Jamaican Dutchy

For years I had read and heard stories of the greatness that is the Jamaican Dutchy. I was even fortunate enough to have sampled some of Chef O'Neill's magical creations at the 2009 Vendy Awards, but due to M's and my collective lack of planning, we barely had a forkful each of the food before being completely and utterly stuffed. I knew that I had not done the cart justice, and I vowed to try the food of the islands once more.

My biggest issue with getting the delectable dishes was that, for lunch, the cart was very far away. I kept trying to figure out how I would manage the 15-20 minute walk up to the cart, the 5-10 minute wait for the food (not counting waiting in line), and then fitting in the actual eating after getting back to the office. For a one hour lunch, that would have been a tight fit. Recently, though, the cart was retired in favor of a brand new, shiny truck. Due to parking problems with the NYPD, I was fortunate today that they made a stop at 38th and Broadway. The 5 minute walk was more than okay for my short lunch hour.

Jamaican Dutchy Truck

Off I went with my coworker R, who after some initial distrust of food carts/trucks, has slowly started coming around after much prodding on my part. I opted for the small oxtail meal which came with rice and peas, plantains, and steamed vegetables.

Stewed Oxtail with Rice and Peas

The food was amazing. My first bite was of just the rice and peas, and it was buttery, fluffy, and delicious. Next I tried the steamed vegetables. I'm not sure if they were then kept in some sort of sauce/oil after steaming, but the pool of oil at the bottom of the little section led me to believe that either that was the case or my definition of steamed was different than theirs. The vegetables were overall unflavored, but it it added some healthy aspects to the meal and ended up pairing well with the rest of the meal when everything was combined. The plantain was delicious and just sweet enough. I ended up not eating it with the rest of the meal, but saved it more as a sweet treat. As for the oxtail, that was a revelation. Stewed to the point of being fork tender and basically fall off the bone, it perfectly combined and balanced the fat/meat content as well as the cartilage content to form an amazing bite each time. The sauce also absorbed much of the bone marrow from the cracked oxtails which ended making everything an exceptionally rich experience.

I really hope the Jamaican Dutchy comes back to my work area for lunch so that I can try more of their menu, but if they don't, I'd like to think that I finally got to make things right with their food after my Vendy 2009 disaster.