at all else,” he mentioned, “but I go about things a little in another way, fusing the conventional flavors of Jamaica with my individual twist.”

McKay’s major sellers are his jerk hen and oxtail – equally traditional dishes. “That’s what people today know and appear in for, but we are hoping they will arrive back again to consider something just a minor diverse,” McKay reported.

The jerk chicken carries the highest degree of warmth, even though the oxtail is a deep savory dish – both of those with wealthy flavors. Seeking for anything with a kick, but not more than-the-top, get the curry hen.

Seafood is typical to the Caribbean diet. People trying to get a taste of the sea with a kick want to strategy a couple more times considering the fact that the rapidly-informal restaurant cooks its shrimp dishes to buy to guarantee the best taste and texture.

“People are not dining-in a lot any more these days,” McKay mentioned, “so we are making positive our restaurants are clean up and welcoming and concentrated on providing the finest conventional flavors they are searching for for when they occur by way of the door – clean and flavorful is the hallmark of our meals.”