Jamaican me wish I went somewhere else…
There were only a handful of Jamaican restaurants to choose from around Melbourne and we chose Sassy’s Jamaican Kitchen. Its reviews boasted the best jerk chicken in town and a super cool atmosphere.
I don’t know how to put it lightly… it was a huge let down.
Our first order was a corn cob each. With the corn that’s getting about Melbourne these days, such as the mex’d up varieties from Mamasita and Fonda Mexican (both sensational), I thought Sassy might deliver some great corn, seasoned with the flavours of Jamaica. I didn’t expect fancy, but I certainly didn’t expect just plain old over-steamed corn.
We also shared a salad to start which was a far cry from the adjectives used to describe it on the menu.
Following the disappointing entree, I was ready for some jerk chicken more than ever.
When I was 18, I had a penchant for jerks. They seemed infinitely more attractive than The Nice Guy. Meanwhile, I have always been fond of chicken. So combining the two into a national dish seemed impossibly awesome.
The jerk chicken arrived and it was merely two small pieces of chicken with barely-mild, indistinguishable spice. It came with a small portion of an unmemorable side accompaniment. Once again, I had got my hopes up too high and the jerk had let me down.
Other dishes aren’t particularly worth going into, but most of them arrived with a bowl of rice topped with pickled vegetables in the typically Jamaican colours, a nice touch.
Sassy himself came and spoke to us at the end, which certainly took the pang of disappointment away from the whole meal, but it was too late for the $30 a head we were about to hand over.
Unfortunately the kitchen could have done with a lot more Sass and the chicken could have done with a lot more jerk.
3.5/10
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