Friday’s Featured Food: Eating Jerk Chicken And Festival At Kingston Jerk, Jamaica

When backpacking in Jamaica, you hear (and see!) everywhere there is Jerk Chicken, as well as Bob Marley of course. Now I didn’t want to be a jerk and not try it, so actually I ended up trying Jerk chicken twice, but the main one was actually at Kingston Jerk. The reason being, the other time I tried Jerk Chicken it was actually not on the bone and not speciality jerk – it was jerk chicken in my tacos at the famous Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records bar (which was last week’s Friday’s Featured Food)! So therefore, I had to try the REAL, the AUTHENTIC, the PROPER Jerk Chicken. What better place than “Kingston Jerk”…

What is Jerk chicken?

It’s somewhat of a speciality in Jamaica! When in Rome do as the Romans do. Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica, in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. I only really heard about Jerk Chicken, though Jerk Pork also exists, yet I haven’t tried it yet (to my knowledge). The art of jerking (or cooking with jerk spice) originated with Amerindians in Jamaica from the Arawak and Taíno tribes who intermingled with the Maroons. The spice itself is widely available in Jamaica.

Where to try Jerk Chicken?

Well really anywhere you see a sign writing “Jerk Chicken”! But I was hanging out with Syl Gordon, famous record producer and director and also the current owner and host at the excellent Dancehall Hostel!

Syl took me to the cool Kingston Jerk which is located at 2 Chelsea Ave, Saint Andrew, Kingston, Jamaica. It is described as “The Best Jerk Spot in Kingston”. Real Jamaican Jerk complemented by a great backyard vibe. Here’s it on Google Maps.

Here’s the menu. I went for the 1 jerk chicken thigh, 1 jerk chicken leg and 2 festivals. You’ll be wondering what are 2 festivals?

I had Jerk Chicken in December 2022 and the price was –

1 chicken quarter, leg and thigh – 1,000
2 festival – 200

The total came to 1,200 but Jamaica, like many Caribbean countries has an annoying service charge and tax add-on. Because I got fed up with this in many bars and restaurants, I decided not to leave many tips on that trip. So like it says a beer is $2 US and you pay it, only to be told you owe like $2.45 US or something!

So my total was 1,380 which is about £7.42 Northern Irish pounds (9 US Dollars, 8.35 Euros).

Wait, what on earth are Festivals?

The festivals or Jamaican festivals are not actually a party or a music festival! They are a kind of deep-fried bread, typical of Jamaican cuisine. Despite its slightly sweet taste, is served as a side dish to dishes such as fried fish, escovitch fish or jerk chicken. It is a dough made with wheat flour, Cornmeal, baking powder, salt, milk powder unflavored milk or evaporated milk, sugar and water, then fried in a neutral cooking oil and served hot. The finished festival should be crispy on the outside while soft and fluffy on the inside. If you’re going to have Jerk Chicken, it is recommended that you side it with a brace of festivals so I did!

It was time to eat my top notch jerk chicken and festivals and I liked both even though it did feel odd to mix spicy chicken with a savoury dough product!

As well as a top notch place to eat chicken jerk, there’s a full on bar here which shows live sports and serves up textbook Caribbean cocktails, Jamaican Rum and ice cold Red Stripe beers!

Here are the details for eating Jerk Chicken at Kingston Jerk:
2 Chelsea Avenue, New Kingston
+1 876-672-5375
[email protected]
Price range · ££
https://www.kingstonjerkja.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kingstonjerkja/
https://www.instagram.com/kingstonjerk

Here is a video of me trying Jerk Chicken in Kingston Jerk, Jamaica: