REVIEW: Ma Petite Jamaica, Camden Town

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT TIME. I have a new obsession; Caribbean food. As a vegetarian, flavour is absolutely essential to me. I do not have the umami flavours of meat to excite my palate so have come to rely on beautiful spicing and fresh flavours - enter, Caribbean food, and in this instance specially Jamaican food. Oh my god, you haven't tasted anything until you've had Jamaican grub. It's more than just jerk chicken; think ackee and saltfish, amazing Rasta salads with corn, avocado and mango or the iconic goat curry! SO GOOD.

In case you didn't get the vibe from the above paragraph, today's review is a pretty lively one. I haven't been treated to Jamaican food before and in fact Ma Petite Jamaica is London's first Caribbean diner with a strong resturant focus, rather than a take away focus. It has 'some of the finest Jamaican food' available throughout the night as well as authentic rums and colourful cocktails. With Winter well and truly smashing in our front doors, these sunshine flavours make for joyful eating. Enjoy today's review - I loved eating it! 

Where

Ma Petite Jamaica, Camden Town

When

Friday night, 8pm - 10:30pm

What we drank

• 1 Rumapolitan 
• 1 Bird of Paradise
• 2 beers

What we ate

• Starters: Ackee and saltfish fritters, Lamb fritters (Alex ate these), Rasta salad, Salt fish fritters
• Mains: Jerk Chicken Roti, Jerk Red Snapper from the Jerk Pit

Highlights

• Both cocktails were fantastically sweet and bold with their alcohol. I loved my Rumapolitan which is extra great (amazing grammar there), as I normally hate Cosmos. Wooh for rum!!
• The ackee and saltfish fritters had a really strong and distinctive flavour which I think may put some people off, but we loved it!
• The lamb patties were deep in flavour with just the right amount of heat to top things off. You could tell the lamb had been cooked slowly with plenty of love.
• I found the fritters a little dry, however alongside the mango chutney these were really tasty. The mango chutney is definitely more of an Indian condiment but it worked perfectly with the salt fish.
• The rasta salad was really fresh with bright and bold flavours from the mango, pineapple and avocado. I could eat bowls and bowls of this stuff. 

Highlights, continued

• My main course of red snapper was really well cooked with a sweet and spicy sauce. The fish was still soft and had a crisp skin which worked perfectly with the wet sauce. I found the stir fried vegetables lovely as they still had plenty of crunch. I was unbiased on the rice.
• My side of macaroni cheese was DELICIOUS. We have been craving mac'n'cheese for weeks now so I am so happy to have kicked the craving. Dryer than I expected, the dish arrived as two slabs of macaroni in a cheese sauce - almost like two slices of cake. I would have preferred a wetter dish in a bowl, but hey it was tasty. 
• The flavour to the jerk chicken, once you got past the blasting heat, was really nice with plenty of levels to work through. As our waiter said, 'you'll never get a cold after eating this'.... well you said it mate. 

Lowlights

• My main course was supposed to come with coleslaw, rice 'n' peas and fried plantain. Although plain rice arrived, none of the other accompanying pieces did. This was very disappointing.Turns out, although I asked for the Red Snapper from the pit, I was actually served snapper with basmati rice and stir fried vegetables. Considering we spent a lot of time speaking with our very nice waitress, this is a massive oversight. Although the dish was very tasty, I would have been much, much happier with the dish I asked for.
• It could have been made clearer that Alex's filled roti was more of a curry dish with roti for dipping. 
• Finally the tap water we asked for never arrived. 

Overall I really cannot wait to visit Ma Petite Jamaica again. Understandably for such a new restaurant, there are plenty of kinks to work out, especially on the speed and accuracy of service. But the food is pretty much faultless; the flavours are bold, the portion sizes generous and the overall feeling very positive. The team at Ma Petite Jamaica are so friendly and willing to talk through their favourite dishes, so make sure to have a chat with them. Give it a few months and this place will be rammed all the time. 

Thank you to Ma Petite Jamaica for hosting us.
Tweet to @elliemathews1