cookies and code

Yesterday we were tossing around ideas for lunch and nothing seemed to be fitting the bill. I suggested swinging by Negril’s: Flavors of Jamaica, off of Lee Road, since we always pass on the way to another one of our favorite joints, Rhino Subs. In any case, I haven’t had really great Jamaican food since living in South Florida, so I was eager to give it a try and hope for the best.

Nigril’s is tucked away in the back corner of the shopping plaza at the intersection of Lee Road and Orlando Avenue. It’s a very small restaurant with about 7 tables crammed in with a drink cooler, service counter, and kitchen. They have a small menu with a stock set of lunch specials ranging from ~$6.50 – $7.50 each from 11:00am until 2:00pm. Even better though, is that they keep a nice stock of D&G Ginger Beer as well as a nice variety a patties. In terms of patties, they have beef, chicken, jerk chicken, and veggie, each going for about ~$2.

I ordered the Jerk Chicken lunch special (~$6.50) with the rices and peas and salad as well as a veggie pattie (~$2). The special comes with a small portion of salad, a large portion of seasoned white rice with black eyed peas, a fresh baked roll, a couple of fried sweet plantains, and 4 to 5 pieces of jerk chicken. The salad was mostly romaine lettuce with a house dressing (tasted like an Italian dressing). The rice had lots of black eyed peas and what looked like chunks of cooked down port fat which gave it a really savory taste. The chicken was a bunch of thighs and legs and had an incredible flavor but lacked the heat I was hoping to find; definitely tasty, but a weak jerk seasoning. The veggie patty was smaller than I was used to and was barely filled, so I was a bit disappointed. Others had ordered the beef patty and said it was good, so I’ll have to try that one next time. I was a bit spoiled by the patty cart outside of the Physics building during my days at UCF however, so I’ll hack it up to me being snotty. To finish off my lunch I also got a D&G Ginger Beer (~$2); not as spicy as I like, but still a must have with a Jamaican lunch.

Overall Nigril’s: Flavors of Jamaica was a quick, tasty, and cheap lunch option close to the office that’ll definitely stay in the rotation. That being said, I’ll be looking for another Jamaican restaurant in the area to bring the heat for which I’m nostalgic.

Nigril’s is located on the corner of Leed Road and Orlando Road at 501 N Orlando Avenue, Winter Park, Florida.