Photo courtesy Irie Jamaican Kitchen
The wait is almost over, and those who have enjoyed Omar McKay's soul-satisfying Jamaican food at his original stall at Richmond Town Square and then at his brick-and-mortar restaurant on East 185th St. know it will have been worth it.
Irie Jamaican Kitchen's Old Brooklyn location will finally open its doors for business next week, on Wednesday Dec. 4th, at 4162 Pearl Road.
As for what to expect, here's what our dining editor Doug Trattner wrote earlier this year:
"To McKay, the food simply is home cooking, the types of meals that he helped his mother prepare back home in Trelawny Parish, just outside Montego Bay, Jamaica. After resettling in Northeast Ohio and graduating from high school, McKay burnished his cooking skills with a culinary arts degree from Tri-C. After moving from restaurant kitchen to restaurant kitchen, concocting the occasional island-style dinner special, the chef struck out on his own.
"The food at Irie Jamaican Kitchen achieves an ideal balance between authentic and unique. McKay's fiery jerk chicken recipe is composed, just like Mom's, of onion, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, Scotch bonnets and heaps of thyme. But the meat is served off the bone, a concession to local diners. That jerk chicken, along with staples like curry chicken, curry shrimp and oxtails, can be enjoyed traditionally alongside the customary warm cabbage, rice and peas, and plantains or 'Jahpotle' style as a wrap or bowl."
