Jamaican Restaurants near Palm Bay, FL

“Carmen's Restaurant and Catering 2280 Harris Ave NE Palm Bay, FL 32905 4 Stars After what appeared to be a mistake in my last Jamaican joint review (whoa, that has a few connotations), I thought I was being punished by immediately being sent to another one by my random name generator. After smacking it on the side a few times and shaking it, I found it to be working correctly, so I proceeded to Carmen's Restaurant and Catering in Palm Bay, FL. What a world of difference! Carmen is the proprietor and a one-woman show and boyo, let me tell ya, she sure shines. I found Carmen's menu to be a joy to behold, as eclectic as my vinyl collection. As such, I decided to go in a different direction today and steered away from the traditional Jamaican fare such as Jerk Chicken and Curried Goat and went with an order of Carmen's Fried Chicken with sides of rice, beans and potato salad along with an order of her Bang Bang Fried Shrimp Tacos (the same name as the drek at the horrid Bonefish Grill) with fries. As Carmen got to work on my eats, I took in the interior. I found it to be open, welcoming, bright, and cheery, not unlike the owner! Carmen was out in no time with my foodstuffs. Taking a few before pictures, I got to work. I turned my attention and palate to the Fried Chicken. The first thing I noticed was the crunch of the coating. If you look at the picture I've attached, you can see what I mean. That coating was slathered on without care for conservation. It wasn't too much, it was just enough. The chicken, blanketed in a tender, juicy, succulent coating, tasted superb. The rice and beans were well-cooked and seasoned with love. The potato salad, like everything else, I assume was made by Carmen and if your Grandmother makes a better potato salad, I will eat these words! I can't speak for you, but when I hear or read the words, Bang Bang, I immediately think of three things. First, playing cops and robbers as a child and “shooting” the bad guy with my finger gun while shouting, “Bang! Bang!” The second is the Bollywood bad remake of a worse film, “Bang Bang!” The third thing I think of is Chinese Street Chicken. None of this has anything to do with Carmen's Bang Bang Fried Shrimp Tacos, other than the Bang Bang sauce is loosely based on the Chinese Street Chicken tossing sauce. Carmen's Bang Bang sauce was a mixture of mayo, spicy stuff and it was mahvalous, dahling! The shrimp were coated with the same love and care as the chicken and were just as tender and juicy. Got Dayum! Carmen knows her way around a kitchen. I can only assume these are her recipes as well. She should open a restaurant and share this with...oh, wait. Never mind. With this meal and the success of the Fried Chicken at Cajun Soul, my hopes have been raised considerably. The Big Boy says, “If you want good eats served with love and a friendly smile, visit Carmen. Tell her the Big Boy sent ya (it's safe this time)!”“

“Sweet Delight Jamaican Cuisine 4500 Dixie Hwy. NE Palm Bay, FL 32905 4 Stars Life, in general, is fleeting moments of time with people you may only interact with once, but when you do, a big grin immediately breaks across your face. This I how I felt when I met Neville, the owner of today's foray into the dense jungle of Greasy Spoons dotting the landscape of the Space Coast. My random name generator had directed me deep into the mainland as I found myself in front of Sweet Delight Jamaican Cuisine in Palm Bay. I took a few deep breaths to control my OTB syndrome and went inside. This is when I encountered the jovial Neville. Not only was I enjoying his company, but I truly enjoy well-made Jamaican food. Epicurean delights from the tiny island nation have a delightful mix of sweet, tangy and spicy all wrapped up in one bite. Looking over the handwritten menu board didn't take a whole lot of time. Most of it was spent chatting with Neville. However, I did manage to get in an order for some Curry Chicken, Curry Goat, Oxtail Rice & Peas and to round things out I decided to give Neville's Spicy Beef Patty a whirl. Picking up on Neville's dimissory vibe, my dining, I headed to a table to await our victuals. Within an acceptable amount of time, Neville brought our food up. After snapping the obligatory pictures, we grabbed our grub, received our dimissory from the owner and headed back beach side. Not wanting to take my time getting home as the olfactory property emanating from the take-out containers was causing me to drool just a little bit, I might have gone a tad over the posted speed limit. I'm not saying I did, but I'm not saying I didn't. What happened next shocked me. It still does. My persnickety 15-year-old, who eats like a bird as the old adage goes, scarfed down the Curry Chicken like she hadn't eaten in a week. She doesn't eat a lot, but trust me, I do feed her! As I had due diligence to try a bite for the critique, I asked her for one but by then it was gone. Well, that put a dent in my buzz. Objectively speaking, it must have been otherworldly in flavor. I had no idea she loved Curry Chicken like this. I found the Curry Goat to be exceptional. The Goat was tasty, tender and cooked to perfect doneness, while the curry was flavorful and spicy. This was truly well-done Jamaican food. The Oxtail Rice and peas were next up on the Big Boy's discerning palate. Again, the meat was a carnivore's dream. However, and this is the reason for the 4 and not a 5-star review, the rice and peas were just this side of overcooked. Maybe it was kept at serving temperature too long, or someone got distracted in the kitchen for a second. Regardless, the damage was done. Moving on to the final item in today's meal, the Spicy Beef Patty. This was cooked to perfection and all I can say about the seasoning is, “WOW”! This was excellent, with just enough punch to make sure you're paying attention and well hydrated, yet the underlying complexity of the Jamaican spices was not overshadowed. The Big Boy says, “If you like new foods and are willing to give them a try, this is the place to start.”“

“Warm customer service and great food!“

“Wonderful food...they cater most of my holidays. Everyone is friendly and helpful. Delish Jamaican curry, patties, fish, oxtail, soups, rice and peas, j**** etc. Can cook it, but they save me the time and it taste amazing.“

“Big Boyz Jamaican Restaurant 4000 S. Babcock St., Melbourne, FL 32901

4 Stars (small chain)

With more than a handful of Jamaican-inspired restaurants now in the area, the hungry populace craving the flavor of the Island nation has quite a few choices. Sitting at 4 stars, this should be one of them. However, I get ahead of myself.

My server today was Shemean. I must say that if I have ever met a human being more aptly named, it escapes me. Wow. She was unfriendly to the core. I got the feeling that she viewed me as a dreaded responsibility, like plunging the restroom. Something that had to be done. I mention this only to sadly report that my streak of fantastic servers ends here at 12. Please, join me in a moment of silence as we honor The Streak.
With that acknowledged, thank you all.

I managed to place an order of Curry Chicken, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, some Curried Goat, and a Jamaican bun & cheese to round out my order with Shemean the Unpleasant. Sitting back, I snapped a few pics of the place and took in the welcome, joyful atmosphere that radiated the friendly vibe of the Caribbean islands (not my server).

Shemean the Sour returned shortly with my order. I must say that the aromas preceding her caused me to drool a bit, as my feast was delivered in Styrofoam to-go containers. Snapping some pictures, I got to work. First, I placed a forkful of Curry Chicken in my maw. This didn't immediately make me want to write home about it; however, it ended with a delightful aftertaste on the palate, and everything was cooked to perfection. The chicken tasted fresh and was plump, juicy and exploding with flavor. The rice was steamed as rice should be, and it served as a much-needed cooling agent for the tasty Curry.

Moving on to their Jamaican Jerk Chicken. Like most of us, I hazard a guess that Jerk seasoning was the first foray into the cuisine of this island nation. Once again, I found the chicken to be superbly cooked and the Jerk seasoning was outstanding. This was a great representation of the vaunted Jerk flavors! Well done, Sirrah!

I found myself at the penultimate plate for this visit, the Curried Goat. If you've never had goat outside of an authentic, honest-to-Zeus Gyro, I suggest coming to Big Boyz and hittin' up their Curried Goat. The goat was succulent, flavorful without being overpowering, and the curry was just hot enough to warrant the accompanying rice. It wasn't the best I've ever had, but it was miles from slop.

This brings me to the final item for review on this visit, the Jamaican bun & cheese. This is traditionally a Jamaican Easter food. The bun is a spiced bun, not unlike the more popular English hot cross buns, which are traditionally baked on Good Friday. The Jamaican version is baked in a bread loaf shape and traditionally served, as in this case, with cheddar cheese. The second the bun hit my palate, I picked up flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, definitely allspice, and maybe even saffron. This was spectacular.

The Big Boy says, “Everything was wonderfully full of flavor and properly prepared. It's a good thing I only rate on food execution as the service blew chunks.”“

“*The food here is amazing* if you are looking for a good jerk chicken with serious flavor this is the spot. And by the way the chicken is organic, not dry and hard like other places but juicy and the beef patty is very good. Can't wait to try the curry chicken next time. Thank you and keep up the good cooking. BLESS“